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The XB-1 aircraft accelerated to Mach 1.05 within about 11
minutes of taking off, according to Boom Supersonic and live
video of the test flight.
The flight at the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California,
took place as the company works to revive supersonic passenger
travel, which died with the grounding of the Anglo-French
Concorde more than two decades ago.
Boom plans to focus next on the Overture airliner, which it says
will carry as many as 80 passengers while moving at about twice
the speed of today’s subsonic airliners.
“XB-1’s supersonic flight demonstrates that the technology for
passenger supersonic flight has arrived,” Boom founder and CEO
Blake Scholl said in a statement. “A small band of talented and
dedicated engineers has accomplished what previously took
governments and billions of dollars.”
The aircraft, which flew for the first time in March, is made
almost completely from lightweight carbon fiber. It uses an
augmented reality vision system to help with landing, since its
long nose and high-angle approach can make it difficult for
pilots to see.
“The future of aviation is here and now,” Amy Marino Spowart,
president and CEO of the National Aeronautic Association, said
in a statement. “Not only is there hope for faster and better
commercial flight, but Boom proves that it can be done
sustainably.”
Boom is one of several companies with an eye on supersonic
passenger travel. Any new such service will likely face the same
hurdles as the Concorde, which flew over the Atlantic and was
barred from many overland routes because of the sonic booms it
caused.
Sonic booms are heard on the ground when airplanes fly faster
than the speed of sound — typically about 760 mph (1,223 kph)
near sea level but varying depending on temperature, altitude
and other conditions, according to the Congressional Research
Service.
As a supersonic plane speeds through the air, it pushes
molecules aside with great force, forming a shock wave “much
like a boat creates a wake in water,” according to NASA.
Tuesday’s flight happened in the same airspace where in 1947
Charles “Chuck” Yeager became the first person to break the
sound barrier, piloting an orange, bullet-shaped Bell X-1 rocket
plane.
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