Daniel Sykes

This is awesome but sad to see it is US only. Although, I appreciate it’s probs out of Boom’s control! The Mach Initiative has cooked up the following concept for a sub-25kg after-burning supersonic aircraft. We’d like to attempt this record regardless of the $800k prize, but Boom’s provision of a test range to do the flight will be critical. Finding somewhere to fly a drone >Mach 1 safely and legally as a team of hobbyists will be challenging. Best of luck to all the team’s involved - excited to see how fast people get. Whatever happens it will be great for RC aircraft world!!

$750k in cash and $50k in Boom stock for the first RC airplane to break the sound barrier: The Boom Prize 👀

@tomas_salvo22 Thanks! That would be awesome Congrats on your recent flight, it’s very impressive!

@Daniel__Sykes LFG! If you’re able to make it to California we should totally drive out to the desert and see how fast it goes. Best of luck!

I saw high-speed RC aeroplanes are getting attention. Here are some things I built in my garage! The largest crams a 300N turbojet into a 1m, 8kg aircraft. I’m ready for a 550-600 mph Guinness World Record attempt, but I’m in the UK and in need of a larger flying range to do this safely. @bscholl @DJSnM @elonmusk let’s make this an international competition! #aerospace #drones #rc

@MrJamesMay fancy making a sequel to “Action man at the Speed of Sound”?

Credit to the whole team for their hard work on this journey

@tomas_salvo22 Ignore the armchair engineers, this is awesome (and I say that as a competitor for the record) - excited to see what you build next!

My OG post now has a completely false community note that claims I did not design this plane, so I would like to clear some things up. This plane is my design. The body shape is similar (not identical) because that’s what’s optimal for these design constraints. Rockets are all tall and pointy. I’m sure Niels is an incredible engineer, and his plane is amazing. But this is my plane, designed by me from scratch (you can see a full 5-month building in public series on my LinkedIn, posted in realtime) and I’ve been building RC planes continuously since I was 10 (x.com/tomas_salvo22/…). Took a closer look at Niels' video now, and here’s just a couple of the most obvious engineering differences I can reveal: > Niels’ plane design is literally not available online. There were no build plans to copy from, but from photos it looks like he used foam+fiberglass overwrap. My plane is fully custom carbon fiber (internal structure CNC cut + skin, which I designed molds for and laid up myself). > My fusion file has 1480 operations. I pulled dozens of all nighters (in my dorm!) to make it fully myself, from scratch. > Fully custom inlet design with a bled boundary layer (not pictured in the OG post CAD, I iterated on it later. Pictured here) > Fully custom DMLS 3D printed titanium nozzle (looks like Niels uses a stock nozzle? either way looks nothing like mine, feel free to look at photos of my nozzle + dev process on my LinkedIn) > FPV (mine) vs line of sight (Niels) > Launch method: I use a completely different custom 30ft aluminum extrusion catapult There’s several more innovations that I can’t reveal right now to protect IP. The design is mine, and I’ve had no problem proving that to any VC who has asked. You don’t have to take my word for it: more to come, stay tuned.

@bscholl @themachinitiative" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@themachinitia…

@bscholl Challenge accepted.

Boom will be offering a prize—$50k cash and $50k in Boom stock—for the first amateur-built RC airplane to exceed Mach 1.

Flight and build videos: @themachinitiative" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@themachinitia…

@bscholl The Mach Initiative is another team trying to break this record - please see our latest flight tests below :) (including a few crashes that we learnt from) Ivan’s progress is also great - excited to see his design evolve! youtu.be/WlaD2Pn03eg?si…

"I'm a student building a jet engine from scratch so I can make the fastest-ever RC plane" was the gist of a cold email I received from Ivan, a CalTech freshman and Russian emigre. I'm supporting his GoFundMe—link below if you want to pitch in as well too.

@bscholl How fast will XB-1 go on its final flight? Will you take it to Overture’s speed of Mach 1.7? Loved watching the livestream, awesome stuff!

Boom is 140 people. I let the company get bloated and we peaked at almost 250. We get more done now with a smaller team. XB-1 team is 50 people. Don’t dunk on Archer. I have mad respect for anyone attempting hard things. I’m rooting for them.

My cousin is part of the Mach Initiative, a student group currently building a 570mph RC aircraft! Super exciting to see them close in on their first flight, check out their latest video 🔥🔥 youtu.be/z_SbJm7SGKQ

My brother is building the world's fastest RC plane lol youtu.be/SACdPkys8Mw

This semester I gave my 2nd-year numerical modelling class an assignment on an aerocapture mission to Venus. I was particularly impressed by this model from Daniel Sykes, Max Jones, and Francis Milne. Nice work! #ME20014 @bathenganddes @UniofBath 🚀

@torybruno @AmolSathe007 @smartereveryday Who made this rule, the government or ULA?

@AmolSathe007 @smartereveryday Sorry, no. You must be a US citizen

@Matt_Lowne @lolspam0988 You know you can make actual lamps which hang from ceilings now The games changed...

@lolspam0988 tbh the main reason is to get rid of the default glowstone look and make it look like a lamp lol

Yo Minecraft homies, what are some good texture packs these days?

@ajkitson @julia_bergeron I asked the gatekeeper before I got out of my car and he was really chill with it and chatted with us about SpaceX for 10 minutes

@julia_bergeron That’s a shame, but I do feel bad for the gate keeper. We drove by a few weeks ago and there were two LONG flatbeds and a bunch of us peepers and it made for a VERY difficult driving situation. But we all managed. It doesn’t say that you can’t drive by or walk/jog by...

Well this is new....So long Cidco Rd. Viewing. #StarhhipEast #SpaceX #Starship

@julia_bergeron So glad I went there 2 weeks ago then (especially since I live in the UK)!