Some dude figured out the wheel in 20000 BC but was like uhhh, wait. There’s no domesticated animals. Ok that’s what I’ll do. I’ll personally create the domestication of animals so that I can give my wheel a use case. Wait shoot. No fields to plow. Ok wait, so I’m gonna also fund the global domestication of seed crops and that will accelerate the adoption of animals. THEN . ah dammit! No irrigation systems. Ok well let’s also start the concept of kings so they can have kingdoms which can then pool everyone’s resources together to fund …..anyhow, having to go full vertical integration often means not having product market fit.
It’s not a matter of being wrong either, this is a cool idea actually. I hope it succeeds.
I won't say how exactly, but I got to see a very early glimpse of the Turboelectric Adaptive Engine concept as it was being spawned. As an evolutionary event stream, we've had a few of these moments . . . invention of the transistor and integrated circuits, decoding the human genome (and subsequent CRISPR tech), quantum computing (the photonic version is coming), AI becoming ubiquitous, and now, the radical evolution of aerospace access, of which the TAE tech could be a fundamental ingredient to this recipe . . . remember this moment.
"Boeing isn't... incompetent" is actually the worst take you've ever written. I take your word for most things, I don't think I'm alone in that thinking. Which makes that statement even more gross. People look to you for truth
I have high hopes for this tech to develop but I'm not holding my breath that they'll actually make the grand vision real. Constant comparison to successful companies is a bit telling. Attributing their success to what they did. While a lot of others also did the same things but didn't fall on the right ears at the right time. And the crapification of flight experience or software, commerce etc. isn't a matter of tech limits but greed. Something that tech doesn't solve. Just enables in a different segment. First it's prohibitively expensive so you have to provide luxury then you try to squeeze more and more out of that by making it denser, hidden fees up to the point it sucks but not enough not to have customers.
So the premise of new tech solving crappy flight experience is laughable. Also vertical integrations allows for a lot of development efficiency and speed but also increases the risks as failure on one of them is unacceptable. And also tends to create tunnel vision if you have to absorb the cost of shifting to another strategy when your pipeline is already at least partially in place.
I really hope it turns out great but I'm not holding my breath.
wonder if one might get away with an otto-cycle engine for even smaller planes where turbines become poorly performing (how does this scale?) If the system weight is dominated by the generator and motor (75% say) perhaps an otto engine that is twice as big but more efficient at small sizes than a small turbine would close even if the total weight is 125% of a smaller inefficient small turbo-generator powered electric motorjet (cold and hot).
(Why are there no tow launched or air-launched sst-s?)
This is incredible. Wildly ambitious
Amen. Excited for the world in which they pull it off.
Wow. Together with the Terraform industries YouTube video, those are the 2 best pieces of content I’ve seen THIS YEAR.
You make me believe in the human race, and have a much better mood in the short term.
Thank you for this amazing coverage - really, no words will do it justice.
Makes me very happy to hear it! Fun time to get to shine a light on the people building all of this stuff.
This makes me wish I was a fresh out. What an exciting opportunity for those MEs (like myself 25 years ago) considering their career choices today.
Thank you for this article! Best thing I’ve read in a very long time.
Thank you, Carolina! I really appreciate that, and am also jealous of the young MEs coming out today.
Some dude figured out the wheel in 20000 BC but was like uhhh, wait. There’s no domesticated animals. Ok that’s what I’ll do. I’ll personally create the domestication of animals so that I can give my wheel a use case. Wait shoot. No fields to plow. Ok wait, so I’m gonna also fund the global domestication of seed crops and that will accelerate the adoption of animals. THEN . ah dammit! No irrigation systems. Ok well let’s also start the concept of kings so they can have kingdoms which can then pool everyone’s resources together to fund …..anyhow, having to go full vertical integration often means not having product market fit.
It’s not a matter of being wrong either, this is a cool idea actually. I hope it succeeds.
This is epic!!! More of this content. Keep them coming! Go Techno Optimists! Assemble!
Amazing article! Objective, complete, clear and inspiring. Thanks, Packy.
Ian's story is inspiring, and his vision for Astro Mechanica is mind blowing.
This is the kind of moonshot project that deserves all support.
Now this is a company we can rally behind
Exciting stuff. Too bad I'm a retired bit flipper.
Damn this makes me excited for the future; airlines do seem to be reaching the end of their tech tree.
What are some other industries that you see reaching the end of their tech tree in the coming decade (or are already there)?
So excited for a major step-change in airlines.
This is such an awesome startup. Very exciting. Wonder if there were more like this?
As a ME this is the dream project.
Remember this moment . . .
I won't say how exactly, but I got to see a very early glimpse of the Turboelectric Adaptive Engine concept as it was being spawned. As an evolutionary event stream, we've had a few of these moments . . . invention of the transistor and integrated circuits, decoding the human genome (and subsequent CRISPR tech), quantum computing (the photonic version is coming), AI becoming ubiquitous, and now, the radical evolution of aerospace access, of which the TAE tech could be a fundamental ingredient to this recipe . . . remember this moment.
"Boeing isn't... incompetent" is actually the worst take you've ever written. I take your word for most things, I don't think I'm alone in that thinking. Which makes that statement even more gross. People look to you for truth
Solid tech vast extrapolation.
I have high hopes for this tech to develop but I'm not holding my breath that they'll actually make the grand vision real. Constant comparison to successful companies is a bit telling. Attributing their success to what they did. While a lot of others also did the same things but didn't fall on the right ears at the right time. And the crapification of flight experience or software, commerce etc. isn't a matter of tech limits but greed. Something that tech doesn't solve. Just enables in a different segment. First it's prohibitively expensive so you have to provide luxury then you try to squeeze more and more out of that by making it denser, hidden fees up to the point it sucks but not enough not to have customers.
So the premise of new tech solving crappy flight experience is laughable. Also vertical integrations allows for a lot of development efficiency and speed but also increases the risks as failure on one of them is unacceptable. And also tends to create tunnel vision if you have to absorb the cost of shifting to another strategy when your pipeline is already at least partially in place.
I really hope it turns out great but I'm not holding my breath.
Nice! Please do a piece about Joby.
wonder if one might get away with an otto-cycle engine for even smaller planes where turbines become poorly performing (how does this scale?) If the system weight is dominated by the generator and motor (75% say) perhaps an otto engine that is twice as big but more efficient at small sizes than a small turbine would close even if the total weight is 125% of a smaller inefficient small turbo-generator powered electric motorjet (cold and hot).
(Why are there no tow launched or air-launched sst-s?)