IDEAS: Boom Supersonic Completes Key Milestone in Journey Towards First Flight

Boom Supersonic, the company building the world’s fastest airliner, Overture, has completed several key milestones with its technology demonstrator aircraft, the XB-1.

The XB-1 aircraft is playing a vital role in enabling the development of the Overture aircraft, which is a sustainable supersonic airliner that has been designed to fly at Mach 1.7 and run on 100% sustainable aviation fuel. 

Boom Supersonic announced last week that the demonstrator aircraft had completed its first round of taxi testing, in addition to extensive ground testing since moving to the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California earlier this year.

You can take a look at a video released showcasing the ground test below:

“The recent progress made towards XB-1’s first flight reflects the team’s collective efforts to build and safely fly the world’s first independently developed supersonic jet,” said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO at Boom Supersonic. 

The supersonic demonstrator ‘leverages 60 years of progress in airplane technologies like carbon fiber composites, advanced avionics, and digitally-optimized aerodynamics to enable sustainable supersonic travel,’ according to a release from the company.

In addition to the ongoing testing, XB-1 recently received an experimental airworthiness certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and letters of authorization have been awarded to allow Chief Test Pilot Bill “Doc” Shoemaker and test pilot Tristan “Gepetto” Brandenburg to fly XB-1 over the Mojave desert.