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)
Tag: Supersonic
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)
FAA Reviewing Boom’s Request to Conduct Supersonic Test Flights Using XB-1 Demonstrator
FlightGlobal reports the FAA released an environmental assessment addressing the possible impacts of Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 demonstrator, which describes the company’s flight tests as having minimal environmental impact.
Full Story (FlightGlobal)
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)
NASA’s New Supersonic Jet Will Have One Thing Missing: A Sonic Boom
Robb Report reports that NASA’s experimental X-59 jet, powered by GE Aerospace, will work to minimize the loud noise that usually accompanies an aircraft breaking the sound barrier – aiming for a sound that is more akin to the thud of a closing car door than the usual explosive sound.
Full Story (Robb Report)
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)
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)
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)