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Supersonic air travel may be making a comeback, thanks to the work of companies like Boom. We visited Boom’s hangar in Mojave, California, to learn about what it took to resurrect the dream of superfast intercontinental air travel, more than 20 years after the retirement of the Concorde supersonic jetliner.
At the time of writing, the Boom Supersonic XB-1 demonstrator aircraft has flown 11 test flights, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 0.95. Mach 1 is the speed of sound — about 767 mph at 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl says it will go supersonic “somewhere around flight 12.”
Boom Supersonic says the XB-1 demonstrator plane is poised to break the sound barrier.
Behind the controls for these flights is Chief Test Pilot Tristan “Gepetto” Brandenburg, who told me that from inside the plane, going supersonic is “really kind of anticlimactic.” Apart from a subtle change in the feel of the controls, the only way he would know this was happening was to watch his speed indicator.
Brandenburg showed his view from the cockpit inside the XB-1 flight simulator.
The infamous sonic boom, after which the company and the XB-1 “Baby Boom” aircraft were named, was primarily something people experienced outside of the airplane. To minimize disruption to anyone who lives and works in Boom’s flight path, the company says it plans to fly its passenger planes at supersonic speeds over the ocean, and fly at just under the speed of sound above the ground. That’s still faster than the cruising speed of traditional jetliners, though, which is about 550 to 600 mph.
Boom said it is also monitoring NASA’s progress low-boom supersonic technology and may integrate that into future aircraft designs.
Shortly after the supersonic, Boom’s XB-1 demonstrator aircraft will be retired and the focus will shift to building the enlarged passenger plane Overture.
The XB-1 flight test program paved the way for the Overture, Boom passenger aircraft, capable of running on traditional aviation fuel as well as newer ones. sustainable aviation fuel.
The company aims to bring its first passengers in about five years. It has completed construction on a “superfactory” that will make 33 Overture planes a year to start with, with plans to expand. United, American and Japan Airlines already have preorders.
Boom completed construction of its Overture Superfactory in North Carolina in June of last year.
While ticket pricing will ultimately be set by different airlines, passengers can expect to pay a small premium for a faster trip, especially “on the first day, when there are more passengers than there are planes,” it said. Scholl. “But our goal is to lower (prices) over time.”
To see our full visit to the Boom Supersonic, as well as my test piloting the XB-1 flight simulator, watch the video in this article.
