Page 27 - Stuff - September 2017 UK

H O T S T U F F

My heart

oes Boom
A third of the size of the
full-size Boom airliner,
the smaller XB-1 will be
the fastest civilian plane
ever made.

FUTURE FLIERS

Airbus Racer Boom Supersonic Eviation Alice Workhorse SureFly
When you need an emergency Supersonic speed has long been Skipping congestion today means Remember how hard it was to
helicopter, chances are you want it the dream of aeroplane makers. hopping on your bike and hoping convince the office to fit those
to arrive sharpish. Problem is, most From early Russian efforts to the no-one’s parked in the cycle lane. electric car charging ports? Well,
choppers top out at somewhere ill-fated Concorde, it’s never quite Give it a few years, though, and your quest for a helipad should go
around 150mph. Hardly slow, you stuck – but Boom reckons it can we’ll all be schlepping to work in down a treat. This grown-up drone
might think, but a good way off the make speedy soaring a viable mini aeroplanes – much like the relies on eight independent motors
ludicrous 250mph top speed of reality this time. Its little Eviation Alice. Powered by a trio to ferry a pair of passengers
Airbus’s Racer. Where normal rotor demonstrator jet, the XB-1, of propellers that take their juice around at up to 4000ft. A top speed
aircraft are limited by the drag utilises the same tech that will from a 980kWh lithium cell, it’ll fly of 70mph might sound limiting, but
caused by the spinning blades, the power the full-size Boom – which a whole football team (provided for inner-city trips that’s a major
Racer utilises a box wing design promises to fly at Mach 2.2 two of them are pilots) 600 miles improvement over a gridlocked
that’s home to an additional pair of (1451mph), with seats costing at 10,000 feet – though its Uber – and the SureFly is small
props. It means more lift, more about the same as today’s unpressurised cabin means you enough to slot into your garage
power and a quicker ETA. business-class flights. won’t want to go any higher. when you make it home.
airbus.com boomsupersonic.com eviation.co workhorse.com

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