2 days Ago By Joe Kunzler
The People’s Republic of China aviation firm Comac has been enjoying some good news lately, including the ability to announce the C949 supersonic concept and interest from Ryanair. However, the C949 supersonic concept has gotten the attention of a new airplane firm’s CEO on X. COMAC planning C949 Supersonic Transport (SST) According to the South China Morning Post and Interesting Engineering , COMAC is working on a C949.
Below are some basic early C949 expectations: 6,800 mi (10,944 km) range Significant sonic boom sound reduction 28-48 passengers Shanghai-Los Angeles five hours Service date by 2049 These expectations are based on a March 14 paper in Acta Aeronautica Sinica – a Chinese aeronautic journal. Additionally, according to the South China Morning Post is this snippet: “A long, needle-like nose protrusion splits the leading shock wave into three gentler pulses, while aerodynamic bulges near the engines scatter exhaust turbulence, which muffles the trailing boom.” However, the news reports have inspired a response from the only known CEO of a firm working on developing and building a civilian supersonic transport on and for Earth in Boom Supersonic’s CEO Blake Scholl.
Boom Supersonic CEO Blake Scholl lights up X/Twitter In response to this news, Boom Supersonic’s CEO, Blake Scholl, has been conducting a one-person public relations campaign at @bscholl on X. Among other thoughtful postings is this from Blake about Ryanair’s sudden interest in COMAC, Although Ryanair does not charge premium fares to cover the additional costs of operating a supersonic jet , Ryanair's interest in current COMAC subsonic offerings is real. Ryanair CEO hints at considering Chinese-built aircraft, with the C919 potentially challenging Boeing and Airbus as COMAC boosts production.
Get all the latest aviation news right here on Simple Flying In an X thread, Scholl noted how the Concorde passed away: With that, one should note that COMAC is working on more than a SST that will be smaller and delivered after Overtures are quietly flying the world’s skies...
supersonically. Exploring COMAC’s other projects COMAC is working on other commercial aircraft. For example, COMAC is accepting orders and building the narrowbody Comac C909 and Comac C919 with PRC airlines wanting over 1,000 units – and again Ryanair is considering the C919.
It helps that, according to COMAC, the C919 is competitive with the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 families. Below are pictures of C909 and C919: COMAC is also working on developing a widebody subsonic jetliner in the Comac C929 , which has some Russian influence. However, the C929 lacks the range of its competitors in the Airbus A350-900 and the Boeing 787-8.
The program has already been delayed by nearly ten years. COMAC is also working on a C939 that can carry 400 passengers to compete with the largest aircraft in Airbus and Boeing’s product lines. This may explain why COMAC leaders do not want to promise to build a supersonic transport until 2049.
Bottom line: Boom Supersonic still has the lead in SST development For COMAC to enter the race for building a supersonic transport is a bold move, especially as both Airbus and Boeing do not want to race Boom Supersonic. But the above is not all that CEO Blake Scholl shared on X. Scholl points out that Boom Supersonic is the West’s only contender to restart supersonic commercial flight.
Recently, some of Boom Supersonic’s concepts were taken supersonic via XB-1. Perhaps by 2049, Blake Scholl will have multiple models of Overture in production. For all wanting to go past Mach 1 and join the “Mach Club,” one can only hope.
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