US Company Shows New Trijet Supersonic Aircraft

• 4.09.2023, 11:25

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Boom's XB-1 supersonic prototype has passed the next stages of testing before the first flight. Boom company reports.

The aircraft performed a wide range of ground tests in the Mojave Desert, California. It was transported from a hangar in Colorado to the Mojave Air and Space Port, where it is undergoing "taxi tests". The plane is designed to fly at Mach 2.2 — 2.2 times the speed of sound. The first flight is planned in the Mojave Desert airspace, where Chuck Yeager was the first to break the sound barrier in 1947.

XB-1 received an experimental airworthiness certificate from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The XB-1 is an intermediate step towards a more ambitious commercial airliner called the Overture, which should bring supersonic flight into the mainstream. If all XB-1 trials are successful, Overture could be launched in 2026. Overture will be the successor to the legendary Concorde, retired in 2003 due to rising operating costs and falling ticket sales. The Overture has a cruising speed of Mach 1.7 and will be able to carry 64-80 passengers.

This aircraft can reduce the flight time between New York and Rome by 3 hours, between San Francisco and Seoul by 4 hours. Overture will also run on sustainable aviation fuel.