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Richard Branson backs plan unveiled in Colorado to launch 3.5hr trans-Atlantic flight
Sir Richard Branson has thrown his support behind a new plane unveiled in Denver on Tuesday, which aims to make a 3.5-hour flight from London to New York for an “affordable” $5,000 return.
Sir Richard has taken out an option to purchase the first 10 of the $200m jets made by Boom, the Colorado-based company, when they begin flying in the early 2020s. The first test flights, however, are expected as soon as the end of next year.
“I have long been passionate about aerospace innovation and the development of high-speed commercial flights,” said Sir Richard.
“As an innovator in the space, Virgin Galactic’s decision to work with Boom was an easy one.
“Through Virgin Galactic’s manufacturing arm, the Spaceship Company, we will provide engineering and manufacturing services, along with flight test support and operations as part of our shared ambitions.”
A miniature version of the plane – about a third of the actual size - was shown off on Tuesday in a hangar on the outskirts of the city.
With its pointed nose and slender frame, the plane looked very similar to Concorde, which crossed the Atlantic in three hours and 30 minutes, for about $20,000 a ticket, until 2003. Years of spiraling costs coupled with high fuel costs and the 9/11 downturn meant that it was no longer viable.
But Blake Scholl, a former pilot and Amazon executive who founded Boom in 2014, is convinced that new technology means his company will revive the dream.
“This isn’t a private jet,” he told The Denver Post. “We want to build something that we can see our friends and family flying on.
“We’re starting with business-class prices because that’s what we have technology for. But our line of sight is we want to make the fastest ticket the cheapest ticket.”
Mr Scholl believes that the 50 years of advancements since the Concorde means he can make a more efficient aircraft, able to fly at Mach 2.2 speeds – or 1,451 mph, and faster than Concorde’s Mach 2.
The advances have helped with fuel, engine technology and speed of testing and development. Carbon-fiber composites, which are lighter than the aluminum used in the Concorde, will take the heat of a supersonic flight and enable it to fly 10 per cent faster. Computer simulations are available to test and build the plane.
“The state of the art for software simulation of aerodynamics is very good,” said Mr Scholl. “We’ve been able to take six months of wind-tunnel testing down to a half an hour. The Concorde had a dozen wind-tunnel tests. In simulation, we’ve done 1,000.”
Some aviation experts have expressed doubts that Boom will be able to fly for as cheaply as $5,000.
Dan Reed, an aviation journalist, told The Denver Post: “Boom’s theory is fairly interesting but its assumptions are very aggressive that it can exceed great speed on conventional engines.”
He said the technology was probably there, but not necessarily at affordable prices.
“You can make that plane but can you make it economical?” he said. “You generally will have to charge six, seven times more. Some say $20,000 on an international flight. There’s a very thin margin of people who will pay for that.”
But Michael Boyd, an aviation consultant commissioned by Boom, is confident the aircraft will herald the future.
“This is going to be a huge change,” he said. “We’re talking thousands of planes.
“If American Airlines orders it for its transatlantic service, every other airline will have to have it too.
“This will be a fundamental change to intercontinental travel.”
Boom is not the only company investing in super fast travel. Aerion Corporation, based in Nevada, wants to build private supersonic jets for $120 million. Lockheed Martin is also working on a jet, collaborating with Nasa to develop a low-boom aircraft.