Boeing 2707-100 SST mockup, September 1966

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erhue@reddit

let's see if Boom supersonic ends up being vaporware or not

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Pretty_Aside_7674@reddit

What do u think about them building their own engine?

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was talking to my co worker about boom today actually. we are both military propulsion maintainers, and we work on engines every day. i feel like making an entire aircraft, in house, pushing the limits of civilian supersonic engineering is not feasible for a startup company.

making the airframe? extremely challenging but possible with modern manufacturing. the Concorde’s delta wing took over a million man hours to design and perfect.

making the engine? also extremely challenging. making a supersonic passenger aircraft requires a ton of thrust. they’d have to go towards an afterburning engine or massive turbofans. but those turbofans won’t have enough thrust at high speeds to maintain supercruise. afterburning = extremely loud. that was one of the main issues with the concorde, residential areas near airports hated it.

it’s gonna be a hell of a project. i hope it works out and i’d love to be a passenger. i just think it’s too extravagant on too many different levels for a single company.

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GlockAF@reddit

It was always most likely to be vaporware, but when it was announced that they were going to build their own engine that put the entire box of nails in that particular coffin

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capnsheeeeeeeeeet@reddit

I think they’ve got orders and are moving forward. The aircraft is only two years away.

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zoinkability@reddit

RemindMe! 2 years

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erhue@reddit

orders have been placed for many other projects which haven't materialized in the past. The aircraft being only two years away is very amusing to hear... Certifying even normal airliners takes several years once they're built. They don't even have an engine. They won't have a plane in two years.

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Pretty_Aside_7674@reddit

ngl I think more people would have believed in them if they went with the old design

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ackermann@reddit

It was always most likely to be vaporware

I thought so too… but then they did actually build a plane and fly it supersonic (first privately funded supersonic aircraft?)

It was late, yes, but I was surprised and impressed it happened at all.

But yeah, developing their own engine from scratch, certified for passenger airline service? That’s… ambitious

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erhue@reddit

im extremely skeptical

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Viharabiliben@reddit

That’s going to be very difficult

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Virtual_Area8230@reddit

2707-200

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waldo--pepper@reddit

Braniff International. That was a nice touch by the artist!

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Virtual_Area8230@reddit

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/2707-200-3d-model.25348/page-2#post-267579

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xerberos@reddit

Having those engines behind and below the main wing seems like a really weird design choice. With the flaps down, the airflow into the engines must be a turbulent mess.

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Flintskin@reddit

if the aircraft would be at a high angle of attack when the flaps are down and the engines should be clear of their wake

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postmodest@reddit

The nose on the 2707 drooped, too. ...then kinked back up because reasons.

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Viper6060@reddit

Variable geometry wing. Not a delta wing means not so high angle of attack during low speed flight as during landing phase.

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buttspider69@reddit

The 60s were the future

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postmodest@reddit

We really have passed the zenith of Empire.

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AreWeThereYetNo@reddit

And it stayed that way.

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joe9teas@reddit

Except with Concorde

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jar1967@reddit

What killed the SST was the 747 and fuel effecent turbo fan engines

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Jessie_C_2646@reddit

And protestors.

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Busy_Outlandishness5@reddit

It wasn't environmentalists that killed off the SST; it was accountants.

The protests were more of a face-saving excuse to cancel the SSTs, while the real reason -- as borne out by the Concorde -- was the realization it was impossible to do anything but lose astounding amounts of money on each passenger carried, even with the most exorbitant ticket prices.

To quote an old advertising aphorism, speed was the sizzle that sold jets to the public; the steak was the significantly lower operating costs that jets offered over the last generation of highly-complex piston planes.

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Jessie_C_2646@reddit

The protestors had a strong enough lobby that they got Concorde restricted to supersonic flight over water only. But they weren't alone. It was economics, engineering and environmentalism together which really killed the SST. Until we find a way to make supersonic travel as quiet, cheap and technically feasible as subsonic, it's just not going to happen.

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AcidaliaPlanitia@reddit

With all the crazy shit being built in the 60s, I remain shocked that the US gave up on this.

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jar1967@reddit

So did everyone else. The culprit was the turbo fan engine

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Virtual_Area8230@reddit

The GE4 and P&W JTF17 worked just fine. Both were run on test stands. The GE4 hit almost 70,000lbs of thrust and the JTF17 59k.

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jar1967@reddit

The turbo fan what is much more fuel and allowed a 747 to take people across the atlantic at 1/10 the price and still make more money per passenger

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Virtual_Area8230@reddit

It wasn't just the turbofan. A 747 could carry more passengers in a cheaper aircraft. A 747 could make money. A supersonic transport couldn't. Neither the Concorde or Tu-144 were money makers.

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04BluSTi@reddit

I've been in that mockup, or rather, the last variant of the 2707. I have pics from the Boeing historical rebuild center in Everett.

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ggrey@reddit

🤯

I have always loved this might-have-been. I even have a vintage tin toy of it on my desk at Boeing. Does the mockup still exist? Is it still visitable?

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04BluSTi@reddit

It exists, and its in a state of repose with the rebuild center. I have other variants I'm interested in that may or may not exist according to Boeing's historians.

The rebuild center is worth a visit if you can get approval. My dad and I had some laughs with Brian Wygle when we were there. My dad and Mr. Wygle knew each other from programs back in the day...

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