Supersonic travel is finally here

[DirtyProp]

Maybe. I'm a bit skeptical, but let's see.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/boom-supersonic-rolls-out-xb-1-demonstrator-aircraft/index.html

(CNN) — There's been very little good news to report in the aviation industry over the past few months, with airplanes grounded or pushed into early retirement.
However, Boom Supersonic (https://boomsupersonic.com/)is going all out to show that there will be light at the end of the tunnel in the future.
More than 50 years after the world's first supersonic airliner took its maiden flight, the Denver based start-up has made history with the roll out of XB-1, the first independently developed supersonic aircraft.
Dubbed Baby Boom, the 71-foot-long fuselage is a 1:3 scale prototype of Boom's upcoming supersonic commercial jet Overture, which is to have a maximum speed of Mach 2.2, making it capable of flying London to New York in just three hours and 30 minutes.
"Supersonic [travel] has been promised for so long," Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic tells CNN Travel.
"What's different is that we now have history's first independently developed supersonic jet. We have an assembled aircraft with all the technology that we need to do what we're talking about here.
"And it's not a piece of paper, it's not a computer render, it's an airplane. An airplane designed to be safe enough for humans to fly on. So supersonic is here."

[ShyTorque]

Cross the Atlantic in three hours.......Gain another 21 hours in quarantine.

[Pugilistic Animus]

If this comes to fruition I would be delighted.

[procede]

Aircraft, especially supersonic ones, do not scale very well. The full aircraft will basically have to be complete redesign.

Main issues with supersonic aircraft, if you do manage to design and build them:
- Finding airports that are not limited in any way by noise constraints and runway capacity. These are generally not the airports rich people want to fly to to save a few hours on travel time.
- Limited range due 2-3 times higher drag (~fuel consumption per unit of distance).
- High thrust requirement due to 2-3 times higher drag.
- Limited market size due to high costs and limited range.
- Finding an engine supplier for a limited number of aircraft (high development costs).

[Wizofoz]

Is this an actual flying prototype, or just a mock-up?

[Deltasierra010]

Been there, done that, the physics haven’t changed, the environmentalists are more active.

Time to move on.

[Gearupandorrf]

The Greta effect.

[DirtyProp]

Is this an actual flying prototype, or just a mock-up?

It should be a soon to be flying prototype, according to the article.

"The demonstrator is to undergo a 100% carbon-neutral flight test program, including an "extensive test process" on the ground, before it takes flight for the first time in Mojave, California next year."

The landing gear looks quite long...

[OldLurker]

Aircraft, especially supersonic ones, do not scale very well. The full aircraft will basically have to be complete redesign.

Main issues with supersonic aircraft, if you do manage to design and build them:
- Finding airports that are not limited in any way by noise constraints and runway capacity. These are generally not the airports rich people want to fly to to save a few hours on travel time.
- Limited range due 2-3 times higher drag (~fuel consumption per unit of distance).
- High thrust requirement due to 2-3 times higher drag.
- Limited market size due to high costs and limited range.
- Finding an engine supplier for a limited number of aircraft (high development costs).Another issue: overflight. Few countries were willing to let Concorde fly supersonic over their land because of the boom. The route from London or Paris (?) to Bahrain and Singapore (when Concorde did that) was quite intricate. Has Boom Supersonic solved that problem? From the name, doesn't sound like it.

[OldLurker]

Why is this in the "Biz Jets, Ag Flying, GA etc." forum? The aircraft is "designed to seat between 55 to 75 people" - is that a bizjet these days?

[Pyro87]

Looking forward to it!

[TURIN]

That wing plan form looks familiar.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/680x513/fd2_sb221_fe8dbd919db2a9f323a08a2d6e9f762a93c2bdde.jpg
Fairy FD2 and SB221

Damn thin too. Where's the fuel?

Bit of an ouch moment at about 8 minutes. "We have drawn our skills from Gulfstream, Spacex....Amazon" totally ignoring the big Boeing image on screen. How the mighty have fallen.

Speaking of Boeing, One of the things we were told about CFRP by Boeing was that it doesn't perform well at high temperatures. Interesting that Spacex have dumped CFRP for their new Starship orbital vehicle to stainless steel for that very reason.

Good luck to Boom though. Hope it comes to fruition.

[601]

The aircraft is "designed to seat between 55 to 75 people" - is that a bizjet these days?
Nothing unusual about the number of seats. Plenty of 100-400 seat aircraft flying in corporate livery.

[Less Hair]

What engine has been selected to power Overture?

[nomorecatering]

Total pie in the sky. Only Dassault, General Dynamics, Boeing, Airbus........ who know a thing or two about designing and building supersonic aircraft could pull it off. There's probably a very good reason why they haven't gone down this track.

[Cambridge172]

Aerion AS2 are anticipating a production run of 300 units for their supersonic business jet in their first decade. There will only be space in the market for one of these, the other will go bust. Without a Boeing/Airbus/Lockheed/General Dynamics/MD etc. prime lead on the project the numbers are eye-wateringly frightening from drawing board to full production and certification - billions, not millions. The only hope is multiple, advanced government defence force-backed sales both for head-of-state passenger and special-role variants which need to be in the bag many years ahead of development program conclusion. They will run out of cash otherwise way before reaching the end game. Probably the highest risk investment game in aviation, aside from the eVTOL sector that is! Needs a good few fruitcake billionaire backers to keep the cogs rolling. Or a government.

[Asturias56]

C172 - is correct - the real costs come when you try and certify the beast - the pages of Flight, Flying and Janes are full of neat looking aircraft that made a first flight and then... disappeared.........

And a SUPERSONIC aircraft that has to meet modern certification standards????

And then a growing environmental lobby worldwide... can't see it myself

[tupungato]

https://aviationa2z.com/index.php/2023/07/09/virgin-group-delays-the-purchase-of-new-boom-supersonic-jets/Virgin Group Delays the Purchase of New Boom Supersonic JetsVirgin Group's Richard Branson ditches purchase of 'New Concorde' jets, causing setback to supersonic travel as Boom Supersonic faces rollout delay.https://i.imgflip.com/43iv8l.jpg

[BigBoreFour]

I hate bringing up old threads, but supposedly it has orders / options for up to 130 aircraft with deliveries possible in 2029-2030.

With it saving 4-5 hours on a MEL-LAX flight, I’ll take it. :)

[c52]

What's more

"In addition to the ongoing testing, XB-1 recently received an experimental airworthiness certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), following a detailed aircraft inspection."

( https://boomsupersonic.com/flyby/boom-supersonic-advances-flight-preparations-for-xb-1 )

[ORAC]

https://theaviationist.com/2024/03/23/boom-supersonics-xb-1-demonstrator-flies-for-the-first-time/

Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 Demonstrator Flies For The First Time

The XB-1 supersonic aircraft demonstrator of Boom Supersonic flew for the first time on March 2022, 2024, from the Mojave Air & Space Port (https://theaviationist.com/2022/10/27/model-401-testing-activity/) in Mojave, California.

XB-1, according to the company, is the world’s first independently developed supersonic jet and leverages state-of-the-art technologies to enable efficient supersonic flight including carbon fiber composites, advanced avionics, digitally-optimized aerodynamics, and an advanced supersonic propulsion system….

The aircraft was flown by Chief Test Pilot Bill “Doc” Shoemaker, while Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg flew the T-38 chase aircraft which monitored XB-1 in the air, observing how the aircraft was handling and verifying its flight data and airworthiness. Both pilots maintain flight proficiency in T-38 and F-5 aircraft, which they use to develop chase procedures and practice flight test techniques that will be used in XB-1, but they have also flown the F-104 (https://theaviationist.com/2023/05/01/almost-20-years-since-its-last-flight-former-italian-air-force-f-104s-asa-m-flies-again-in-florida/) as both share many flight characteristics.…

According to Boom Supersonic’s press statement (https://boomsupersonic.com/flyby/inaugural-first-flight-xb1-supersonic-demonstrator), XB-1 met all of its test objectives, including safely and successfully achieving an altitude of 7,120 feet and speeds up to 238 knots (273 mph). While XB-1 was in the air, the team performed an initial assessment of the aircraft’s handling qualities, including airspeed checks with the T-38 chase aircraft, and assessing the aircraft’s stability in the landing attitude (at a high angle of attack).

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/678x381/boom_xb_1_maiden_flight_1_c91fb689e9375476ea104d03b76b96f6c7 b9d9a4.jpg

[Blackfriar]

https://theaviationist.com/2024/03/23/boom-supersonics-xb-1-demonstrator-flies-for-the-first-time/

Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 Demonstrator Flies For The First Time

The XB-1 supersonic aircraft demonstrator of Boom Supersonic flew for the first time on March 2022, 2024, from the Mojave Air & Space Port (https://theaviationist.com/2022/10/27/model-401-testing-activity/) in Mojave, California.

XB-1, according to the company, is the world’s first independently developed supersonic jet and leverages state-of-the-art technologies to enable efficient supersonic flight including carbon fiber composites, advanced avionics, digitally-optimized aerodynamics, and an advanced supersonic propulsion system….

The aircraft was flown by Chief Test Pilot Bill “Doc” Shoemaker, while Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg flew the T-38 chase aircraft which monitored XB-1 in the air, observing how the aircraft was handling and verifying its flight data and airworthiness. Both pilots maintain flight proficiency in T-38 and F-5 aircraft, which they use to develop chase procedures and practice flight test techniques that will be used in XB-1, but they have also flown the F-104 (https://theaviationist.com/2023/05/01/almost-20-years-since-its-last-flight-former-italian-air-force-f-104s-asa-m-flies-again-in-florida/) as both share many flight characteristics.…

According to Boom Supersonic’s press statement (https://boomsupersonic.com/flyby/inaugural-first-flight-xb1-supersonic-demonstrator), XB-1 met all of its test objectives, including safely and successfully achieving an altitude of 7,120 feet and speeds up to 238 knots (273 mph). While XB-1 was in the air, the team performed an initial assessment of the aircraft’s handling qualities, including airspeed checks with the T-38 chase aircraft, and assessing the aircraft’s stability in the landing attitude (at a high angle of attack).

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/678x381/boom_xb_1_maiden_flight_1_c91fb689e9375476ea104d03b76b96f6c7 b9d9a4.jpg
Have they got a supersonic engine yet? Olympus was the only one ever developed for sustained supersonic flight including twice in one day and no one else wants to spend £billions designing another one for a tiny market.
Until they have, this is just an Avro 707 test aircraft with possibly an ex military engine.

[TURIN]

Wasn't the Fairy FD2 also powered by a military engine?
This is just a technology demonstrator and research aircraft.

[c52]

Í never thought I'd see the day.

Is it as many years behind the original schedule as the 777x?