The sci-fi aircraft concept that could appear at an airport near you

“I think these are praiseworthy and sincere ventures,” says Sweetman. “But what I see in a lot of these new projects is a sort of airy, ‘We can do this, we are a new generation. Stop being negative grandpa.’

“Sure, you can be optimistic, but you really must look at where the obstacles are, how much money is it really going to take you to get a product that you can offer to an airline, how to deliver it and then how much to be able to deliver it at a profit.”

Outbound is now busy turning Steve into the Gateway drone which it can sell in the meantime. After that, it has plans for an upgraded version with double the wingspan, an ultra-long-range business jet, and the Olympic, as well as even bigger airliner planned for the 2040s. But there will be plenty of challenges to overcome before then.

“There is a vast talent pool of aerospace engineers, managers and leaders here in Seattle who are, quite honestly, hungry for something new,” says Boysen, “and that is why we are here.”

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