Boom’s XB-1 jet has just broken the sound barrier, opening the way for the first supersonic passenger aircraft since Concorde.
The iconic cone-nosed Concorde was retired in 2003 after an accident and since then supersonic passenger travel has been a pipedream, but as the XB–1 accelerated to Mach 1.1 and supersonic speeds this afternoon, the dreams of flights between Los Angeles and San Francisco taking just ten minutes were back on the table.
The test over California’s Mojave Desert paves the way now for Boom’s newly-proven capabilities to be used commercially within the next decade. The company already has plans for a new jet that will be called Overture that will use the same supersonic technology.
You can watch the test flight in the YouTube video above but if you want to skip through to when XV-1 breaks the sound barrier it is around 11 and a half minutes after take-off at an altitude of 34,000 feet.
The supersonic flight was flown by chief XB-1 Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg who also flew the last 44 minute long 11th test flight earlier this month that prepared the aircraft for today’s achievement.
The test flight program has moved at a fast pace since the first flight which only took place on 22nd March last year.
It seems we might, once again, just be a few years away from transatlantic supersonic flight taking just a few hours to complete.