Letters From Our Readers, Feb. 23, 2026

Powerful Praise

I have been very interested in your updates on the Boom Symphony (and now Superpower) engine development (“Power Path,” Jan. 12-25, p. 21), having spent 40 years designing and developing military fighter propulsion systems.

I will both be greatly amazed and deeply admire the Boom propulsion team if an industrial variant of the Superpower Boom engine is providing daily, useful commercial electrical power to one or more artificial intelligence graphics processing units in 2027, as well as a full-up Symphony turbofan running on a test stand the following year. One of the great challenges of propulsion development is staying on the baseline cost and schedule program while redesigning components that unexpectedly did not pass ground- or flight-test clearance or certification requirements.

I am particularly intrigued by the risk management plan and technical approach to changing the Superpower combustor fuel nozzle count to 22, as compared to the 24 on the aircraft engine. I am visualizing different high--temperature heat and pressure effects downstream for each core due to this change. Combustor and turbine durability differences, as well as turbine blade high-cycle fatigue resistance, are a couple of risks that come to mind.

On the aircraft engine side, I am unable to reconcile the statement that “Baseline Symphony engine development is not expected to present any undue technical challenges” with the areas in which Boom is breaking new ground, including “development of a low-noise, low-drag propulsion system, a high-temperature, long-endurance [high-pressure] turbine cooling design and a vertically integrated, lower-cost production system.”

I expect the pressure on the propulsion team will be intense and long-lasting, and they will deserve great recognition and reward when commercial electrical power and certified supersonic flight are delivered.

Tom Johnson, Sebring, Florida

Quantum Understanding

Emerging Technologies Editor Garrett Reim’s article explaining quantum computers (“Why Quantum Computers Are Difficult To Fathom,” Jan. 12-25, p. 34) was the most clear and lucid explanation of the subject I have seen in any publication. I now understand and do not understand quantum computers simultaneously.

George Tokarski, St. Charles, Illinois

Settling Suggestion

I heartily concur with reader Jim Kirkpatrick about the use of the word “colonization” in describing Aviation Week’s Space Tech Challenge Awards (“The Power of Words,” Jan. 26-Feb. 8, p. 8). As Kirkpatrick writes, “settling” and “settlement” are far, far better words to use. I would add the following caveat. Initially, the only individuals who should be classified as “settlers” and not simply visitors are those who meet the following conditions: 1) They are there for life, and 2) they are part of families or willing to be. If we are to send men and women millions of miles away to another planet, the easiest way to get other humans there is for them to have children.

William A. Danner, Lompoc, California

Looking Back

I received the Jan. 12-25 edition today and was delighted with the history of my Vietnam War coverage on page 9. The cover on the left featured a photo that I took after jumping out of the Boeing CH-47 Chinook and observing the mobility of the 1st Calvary Division’s artillery. The more famous one on the right was by photographer James H. Pickerell, whom I had hired. We both were riding on a flight of four Douglas A-1Es dropping the nasty stuff—white phosphorus and napalm.

C.M. “Tony” Plattner, Tucson, Arizona

Behind the Scenes

Aviation Week’s team produced four issues of its Show Business daily at the World Defense Show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 8-12. The show, which has now convened three times, has grown in prominence, demonstrating Saudi Arabia’s desire to boost its defense capabilities and expand and localize its aerospace and defense manufacturing base. In addition to the four issues of Show Business, edited by Arabian Aerospace Managing Editor Mark Pilling, Aviation Week produced a series of videos anchored by Arabian Editor-in-Chief Alan Peaford.