President Donald Trump has signed an executive order removing the 52-year-old ban on supersonic flight over land in the U.S. The order also directs the FAA to come up with regulations that strike a balance between “community acceptability, economic reasonableness and technological feasibility” so that legal supersonic operations can be resumed. “This order begins a historic national effort to reestablish the United States as the undisputed leader in high-speed aviation. By updating obsolete standards and embracing the technologies of today and tomorrow, we will empower our engineers, entrepreneurs, and visionaries to deliver the next generation of air travel, which will be faster, quieter, safer, and more efficient than ever before,” the order says.
The order essentially short-circuits a legislative attempt spearheaded by a group of Republican senators to bass a bill in Congress to accomplish the same thing. There have been a couple of attempts by private companies to resurrect supersonic airline travel in the U.S. by tackling the technological challenges first and proving they can minimize the sonic boom impact. The only one left, Boom Supersonic, recently began supersonic testing under a waiver from the FAA and has shown that with speeds and flight profiles set to match atmospheric conditions they create a boom that doesn’t reach the ground. The ban will be lifted under provisional regulations by early September, and then the FAA has 18 months to write a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking codifying it permanently.
I guess now I can drag out my old plans to build a supersonic Cub.
What a surprise. I think this somehow wasn’t needed. Oh well, better install Greenieproof fencing. Who’d a thunk it.
According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, Axios, and Business Insider, Boom Supersonic didn’t get that executive order from Trump just by pitching a fast airplane. They pulled together a serious crew.
United Airlines jumped in first with an order for 15 jets. Then American Airlines followed with deposits on 20 more. Japan Airlines had already backed them and reserved 20 of their own. That kind of interest from big carriers gave Boom real weight. Suddenly it wasn’t just a startup with a cool idea. It was something Washington had to notice.
Then the Air Force stepped in through programs like AFWERX and STRATFI. They saw potential for fast military transport and started writing checks. Northrop Grumman joined the picture too, working with Boom on a military version. That gave the whole project a national security angle, which carries a lot of pull.
Boom also lined up smart partners. Kratos Defense helped with the new engine design. GE Additive and Colibrium Additive brought the high end metal and production tools. StandardAero came in to handle maintenance. On the fuel side, Dimensional Energy signed on to supply clean synthetic fuel. That helped Boom check the sustainability box, which is key for getting past regulators and critics.
Then came the money from NEOM, the Saudi backed fund that’s been investing in big future tech. That helped push Boom’s funding over 700 million dollars. At the same time, local governments, especially in Greensboro, North Carolina, offered land and tax breaks to get the Overture factory built.
So when Trump signed the order to lift the ban on supersonic flight over land, it wasn’t just about speed or headlines. It was the result of a whole bunch of people and companies pushing in the same direction. Airlines, military programs, tech partners, fuel innovators, and state officials all lined up. The FAA got the message and was told to start writing the rules.
Boom’s not there yet. The jet still has to fly, pass tests, and prove itself. But with all that backing, they’ve got the best shot anyone’s had since Concorde. Maybe!
In 1971 I was living in Lancaster, Ca, working at Los Angeles Center in Palmdale. Signs were posted on Sierra Hwy (before the freeway) proclaiming Palmdale to soon be the SST capitol of the US. It showed the proposed population increase now and then in 10 years. Palmdale airport would become an SST base. Transportation routes via train and tunnels would be built to “down below”. The sign eventually faded and disappeared.
Thanks for the additional background info Raf, very interesting.
Speaking of FAA regulation changes, a month out from Oshkosh things seem mighty quiet on MOSAIC. Perhaps that’s a good sign.
I’m not sure where they envision these aircraft flying but they will be very difficult to fit into our present ATC system. It was one thing to operate a couple of Concordes across the Atlantic but separating 50 or 100 of these aircraft flying in the same airspace as planes flying half as fast is a task our present ATC system is not up to.
It will be interesting to see if Boom’s use of mitigation technology will truly mask the sonic boom enough to be tolerable to the public. As a resident of the central Wisconsin area, I remember the experiments that were conducted around 1968 to determine how the public would respond to the impact of transonic flight. While the specifics have faded from my memory, I well remember the almost daily BA-BOOMs that went on for weeks, if not months. I never got used to the startle factor, but as an aviation afficionado, I was intrigued by the possibilities of supersonic flight and was actually kind of fascinated by the booms. I definitely was the exception, as I believe that the law restricting supersonic flight over the continental U.S. was a result of those trials.
Still residing in that same area, I now live under a MOA that sees a lot of activity. The military has been good at advising the public when some of that activity may include supersonic flight. They have pointed out that, for the military, this is legal above FL300. Sonic booms are rare, but when they happen, they are a common topic of conversation. Most people around here admit to being startled, but I don’t hear any complaints. If it happened often, that would very likely change.
If Boom’s technology will make all of this moot (and mute), then more power to them. I’d like to see commercial supersonic flight succeed, but I remain skeptical of the economics.
I agree above FL500 won’t be a problem but getting up and down from there will be, especially once a hundred or more are out there flying around. The longer they fly subsonic the less efficient the aircraft will become from both a time and fuel standpoint. If the plane has to step climb it will be even more of a problem. Boom hasn’t published performance data yet but without afterburners it will be amazing if it will be able to climb straight up to FL600. I really hope this aircraft gets certified but there is a lot to overcome before we are flying on it to Paris.
I grew up in NE Wisconsin, also in the 60’s and remember frequent sonic booms. They didn’t seem that annoying, at least to a teenager. I’ve flown the route from SanFrancisco to Dubai several times as a passenger, a 17 hour slog. If you could cut that time half you have a market.
What sdwatson52 said. Aircraft that regularly go supersonic like Concorde and F-22 naturally love the higher flight levels. It’s more efficient for them.
Back in the 1960s when Jeeb Halaby ran the FAA he was addressing a group of airport neighbors that were complaining about jet noise. He replied, “Think about living on a cobblestone street when they started putting iron shoes on horses. Sometimes the price of progress is a little more noise.”