Tag: XB-1

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.”
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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)

Boom Supersonic to Livestream XB-1 Test Flight at 10:45 AM

SPACE reports, “Boom Supersonic plans to break the sound barrier during a test flight this morning (Jan. 28). This would mark the first time the company achieves the feat, and you can watch the historic action live. Colorado-based Boom’s XB-1 test vehicle is scheduled to lift off on its 12th test flight from California’s Mojave Air & Space Port today at around 11:00 a.m. EST (1600 GMT; 8 a.m. local California time). If all goes well, the piloted demonstrator craft will exceed Mach 1 — the speed of sound — about 25 minutes later. Boom will webcast the mission live via its website beginning at 10:45 a.m. EST (1545 GMT).”

Watch Live (Boom Supersonic)
Full Story (SPACE)

Boom Supersonic to Test Fly Supersonic XB-1 Jet In 2021

SPACE reports that Boom Supersonic recently announced that it plans to fly a supersonic jet demonstrator in 2021. The demonstrator, XB-1, “will be 71 feet (22 meters) long and made of carbon composite, allowing it to remain resilient to flying faster than the speed of sound, the company said in an October statement.” Boom Supersonic Founder and CEO Blake Scholl said, “XB-1 is an important milestone towards the development of our commercial airliner, Overture, making sustainable supersonic flight mainstream and fostering human connection.” Boom Supersonic said that it hopes to do full-scale flight testing in 2025 to prepare for passenger flights later in the decade.
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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)

Commercial Supersonic Travel Could Shrink the World

Panelists: Moderator Peter Coen, project manager of commercial supersonic technology, NASA’s Langley Research Center; Michael Buonanno, deputy chief engineer, QueSST X-Plane, Lockheed Martin; Robert Cowart, director of supersonic technology development, Gulfstream Aerospace; Vik Kachoria, president and CEO, Spike Aerospace; Blake Scholl, founder and CEO, Boom Technology; Gurdip Singh Ubhi, business development executive, Rolls-Royce

by Tom Risen, Aerospace America Staff Reporter (2017-2018)

Advances including aerodynamics, propulsion and composites can make supersonic flight more affordable and open more travel routes than the commercial flights once offered by the British Airways Concorde, a panel of aviation executives said during the 2017 AIAA AVIATION Forum in Denver.

Supersonic flight can “shrink the world” the same way subsonic jet flight did by making it easier for families to visit relatives or vacation or for executives to make business trips, Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Colorado-based startup Boom Technology, said June 6 in the “Supersonic Transport” panel.

The Concorde had a top speed of Mach 2, or more than 2,000 kph, when it flew commercial flights between 1976 and 2003. The plane was too expensive to fly on limited commercial routes, however, so it “was an economic catastrophe,” Scholl said.

Advances including carbon composites and improved propulsion, however, make it more affordable to build a new generation commercial supersonic jet, Scholl said. In 2018, Boom plans to test the XB-1, a prototype version one-third the size of a supersonic airliner it hopes to debut and certify in the early 2020s.

Supersonic flight, however, creates noise that can not only disturb people and wildlife, but also can have environmental impact — like causing avalanches in mountain ranges, said Vik Kachoria, CEO of Spike Aerospace in Boston.

For this reason, the FAA banned supersonic flights over land even before Concordes began flying over the Atlantic. Reducing the noise of a sonic boom could make it more acceptable for regulators in the U.S. and Europe to allow supersonic flight routes around the world that could take hours off travel time.

To address the noise problem, Spike is developing its S-512 Quiet Supersonic Jet, which aims to cruise with 18 passengers at Mach 1.6 without producing a loud, disturbing sonic boom on the ground, Kachoria said.

This new generation of supersonic commercial travel will be available mainly to the “super rich for now,” Kachoria said, adding there will be a demand for people to travel to London for important business meetings within three or four hours.

“We’ll figure out how to do it better, faster, larger,” he said.

Selling supersonic jets or commercial flights to the wealthy who can afford it “breaches the market; it opens the door,” said Robert Cowart, director of supersonic technology development at Gulfstream Aerospace.

 

Video

All 2017 AIAA AVIATION Forum Videos

How Boom’s XB-1 Went Supersonic Without the Noise

Aerotime reports, “During the demonstration flight on January 28, 2025, the XB-1 broke the sound barrier three times, but not one of those occasions caused an audible sonic boom. ‘This confirms what we’ve long believed,’ says Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom. ‘Supersonic travel can be affordable, sustainable, and friendly to those onboard and on the ground.’ Now, Boom Supersonic has shared more details on the technology behind its quiet supersonic achievement, which it calls ‘Boomless Cruise.’”
Full Story (Aerotime)

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)

AIAA Statement on Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 Demonstrator Flight

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 28, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) CEO Clay Mowry made the following statement:

“Wow! Congratulations to Boom Supersonic on breaking the sound barrier with XB-1! On behalf of the 30,000 professional and student members of AIAA, we applaud the entire team on this engineering feat pushing the boundaries of flight. We salute all the industry professionals who are involved in the XB-1 program – you are shaping the future of aerospace.”

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on X/TwitterFacebookLinkedIn, and Instagram.

NASA Photo Captures Boom’s XB-1 Breaking Sound Barrier

CBS News reports, “A little over a month after a civilian jet broke the sound barrier, Boom Supersonic and NASA have released a photo of one of the aircraft’s historic test flights over the Mojave Desert. The image released Monday shows the XB-1 aircraft, which Boom Supersonic said is the “first civil supersonic jet made in America,” during its second supersonic flight on Feb. 10. The company said it partnered with NASA using a technique known as Schlieren photography to visualize what can’t be seen with the naked eye.”
Full Story (CBS News)

Boom’s XB-1 Achieves Supersonic Flight Milestone

Aviation Week reports, “High-speed airliner developer Boom took a major leap toward the development of its Mach 1.7 Overture transport with the successful supersonic flight of its XB-1 demonstrator, the first independently developed faster-than-sound aircraft. The XB-1, flown by Boom Chief Test Pilot Tristan ‘Geppetto’ Brandenburg, exceeded Mach 1 on three separate occasions during its 12th test flight on Jan. 28, hitting a top speed of Mach 1.12 at around 11 min. 30 sec. into the flight. The aircraft accelerated through the transonic regime while flying at 34,000 ft. in the Mojave Desert’s Black Mountain supersonic corridor within the area’s restricted R-2508 test airspace complex.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
More Info (AIAA Statement)

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)