Tag: Supersonic

Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 Makes 4th Successful Test Flight

Simple Flying reports, “Boom Supersonic conducted a fourth and successful Boom XB-1test flight, this time reaching an altitude of 16,150 feet and a speed of Mach 0.617 (about 313 knots equivalent airspeed) during tests for flutter, g-forces, handling, and landing gear. The proof-of-concept XB-1 is helping educate Boom Supersonic on how to build and test supersonic aircraft in the lead-up to building Boom Overture.”
Full Story (Simple Flying)

Latest Boom Supersonic Test Paves Way for 1st Mach 1 Flight

Aerotime reports Boom Supersonic is “determining whether a 12th test flight of its XB-1 demonstrator is needed before its first attempt at breaking the speed barrier. On January 10, 2025, XB-1 reached speeds of Mach 0.95 during a 44-minute flight over the Mojave Desert with Chief Test Pilot Tristan ‘Geppetto’ Brandenburg at the controls.”
Full Story (Aerotime)

NASA Delays Test Flights of X-59 to 2024

Aviation Week in paywalled coverage reports NASA “has pushed back the first flight of the X-59 low-boom supersonic demonstrator to 2024 after a series of subsystem issues encountered during check-out tests at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, late this summer proved harder to solve than expected.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

NASA’s X-59 Supersonic Aircraft Will Fly This Year

Aviation International News reported NASA confirmed that the X-59 supersonic aircraft “will fly this year and be tested over about a nine-month period with initial trials proving performance and safety. Once concluded, Lockheed Martin will formally hand over the aircraft to NASA, a milestone anticipated in 2024.” NASA said that the “program will then enter ‘Phase 2’ under which NASA flies the aircraft within the supersonic test range over NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center and Edwards Air Force Base in California to prove that the supersonic technology works as designed and that the aircraft is safe for operations in the National Airspace System. The third phase of the program is set to kick off in 2025 and run through 2026, involving flight trials over several U.S. cities. This is when the data collection will occur.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)

Boom Supersonic to Partner with Kratos on Engines for its Jets

Reuters reports, “Boom Supersonic charted plans on Tuesday to develop an engine for its jets in partnership with a unit of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions after a snub from legacy civil engine makers left the U.S. startup with few options.” The company “also outlined deals with GE Additive and maintenance, repair & overhaul firm StandardAero.”
Full Story (Reuters)

Bombardier Goes Supersonic with its Global 8000

Aviation Week reported, “As Bombardier continues certification tests of the extended-range Global 8000, company test pilots have provided new details of the unusual supersonic flight-test campaign conducted last year off the California coast.” Flight testing for the fastest and longest-range business jet is using FTV-5, a Global 7500 aircraft on which the 8000 is based. In May of 2021, the FTV-5 repeatedly achieved supersonic speed in shallow dives, reaching Mach 1.015 The test marked the fastest civilian aircraft since the retirement of the Concorde and the first transport category aircraft to fly supersonically with sustainable aviation fuel.
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Argonne National Laboratory Researches Supersonic Turbulence, Publish Findings In AIAA Journal

HPCWire reports that researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory are using supercomputing to study the shock/boundary-layer interaction (SBLI) when an aircraft goes supersonic in order to “improve the performance of high-speed aircraft.” Researchers utilized the “Theta supercomputer at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF).” The research “was published as ‘Crossflow effects on shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interactions’ in Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal.”
Full Story (HPCWire)

NetJets Obtains Purchase Right for 20 of Aerion’s AS2 Supersonic Business Jets

Reuters reports that Aerion “said on Wednesday Berkshire Hathaway’s private aircraft firm, NetJets, has obtained purchase rights for 20 of its AS2 business jets.” The AS2 “will be powered by engineered synthetic fuel and can reach supersonic speeds of up to Mach 1.4, or about 1,000 miles (1,610 km) per hour, which is 150% faster than conventional business jets, Aerion said.” Aerion, which is backed by The Boeing Company, now has a “global order backlog for the AS2…valued at more than $10 billion.”
Full Story (Reuters)

Boom XB-1 Technology Demonstrator Getting Closer to Supersonic Milestone

Aviation Week reports, “Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 technology demonstrator probed deeper into the transonic speed regime during its ninth test flight from Mojave Air & Space Port, California, on Dec. 13, paving the way for an attempt to reach and exceed Mach 1, now targeted for early 2025. Piloted by Boom chief test pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg, the XB-1 expanded the altitude envelope to over 27,700 ft., continued tests of the Flutter Excitation System (FES), and reached a maximum speed of Mach 0.87.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Boom Faces Battle in Search for Supersonic Engine

Aviation International News reports that as Boom “continues its efforts to convince an engine manufacturer to back its supersonic ambitions by investing in a new power plant, how exactly airlines expect to capitalize on the promised Mach 1.7 speed remains a central question.” Critics question the viability of a fuel-thirsty SST aircraft when airlines are searching for cleaner and more efficient engines. However, Boom believes the use of 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) can make Overture operations carbon-neutral. An American Airlines spokesman said, “As Boom continues to develop the Overture aircraft, we will work together to better understand where, when, and how it may best fit within our network and operation. With the aircraft not expected to carry its first passengers until 2029, it’s premature to discuss specific routes. Additionally, the specifics of the purchase are still subject to a finalized purchase agreement with future agreed upon milestones and terms, including customary requirements and conditions.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)

Boom Chooses North Carolina Site for Supersonic Passenger Jet Manufacturing

The AP reports that Boom Supersonic “announced Wednesday that it has chosen a North Carolina airport as the manufacturing site for next-generation supersonic passenger jets.” Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro will be the home for Boom Supersonic’s “first full-scale manufacturing plant, including the final assembly line, testing and delivery center for its proposed Overture supersonic airliner.” The manufacturing facility is estimated to “create over 1,750 jobs by 2030, with a goal of reaching more than 2,400 jobs by 2032.”
Full Story (Associated Press)

Lockheed Martin Releases Video on NASA X-59 Supersonic Jet

SPACE reports on a video released on YouTube by Lockheed Martin about “NASA’s new X-59 supersonic jet” in which engineers “talked about the work of the forthcoming quiet supersonic flyer.” The video “opens with an incredible timelapse showing the jet coming together within view of a large team of technicians, seeking to make supersonic flight more silent than ever before.” NASA hopes to test the jet “over several communities in the United States starting in 2024.”
Full Story (SPACE)
 
 
 

 

 Video

Supersonic X-59 Continues to Progress in CA

FAA to Allow Boom Supersonic to Break Sound Barrier

Flying Magazine reports, “For the first time in its history, the FAA has issued a special flight authorization to allow Boom Supersonic to break the sound barrier. The approval will allow the Colorado startup to fly its XB-1 demonstrator aircraft faster than Mach 1 up to 20 times over the next year in the Black Mountain Supersonic Corridor in Mojave, California.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)

Boom Receives FAA Clearance for XB-1 Supersonic Tests

Aviation Week reports, “In what the FAA has termed ‘a major federal action,’ the U.S. aviation regulator has granted Boom permission to conduct supersonic overland tests of the company’s XB-1 demonstrator. The special flight authorization (SFA) is the first ever issued by the FAA for tests of a civil supersonic aircraft, as all non-military aircraft are currently prohibited from operating above Mach 1 over land in the U.S.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Boom’s XB-1 Supersonic Demonstrator Takes Flight for First Time

Aviation Week reports, “Boom Supersonic flew its XB-1 demonstrator—the world’s first privately developed faster-than-sound civil aircraft—for the first time at Mojave Air & Space Port, California, on March 22.”  The successful flight “marks a step toward the development of the company’s planned Mach 1.7 Overture airliner later this decade.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Boom Prepares XB-1 Demonstrator for Maiden Supersonic Flight

Aviation24.be reports, “The world is on the verge of witnessing a historic moment in aviation. Boom Supersonic, the company pioneering the return of commercial supersonic travel, is preparing for the maiden supersonic flight of its XB-1 demonstrator. After a rigorous program of 11 successful test flights at increasing speeds, XB-1 is poised to break the sound barrier. This groundbreaking event will be livestreamed globally, allowing the public to witness this pivotal moment in aviation history. The livestream is scheduled for January 28, 2025, at 06:45 PST/09:45 EST/14:45 GMT.”
Full Story (Aviation24.be)