Is Hermeus the Skunk Works of a new generation?
Atlanta-based Hermeus has been making rapid progress toward fielding the world's first reusable, air-breathing hypersonic aircraft in their Quarterhorse technology demonstrator. Last month, the company revealed Quarterhorse Mk 1, the company's first flying prototype.
Let's talk about what that means, and why it's hard not to draw parallels between Hermeus today, and another legendary aircraft manufacturer.
Books Cited:
www.amazon.com/Kelly-More-Than-Share-All/dp/0874744911
www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0316743003
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Citations:
www.sandboxx.us/news/hermeus-reveals-flying-prototype-in-their-pursuit-of-a-reusable-hypersonic-jet/
www.sandboxx.us/news/hermeus-hypersonic-aircraft-takes-another-big-step-toward-flight/
www.sandboxx.us/news/hypersonic-firm-hermeus-proves-their-mach-5-jet-engine-works/
www.hermeus.com/quarterhorse
www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics/skunkworks/skunk-works-origin-story.html#:~:text=Consequently%2C%20Johnson's%20organization%20operated%20out,carried%20out%20in%20strict%20secrecy.
www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics/skunkworks/skunk-works-origin-story.html
www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/features/history/rich.html
www.hermeus.com/aj-piplica
www.airforce-technology.com/projects/x-60a-hypersonic-flight-research-vehicle/
www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2057852/x-60a-program-conducts-integrated-vehicle-propulsion-system-verification-test/
www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/features/history/johnson.html
If I ever use the term "Audacious" for something, it had better be really freaking good.
Audaciously good, even
In most cases it's just "insolent".
😂
Audacious just means bold and unrestrained. Overused words might be awesome, wondrous, and things like that.
Hypersonic means your aircraft has a heat problem, which means it has a reliability problem.
_"That damn Swede can _*_actually_*_ see air!"_ This is simultaneously the most hilarious AND awesome compliment I've ever heard! 🤣
I always believed that we can see air, it kinda mimics another elements reaction when disturbed, I'll stop at that ? Who knows I ate a lot of LSD growing up ?
I’d bet my entire life savings that LM skunk works has stuff we can’t even dream of yet
Yeah me too LM skunk works is probably light years ahead
LM may have stuff like that but the corporate leaders have forgotten what made them great
Yep
Like SpaceX, they aren't afraid to fail. They actually embrace it as a learning device.
We can only speculate about what the Skunk Works has under wraps. But I do want to offer some sobering thoughts based on my readings of various books, and it's simply this: Even the greatest engineers and scientists have limitations of psychology that prevent them from seeing new possibilities as they go through their careers. Kelly Johnson was extremely gifted in aerodynamics, and Hal Hibber was willing to listen to him, even though he was going against conventional wisdom of the time. So too Ben Rich listened to Denys Overholzer and supported the development of stealth technology. However Kelly Johnson was resistant to stealth design because he felt it could not be made to fly and apparently literally kicked Ben Rich in the ass too for even entertaining the idea. Another quick example: in the realm of supercomputers, Seymour Cray who was one of the greatest engineers ever, could not embrace massive parallelism in high performance computing. So anyway, the point is that sometimes the limitations to continued innovation are psychological more than they are technological, and even the Skunk Works is not immune to this, because innovative teams almost always become risk-averse, as they gain prominence.
The thing I like the most is the amount of in-house design and manufacturing. People the are building it ACTUALLY interact directly with designers in the same building, unlike almost everyone else . "RealEngineering" made a good KZhead video about this project and is well worth watching.
Spot on, I feel this is why we are seeing poor quality in some parts of the aviation sector mainly commercial uhmmm Boeing, there's no direct interaction they're basically not working as a real team.
The Commercial Hypersonic airliner idea of theirs is... something else to say the least. Like the Concorde, one issue that I imagine Hermeus would have to manage is the Sonic boom such an aircraft would create (if the sonic boom produced by Concorde was loud, I can't imagine how loud a Hypersonic boom would be). I could imagine that it would be less of an issue if they just flew Transatlantic or Trans-Pacific flights, like what Boom Supersonic wants to do. Still though, if they can get commercial hypersonic travel to be as safe and reliable as commercial air travel is now, it could be neat.
@@dx-ek4vr Lots of R&D has gone into this problem from other US agencies esp NASA’s X-59, only a matter of time until r they solve this or, at least, dramatically reduce the BOOM; which X-59 has done.
Vertical integration has become more important for cutting edge tech
This is got to be one of the most fascinating channels for air power aircraft
I have watched every video released in they last year or so, I look at other channels as well but IMHO this channel is popular and well respected because Alex Hollings is very good at his job, which requires being a serious nerd and doing lots of research, gathering information from numerous sources both written and from people directly, historical and new, open source and no-doubt from leaks, then collating this information and reporting on it with the energy and enthusiasm that IMHO comes from his passion on the subjects that he deals with.
He is bad at journalism and research, saying this is the world first reuseable hypersonic drone is misleading as Australian company have one with a scramjet and these guys have world fastest scramjet at mach 12 and have real atmosphere tests of their scramjets during HIFIRE joint USA, AUS hypersonic tests. This company won USA defence contract to build USA hypersonic vehicles and won it over 63 other companies and i would say won it over Hermues also. and first flight of the drone is this or next year. So Alex will look bad if it beats Hermeus and it definitely will beat it in top speed as ramjets are limited in speed.
Also never mentions Australia involvement in USA hypersonics, Yes HACAM and HAWC scramjet missiles were developed through SCIFIRE joint USA, Australia hypersonics. Australia so far advanced in hypersonics China even stole Australian Ray Stalker hypersonic wind tunnel designs and say they improved it and now they have world fastest hypersonic wind tunnels. That is how bad China is and how far behind they are too.
I like him but hes by no means a subject matter expert, go watch real engineering if you want more indepth look at hermeus
@@Th3Shrike Yea don't mind their channel, Alex and i even had a argument on his tiktok over the Australian hypersonic drone, he said it was a Kratos drone buying the Australian scramjet engine for it. Whole thing is Australian only at one point Kratos was going to build the launch system and now i see Rocketdybe are launching it for them.
No one does it better than you, Alex. Thanks!
Check out Real Engineering's take on this.
@@yevgeniygorbachev5152 if they don't feature goofy faces on thumbnails and silly click bait titles, I might.
Kelly Johnsons skunk works didn't just change aviation, they changed every day life. They had to invent the entire titanium manufacturing process for their Mach 3 programs. That lead directly to everything from titanium rods used to surgically set broken bones to smoke pipes
It doesn't matter what you can design and create if you can't bring it to public. Many of the most genius creators and their machines were confiscated or destroyed by our own government through the invention secrecy act of 1951.
Not really. The Skunk Works led the development of titanium in sheet form. That metal had been used in forgings and castings - the usual applications - since the mid 1950's. The A-3J used forged titanium in its engine frames.
They co-developed the specific alloy for its improved fatigue and machining properties.
As a young aerospace engineer, the discussion about manufacturing at the beginning video was what sold me on the potential of this company. Being able to get up from your desk and talk with a machinist who will make your part or a technician who will handle it is what makes the difference between a project that goes from a blank sheet of paper to flight in 5 years and one that gets.
Me too, hope to work there someday.
I love his passion and how he allows his guests to talk without interruption, a rare feat nowadays.
He presents himself as an analyst / reporter. People who have to yell at their audience are NOT analysts. His award went to his head. He needs to include a discussion about the difference between DARPA studies and building combat capable solutions. The US is NOT going to adopt rules of engagement that turn loose what are essentially R&D toys. Proof of concept. He knows that. Organizations like this bring in the BIG idea and the DoD procurement system takes the essential information and turns it into a viable, deployable military system. Companies like this get you Cyber trucks site bad designs and kill their owners. Try taking your “state is the art” Tesla truck through a car wash. Have a flat tow on speed dial and a big bank account cause you just bricked your penis enlarger and they will NOT warrantee it. America does not send out autonomous vehicles to kill other humans. Period. A human must be in the loop. I first was involved in studies of cooperative loitering unmanned aircraft in about 2001. It went nowhere because the use case failed to close. It’s fun to get a little stiffie thinking about how wonderful it is to have these paradigm changing geniuses out there creating but in the end it’s got to be militarized. It needs a full logistical tail. It needs to be operated by an Airman 3 or 4. These are a few of the reasons this whole story is crap. 40+ years in the business. Air breathers, UAVs. Satellites, launch vehicles, ICBMs. Armored vehicles ALCM. Been there. Done that. The whole pre is of this “story” is fatally flawed. Go do better
You're enthusiasm and passion for this really comes through here Alex .. (18:50 onwards) .. and that feeling is definitely shared by the many people who appreciate your journalistic work! ☮
*_I'M ALEX HOLLINGS !!_*
AND THIS IS AIR POWER!!!
And I am here to talk and forget to ask questions relating to the very premise of what I want to talk about... Yes, that was harsh, maybe too harsh, but I find it strange that he didn't ask the Hermeus people about the comparison at all. It would have been a whole lot better journalistically to have them talk about what, if anything, they have chosen to adopt from the way Skunkworks was run early on. Maybe he asked, and maybe they think there aren't any similarities and he left it out. Or maybe he didn't ask for some reason or the other. Maybe this premise came later which can happen and they were too busy for a second or third interview or maybe he just likes to be the one talking the most. Which is kind of an American way to conduct "journalism" whereas in other countries that would be the last resort. Granted, he is both the researcher, interviewer, expert and presenter rolled into one so the roles are less clear. But on this particular occasion with this premise, he should ideally have let Hermeus do way more of the talking.
His name is Robert Paulson.
@@PermanentExile Hehe, good one. Well, to nitpick, if you will allow me, Robert Paulson only had a name (and recognition?) in death. HOLLINGS makes sure we know who he is before getting to the story. Joke aside and trying to no shit on what Hollings is doing, it's a matter of personal preference and culture. I like the content, I just grew up in a place where journalists were never front and center of the subjects they reported on, so it irks me. But this very much how it's done in America where star reporters is a thing and I guess when you marry that with social media, then we get this. It's ok, it's free and I should stop complaining. Cheers.
Best episode ever! All teenagers and young 20s should watch this. The ultimate recruitment tool! Why do I need geometry? Algebra? Physics? In high school? To find those gifted minds!
Hello, again, Alex, and thank You for this marvelous tribute, to those heroes of aviation. I have autobiografic of Ben Rich. My favorite book of flight. "Kelly" Johnson, is the hero of all times. Two Colliers should prove that as a fact. And as said, he`s work has made many "innovations" possible today. May Quaterhorse grow, and get the air under the wings. from a Finn and engineer, in Diaspora
this channel is so dope. Has the right amount of Flare as well the right amount of technical info. You get channels where it’s all flare and either minor or inaccurate tech info, or you get channels where it’s all great info but it’s boring as hell. This is that perfect mix.
I wish you hadn't underrepresented what happened with the instability of that aircraft. In order to have been sent back to the wind tunnel, he had to have first proven his concerns to the tenured personal. That in itself is an achievement especially when in effect it's saying we were wrong and this neophyte caught it
What a great video, so glad I made time for it, thanks!
The Hermes team ought to be both proud and humbled by the fact that someone as credible as Alex is comparing them to the Skunk Works of the Kelly Johnson era.
"Audacious little Whipper-Snapper..." 👏🏼 I commend your work, sir! 👏🏼 Bravo!
Thank you for letting him talk through his thoughts instead of cutting him off. Many KZheadrs need to learn this.
Alex, thanks for the history lesson on the Skunkworks, defining the shoulders that Hermeus is building upon. Whether they are successful or not (I expect many design changes on the way), their boldness is fascinating to watch!
Second time I hear he can see air. First I heard was in F1, Adrian Newey was said he could see air and now Kellie Johnsson who also is said could see air. Those two most be extraordinairy people. Thanks for the video.
Glad i can catch another awsome video from you great work as always
Gracias Alex .....youre a true patriot,,love youre enthusiasm...God Bless you
I like Lockheed too. Kelly Johnson is a personal hero, the engineers must have had the best jobs on the planet, and probably still do. An amazing company, a true American aviation giant, and I wish I had been onboard. Seems Hermeus has a similar environment going on, and I’ll bet the engineers and technicians will have many years of ‘the best jobs of their lives.’ Good for them; I wish them well and to have success.
I love your channel. You make me interested in stuff I didn't know I was interested in. Keep it up.
Genuine new tallent is delightfull to see. Thanks for featuring Hermeus.
Nice work! One of your best so far. Keep up the good work
Excellent documentary, Alex. Thank you.
Alex, you are absolutely at the top of the heap when it comes to telling us all about the newest aviation technologies out there and you make it so understandable, Keep up the awesome job that you do !
I absolutely LOVE how genuinely passionate you are about Mr. Johnson. While I've never heard a bad word said about the Man (& I don't feel a bad word could be said about such a legend) I can relate to the passion & admiration you have regarding K.J. GET WELL SOON ALEX! You have carved out an awesome lane for both yourself & Air Power and I cannot get enough of it. Keep them coming! (Once you recover fully)
FWIW, If independent reporting is correct, Russia has lost 10% of it's military aircraft in the its war on Ukraine. According to the original Roman roots of the term, that means that Ukraine has 'decimated' Russian military aviation. Now you know.
Yeah do you really believe that? Nothing you see or hear is real. According to main stream media russia is getting its ass beat, except they haven’t lost a foot of ground and they are not grabbing guys off the street and their average age for the army isn’t 42!
Technically correct is the best kind of correct 😂
Thanks Alex Good work! All the best for the future in both Aviation and your roll in the force.
Thank you for this video about Hermeus, and the "Quarterhorse" prototype. Your narrative (especially the historical aspects, about Kelly Johnson and Skunk Works) is brilliant. This is some of your best work. Thank you!
I think the Skunk Words is the new skunk works. Hermeus is more... doing something which isn't really _commercially_ viable, but is interesting enough that the DoD bought in to keep tabs on it.
i disagree they shared their plan and it completely makes financial sense
@@PedroHenriquePS00000 Their cost per flight hour is gonna be somewhere north of a quarter million. Nobody needs same-day mail THAT badly. Concorde & Tu-144 were both much cheaper to develop & operate, and neither of those are still operating. A lot of their investment capital is through the DoD, which is "curious" about it, and at minimum wants 'dibs' on any tech developed in the R&D process, as well as enough investor leverage to veto some details of publishing info. Sure it's technically a civilian project, but it's been pretty heavily co-opted. In the 1950's if you designed something "militarily significant" and wanted to sell it (or details about it) to the public, humorless people with matching suits would come and take everything, and tell you to keep your mouth shut "or else". But over the years, it has become apparent that you get more flies with honey than vinegar. So DARPA has "bought in", rather than "shutting down".
agree more or less on the first sentence (at least for now), as for the second sentence i disagree, Hermeus' technology/aircraft/engines actually seem more affordable than other Hypersonic projects
@@Yuki_Ika7 "More commercially viable than other civilian hypersonic projects" That's a statement which is technically true, but it's a _very_ loaded statement.
@@kathrynck the USAF does tho
More outstanding work! I’m very thankful for a credible source, comprehensive, low bias information combined with an effective, efficient communication style. Keep it up!
Another great presentation, Alex. Thanks !
This was one of your most interesting vids! Thank you!!
Mr. Alex - Just keep doing, what you have been doing so Successfully since I discovered your Sandboxx News. IT’S Awesome. Just keep on Truckin’!! DEWinit !!! God Bless!
Wow!! Stunning presentation pal, respect from Manchester (UK) :)
My favorite military tech channel Alex is the best. Anyone get a audacity word count? 😁😉
2 many
No he isn't he is pretty bad at it and is USA biased too much. does not tell truth of all projects and when other countries are further ahead then USA he will not mention it. Australia is a head in hypersonic drones and ahead of USA in scramjet technology. But will not mention it, Australia played a huge part in USA hypersonic missiles. HACAM and HAWC scramjet missiles were developed under SCIFIRE joint USA, AUS hypersonics, also HIFIRE helped a lot.
USA funded Australia and there research! since were allies...So You got the Audacity to say there ahead! when not really! we gave em planes!😂🤦♂️
@@nedkelly9688 You are a jealous 🤡
Awesome Video Alex! Thank you.
Thank you Alex!
Once again absolute awesome reporting and insight to a possible future Powerhouse that will change the aircraft industry.Great job keep up the great work
Don't forget the X-7 unmanned ramjet test plane, It was able to fly at mach 4.7 back in the early sixties ! Another remarkable and groundbreaking Skunkworks product.
Magnificent vid. I have great hopes for this company. Really like their way of thinking and working.
Please keep us updated with this OMG
Very cool video! One of the best!
Awesome video Alex keep up the good work.
One of your best videos yet.
BRAVO! Best take on this subject ever! Yes, I've read both books. Yes. Encore!
Great episode sir
Thanks, Alex.
I believe that they have chosen the correct powerplant to build around. the J85 certainly has enough oomph to get Quarterhorse up to ramjet speed. Great episode, Alex. IMO, the SR-71 is THE most beautiful non-propeller plane ever to fly, and the story of Skunkworks is one of the most inspirational to date. Love this channel. Go Hermeus.
Another very interesting and well presented subject in airpower. Thanks.
good stuff, thanks for the info...
Fantastic video, thanks!
I'm rooting for them and hope they pull it off.
I absolutely love this channel… Alex you Rock! I can’t wait to see aviation in 10 years… tech is getting really impressive…
Whatta great video! Inspiring
The wings of the Halcyon concept are reminiscent of the XB-70 Valkyrie that I first read about…in the library of Saint Boniface grade school…almost sixty years ago. _Balls to the wall, Hermeus!_
Compression lift concept from Eggers & Syvertson. Let's ride the wave baby!
Great video again. You know your stuff.
Great work. I would love to see a deep dive into cockpits and what the future holds.
brooooooooo i love youir vids they are so frequent
Great coverage of a company I had never heard of.
I get goose bumps watching this channel!!!!
Fascinating evolution of the people, attitudes and aircraft
Great infomercial for Hermeus!
Great Stuff !!
Most of us know how important Johnson was to the aviation industry but this video really puts it into perspective. Legend!
Wonderful, wonderful video
totally exceptional
Great video
I love passion. I respect it more than anything else.
Thank you for fixing your very pink led lighting. I realise lighting is often a challenge but you’ve done a good job. And the content is of course great
Hey Alex - No shit my father was Airforce (no sure what you called it at the time) - CIA like spy dude... and they flew C-130's out of Edwards at night in the 1960's - the went in groups of 6 and the would open up the back of the C-130 with a net and capture those things over the ocean, much of it has been de-classified now but as a kid in the 80's I'd hear some crazy conversations. I just find it amazing I am listening to a piece of my late fathers history. So cool!!!!!!!!!!!!
This video got me all excited
Best of luck to the Hermeus team!
16:34 That is an awesome view of some wind vortices.
I love the XB-70 droopy wing design!
Alex, it is hard to put into words the Love I have for your channel. A channel where thanks are superfluous. I love Kelley Johnson's P-38 it is one of my top favorite planes of all time as is the SR-71. Whose retirement I still mourn even though I understand the reasons and probable logic. The description of him as the Audacious Swede seems certainly apt. If you know anything about the development of the JAS-39. Thank You as always...
There's a facet of this process management for lack of a better way to describe this, or maybe the best way to describe it, either than or project management, is something that comes up in other forms of project management, which is everyone matters. Every person's points should be considered. This is how you get an entire team to keep their minds engaged in what you're trying to achieve. Everyone matters. This is also why a smaller team can be so effective because the larger the team gets the more this point is forgotten.
I lead a small team of volunteers at my local Air Museum. This has been my guiding principle as we accomplish our preservation projects. I adopted the principle that I was not the source of all knowledge on processes. As you state above, everyone on the team has an equal voice in the projects. We have adapted and conquered every obstacle, together. Paraphrasing one of the directors, "...my team has completed more preservations in the last five years than the museum had accomplished in the previous 20 years."
Nother awesome video
Alex, absolutely perfect. God bless america! God bless freedom you have the best Channel keep it going buddy!
All America needs to be blessed is less god.
Real engineering on KZhead did some very nice videos about them. Love their stuff, insane to see them going so fast
Hermeus' staff are watching this, raising drinks and feeling good about their future, as they should.
Thanks!
LETS GOOO
u're contents is inspiring the least to say ✨👑🔥🔥🇺🇲🇺🇲
Putting both books in my Libby!
Kelly Johnson and the Skunk works achieved a great milestone with the A-12 / SR-71. However, Convair had similar programs going at the same time that were going to use RAM jet power to go even faster - Mach 4. I am sure there were many reasons why Lockheed might have won over Convair. The Skunk Works had a good track record for rapid and on budget success. Convair was working on producing B-58s and F-106s, and both programs became very costly and only limited numbers were produced. The Air Force is very cognizant of over reliance on a single contractor, especially if they have other obligations that would interfere with applying appropriate resources to a project. Also, the Air Force might have decided that Convair's proposal was at a lower technological readiness level than the Lockheed idea. Your main premise is correct though. A small group of extremely talented and self sufficient engineers, devoid of bureaucracy and enjoying direct lines of communication with each other can work faster and smarter than a huge behemoth of a division with massive bureaucracy and answering to committees of management and the government.
Great episode. Where will Hermeus be in ten years time 😮.
I need to get those two books.
You must have stock in Hermes… Great video, thanks for sharing!
Its insane how one of the rough sketches shown at 9:04 looks like an early prototype of the Northrop Grumman YF-23
This video is audacious!
They have taken a really smart way in developing this aircraft. I hope more copy it
Love your vids! I bet there are a lot of people that wish some audacity had been employed before the Challenger Space Shuttle had launched.
That is some serious juice you're able to cobble together. It was about 1970 when I became aware of the A12. Kelly's name became the most charged sound in any room.
well we don't really know what Skunkwords does
They smoke strong week and seggsually abuse Aliens at area 51.
I'd like to hear your opinion on the Chinese J35 Gyrfalcon, now that more is becoming known about that plane.
Agreed!
"I'm Alex Hollings... And this is NOT airpower"