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Heir-to-Concorde demo model to debut in October

With air travel in a horrible hole it’s ahead of its time in a weirdly viral way

The beardy-Branson backed company attempting to build a new supersonic airliner will reveal its tech to the world in October.

Known as “Boom Supersonic”, the company has previously teased a 2023 takeoff for a 55-seater plane capable of hopping from London to New York in three hours and fifteen minutes for a round trip price of just US$5,500, not vastly more than current business class fares.

Boom asserts that low price is possible because Concorde was cobbled together from 1960s tech but an entirely new aircraft built with today’s tools will do away with the problems that previously made supersonic travel super-expensive. But the company has struggled with one important factor – the plane’s range will top out at trans-Atlantic distances.

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The company has named October 7th as the day on which it will reveal a “supersonic demonstrator” that shows off “key technologies for Overture, Boom’s commercial airliner, such as advanced carbon fiber composite construction, computer-optimized high-efficiency aerodynamics, and an efficient supersonic propulsion system.”

Aviation buffs have also been promised “a first look at the completed aircraft” but promo material offers no hint of a flight. There’s also no detail of when the craft might take to the skies.

But we have been told that “the entire event will be available online and allow attendees an opportunity to submit questions to company leadership.”

Our first question is: "Hardly any conventional planes are flying right now and almost none of them are making a profit, so when do you think there’ll be a market for expensive and unproven new hardware?"

If you fancy asking yourself, or have a better question, you can register for the virtual launch event here. ®

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