Boom XB-1 Flies Supersonic for the First Time
Three-engine test aircraft achieved Mach 1.1.
Credit: Boom Supersonic
Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 has broken the sound barrier, the first civil-designed non-rocket-powered aircraft to do so since Concorde. The 12th test flight of the XB-1 took off from the Mojave Air & Space Port in California at 11: 21 a.m. EST, climbed to 34,000 feet and recorded true airspeed exceeding Mach 1.0 just 10 minutes after leaving the ground.
Test pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg was at the controls. Led by Boom Test Conductor Erin Young and Test Coordinator Jeff Mayberry, a team of 25 engineers monitored safety-critical parameters the flight from a control room in Mojave via live telemetry data. Chase aircraft observing the flight from formation included a Dassault Mirage F1 and a Northrop T-28 photo aircraft.
Under a special FAA waiver for supersonic flight, the XB-1 conducted the test mission within the so-called “Bell X-1 Supersonic Corridor,” named in honor of the flight when Gen. Charles “Chuck” Yeager first broke the test barrier in 1946. The XB-1 is a concept prototype, designed and built to pave the way for Boom’s Overture supersonic airliner. With 130 orders and preorders from United airlines, American Airlines and others around the world for the Overture, the company has completed a “super factory” in North Carolina to build the Overture.
Greeted by Boom CEO Blake Scholl, XB-1 test pilot Brandenburg told him, “She was really happy at supersonic—the best she’s ever flown.”
Watch The Return of Supersonic Air Travel on this episode of Bring It Home:
