Latest news with #BellX-1
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Preservationists alarmed by demolition work at old Bell Aerospace site
TOWN OF WHEATFIELD — The presence of a large piece of construction equipment on the former Bell Aerospace property raised concern among local preservationists on Wednesday. A representative from the company that manages the Niagara Falls Boulevard site said planned demolition work involves one building town officials ordered demolished due to its dilapidated condition. 'It was the Town of Wheatfield that put us on notice that the building had been condemned and we needed to take immediate action to take the building down,' said Michele Kiernan, vice president and asset development manager for IRG Realty Advisors, a subsidiary of the property's owners. 'The main facility and the main manufacturing plant is all still there. This is a piece of the property. It is not the entire thing.' On its Facebook page on Wednesday, the Western New York non-profit group Preservation Buffalo Niagara posted a 'demolition alert' with a picture of an excavator located near one of the buildings on the former Bell Aerospace property. By Wednesday evening, the post garnered 244 comments, offering a mix between those who expressed support for protecting the historic integrity of the site and others who argued time had come for it to be demolished to make way for new development. Emily Jarnot, preservation planner and Niagara Falls liaison for Preservation Buffalo Niagara, said she and other representatives from her group spent several hours on Wednesday contacting local and state officials in an effort to determine what exactly was being demolished and if there was any chance to delay the project to come up with an alternative to demolition. With limited preservation codes in place and no historic preservation commission in the town, Jarnot said there were limited legal options available. 'We were never even able to propose a local landmark,' Jarnot said. 'Because it's there in the Town of Wheatfield, there's just no way.' Jarnot believes the entire property warrants preservation status as it served for decades as the home of Bell Aerospace, a company that built U.S. fighter aircraft during World War II and developed the Bell 47 helicopter and the Bell X-1, which was the first airplane to break the sound barrier. She noted that the site also includes space that once served as the main office for industrialist and Bell Aircraft Corp. founder Lawrence 'Larry' Bell. 'It is a huge visual landmark in the area,' she said. 'What gets me is the amount of stories that have been pouring out about the building on Facebook all day. The outcry of stories included someone who posted a picture of President Harry Truman at that plant. This company built the first jet to break the sound barrier. It helped build U.S. aircraft in World War II. Everybody's grandpa and grandma worked there.' 'People are just coming in with how it tied into their family and generations and what it meant to the war effort and what it meant to aerospace and aviation and the advancements that happened there,' she added. Kiernan said pending demolition involves a two-story building covering roughly 300,000 square feet that is attached to a main building. The demolition work is being supported by a grant through New York's Restore New York program. Administered by the Empire State Development Corp., the program offers grants to support municipalities' efforts to demolish, rehabilitate and restore blighted structures and transform them into vibrant residential, commercial and mixed-use developments. The application for $1.5 million in state grant funding, which is tied to a larger $3.2 million redevelopment project on the property, received support from both the town and the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency. The Niagara Gazette previously reported in a story about a planned public hearing for the project described the building covered in the grant application as being roadside at 2221 Niagara Falls Blvd. in front of other buildings making up the property currently known as Wheatfield Business Park. The building included in the application was described as being vacant since 1996 and having previously housed engineer work when the site operated as part of Bell Aircraft. Kiernan said the town and county approached the property's owners about assisting in the application for grant funding to pursue the demolition and redevelopment. 'This was something the town and the county were excited about because it would improve the visibility of the existing property,' Kiernan said. 'We have a lot of vacancy in the existing building,' she added. 'There are no immediate plans to build anything new. We do hope it improves the appearance of the main building and gives us an opportunity to create more access points at truck docks so that we can continue to lease up the main building.' While preservationists had requested access to the building to take pictures before any demolition work started, Kiernan said that was not possible due to the condemnation order from the town. She described the structure as 'uninhabitable' and as a building that has 'never been pointed out as anything of particular interest.' 'It's been condemned and it's unsafe to enter,' she said. Jarnot said it's unfortunate any of the buildings on a site with such a rich history fell into such disrepair. She argued that, with the proper foresight and planning, the property owners, the town, the county and the state could have taken a different path, one involving documentation of historic structures to allow for the application of restoration grants as part of a larger redevelopment project. She said the present course stands as a 'sharp contrast' to the opinion of many area residents who believe the site warrants preservation, not demolition. 'A building can get condemned for simply having the water shut off or the utilities shut off,' she said. 'A lot of times bringing it back from condemned status involves getting the utilities turned back on and getting the right funding to make it work.'
The Guardian
29-01-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Supersonic prototype jet breaks sound barrier on US test flight
A US-made prototype jet has broken the sound barrier, in the first commercial venture to achieve supersonic speeds since Concorde. Boom Supersonic, a startup that seeks to build the world's fastest airliner, flew a test flight of its fighter jet-sized XB-1 demonstrator over the Mojave desert in California on Tuesday. At an altitude of about 10,700 metres (35,000ft), the jet accelerated to Mach 1.1, or about 845 mph (1,360 km/h), faster than the speed at which sound travels. 'She was real happy supersonic,' Boom's chief test pilot, Tristan 'Geppetto' Brandenburg, said after landing. 'That's the best she's ever flown.' The XB-1 has now completed 12 successful test flights and is a precursor to – and a third of the size of – Boom's proposed commercial airliner. That aircraft, named, Overture, promises to transport 64-80 passengers across the Atlantic in about 3.5 hours, compared to 6.5 hours by current means. While its aircraft are still in the test phase, the company has 130 preorders from American Airlines, United Airlines and Japan Airlines. The firm has a factory in North Carolina, where it plans to build 66 Overture aircraft a year. Chuck Yeager became the first human to break the sound barrier in 1947, when he flew the Bell X-1 at Mach 1, also over the Mojave desert. Boom's jets will aim for speeds of up to Mach 1.7 – twice that of today's fastest commercial aircraft but less than Concorde's top speed of Mach 2.04. The company says flights will use 'up to 100% sustainable' aviation fuel, which still produces greenhouse gases, but less than traditional jet fuels. Concorde, an Anglo-French supersonic airliner flown by Air France and British Airways, was retired in 2003 after 27 years of service. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Three years earlier, the jet suffered its only fatal incident when an Air France flight crashed on takeoff at Paris killing all 109 on board and four on the ground. However, it was maintenance issues, soaring operational costs and the impact of the 9/11 New York attacks on the aviation industry as a whole that were blamed for the end of Concorde. Blake Scholl, the founder and chief executive of Boom, told the Guardian in 2022 that his company would succeed where Concorde failed because his jets would be lighter and more efficient. 'Concorde was a technological marvel for the 1960s,' he said. 'But they weren't focused on the economics, and it became too expensive to fly.'
Russia Today
29-01-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
Prototype jet breaches sound barrier in historic flight
A test aircraft built by Boom Supersonic, a US start-up, has broken the sound barrier for the first time during a flight over California's Mojave Desert, potentially ushering in a new era of faster air travel, the company said in a statement. Boom Supersonic's XB-1 jet became the first privately developed aircraft to reach Mach 1.1 (approximately 770mph or 1,240kph) on Tuesday. The aircraft, flown by chief test pilot Tristan 'Geppetto' Brandenburg, achieved supersonic speeds three times during the flight. Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic, called the event 'a big day for all of us, for America, for aviation, and for human progress.' 'XB-1's supersonic flight demonstrates that the technology for passenger supersonic flight has arrived,' Boom stated. 'A small band of talented and dedicated engineers has accomplished what previously took governments and billions of dollars,' Scholl added. The test flight occurred in the same airspace where, in 1947, US Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier, flying the experimental Bell X-1 aircraft at Mach 1.05 at an altitude of 45,000 feet. The achievement is seen as a major step toward the development of Boom's commercial passenger aircraft, the Overture. Designed to carry up to 80 passengers, it is expected to fly at twice the speed of today's subsonic airliners, according to Boom. Boom Supersonic has already secured 130 orders for the Overture from major airlines, including American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines. The Overture is poised to be the first large commercial aircraft designed for net-zero carbon emissions, operating on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Despite this advancement, supersonic planes like the Overture face challenges such as high fuel consumption and sonic booms, which limit their ability to reach supersonic speeds over populated areas. Read more US F-35 slams into runway and explodes (VIDEO) The XB-1's milestone marks the first time a civil aircraft has gone supersonic over the continental United States since the Concorde's retirement. The Concorde was a groundbreaking supersonic passenger airliner developed jointly by Britain and France. It made its first flight on March 2, 1969, and entered commercial service in 1976. Capable of cruising at over twice the speed of sound (Mach 2.04) at altitudes up to 60,000 feet, it significantly reduced transatlantic travel times, flying from London to New York in about three hours. However, due to high operational costs, low passenger numbers, and a fatal accident in 2000, the Concorde was retired in 2003.
Boston Globe
29-01-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
First independently developed jet breaks the sound barrier over the California desert
Boom plans to focus next on the Overture airliner, which it says will carry as many as 80 passengers while moving at about twice the speed of today's subsonic airliners. 'XB-1's supersonic flight demonstrates that the technology for passenger supersonic flight has arrived,' Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl said in a statement. 'A small band of talented and dedicated engineers has accomplished what previously took governments and billions of dollars.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The aircraft, which flew for the first time in March, is made almost completely from lightweight carbon fiber. It uses an augmented reality vision system to help with landing, since its long nose and high-angle approach can make it difficult for pilots to see. Advertisement 'The future of aviation is here and now,' Amy Marino Spowart, president and CEO of the National Aeronautic Association, said in a statement. 'Not only is there hope for faster and better commercial flight, but Boom proves that it can be done sustainably.' Boom is one of several companies with an eye on supersonic passenger travel. Any new such service will likely face the same hurdles as the Concorde, which flew over the Atlantic and was barred from many overland routes because of the sonic booms it caused. Sonic booms are heard on the ground when airplanes fly faster than the speed of sound — typically about 760 mph (1,223 kph) near sea level but varying depending on temperature, altitude and other conditions, according to the Congressional Research Service. As a supersonic plane speeds through the air, it pushes molecules aside with great force, forming a shock wave 'much like a boat creates a wake in water,' according to NASA. Advertisement Tuesday's flight happened in the same airspace where in 1947 Charles 'Chuck' Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier, piloting an orange, bullet-shaped Bell X-1 rocket plane.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Boom Supersonic XB-1 breaks sound barrier over Mojave Desert
(Reuters) - About 35,000 feet (10,670 meters) over the Mojave Desert, northwest of Los Angeles, Boom Supersonic's XB-1 became the first privately funded airplane to break the sound barrier during a test flight on Tuesday. "She was real happy supersonic," Boom Chief Test Pilot Tristan "Geppetto" Brandenburg said after landing, in a video posted by Boom Supersonic. "That's the best she's ever flown, was supersonic." After getting to altitude, Brandenburg opened up the test plane's throttles, accelerating to Mach 1.1, or about 845 mph (1,360 kph) -- faster than the speed at which sound travels. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. In 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first human to break the sound barrier when he pushed the Bell X-1 past Mach 1 during a flight over the Mojave Desert. Boom Supersonic's XB-1 is a stepping stone in its plan to develop a commercially viable supersonic airliner, the Overture, capable of carrying 64-80 passengers across the Atlantic in about 3-1/2 hours. The company has 130 orders and pre-orders from American Airlines, United Airlines and Japan Airlines. Last year, it completed construction on its Overture Superfactory in Greensboro, North Carolina, where it plans to build 66 Overture aircraft per year.
