All that's cool and quirky at the Paris Air Show
PARIS (AP) — There are flying cars and Concorde's would-be supersonic successor, a company offering to deliver cargo to the Moon — for a mere $1.2 million per kilogram — and the latest in funky futuristic aviation ideas, both big and small.
The carbon-fiber four-wheeler drove out of Paris and then crossed the English Channel between France and England last week, flying from Calais to Dover using the paragliding sail it carries in a niche on its back, and powered by the large fan glued to its rear.
Boom's goal is for a supersonic airliner that would fly 2.6 times faster than other commercial aircraft and could half the seven-hour flight between New York and London, flying at 1,450 miles (2,300 kilometers) per hour and carrying 55 passengers.
[...] thanks to fifty years of progress and how we build airplanes, aerodynamics, materials and engines, you can build a supersonic airplane which is affordable to fly and profitable to the operator as an airline, Blake Scholl, Boom's CEO, said at the Paris show.
Several companies at the Paris show are offering solutions to bring down drones, responding to concerns that the unnamed flying machines could be modified to carry toxic agents and used by terrorists to attack crowds from the air.
France deployed anti-drone technologies to protect stadiums when it hosted the European soccer championship last year.
Drone tracking and jamming equipment has also been used to safeguard the airspace above championship football games in the United States and military bases — both from attack drones and those used for surveillance and intelligence-gathering.
Black Sage, based in Boise, Idaho, showcased a Christmas tree-like array of sensors at the Paris show that the company's co-founder, David Romero, said can spot and track drones as small as four inches (10 centimeters) across — no larger than many birds.