Boom's XB-1 jet nails supersonic flight for first time

US civil sector boldly goes where Concorde has gone before

The US civilian aviation sector has achieved what Concorde managed half a century ago – piloted supersonic flight in a domestically built jet.

More than 20 years since the supersonic airliner last flew, Boom Supersonic took its XB-1 demonstrator aircraft to Mach 1.122 in the same airspace where US pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier for the first time in 1947.

According to the company, "XB-1's supersonic flight marks the first time an independently developed jet has broken the sound barrier."

Boom Supersonic (or just "Boom") adopted a systematic approach to testing, taking the XB-1 through subsonic, transonic, and eventually supersonic speeds. Control and stability issues were resolved during the test program, leading to the successful flight on January 28 by Chief Test Pilot Tristan "Geppetto" Brandenburg.

Brandenburg said: "Our discipline and methodical approach to this flight test program created the safety culture that made a safe and successful first supersonic flight possible. With the lessons learned from XB-1, we can continue to build the future of supersonic travel."

Having demonstrated the technology with the XB-1, Boom plans to reintroduce commercial supersonic flight with its Overture aircraft, capable of carrying 64 to 80 passengers at Mach 1.7 – approximately twice the speed of today's subsonic airliners.

Mike Bannister, former Chief Concorde Pilot for British Airways, called the flight a "major landmark."

He said: "When I last flew Concorde in 2003, I knew this day would come. Boom is well on its way towards making sustainable supersonic flight a reality, aboard Overture – my number one choice as a successor to Concorde.

"Congratulations to [CEO] Blake Scholl, all at Boom and especially its pilot, Tristan 'Geppetto' Brandenburg. Having been Concorde's Chief Pilot, I envy his role in this exciting return towards mainstream supersonic flight."

While XB-1's flight is an achievement, there is still a long way to go until Overture takes to the skies with a complement of paying passengers. Boom claims it has an order book of 130 jets from American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines, and that its North Carolina facility will be able to scale to produce 66 Overture aircraft per year.

Boom boss Scholl said: "A small band of talented and dedicated engineers has accomplished what previously took governments and billions of dollars."

Concorde did indeed require billions of dollars in government funding to get off the ground. It also had orders for more than 100 aircraft, but in the end, only 14 production aircraft were built for commercial service. The airliner was capable of traveling at Mach 2.04. ®