Boom Supersonic breaks sound barrier paving way for 3.5 hour London to New York flights
Boom Supersonic breaks sound barrier paving way for 3.5 hour London to New York flights
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The Boom supersonic jet - dubbed the 'new Concorde' - has officially broken the sound barrier. The Colorado-based company Boom launched its XB-1 test plane from California's Mojave Air and Space Port today at around 4pm GMT, breaking the sound barrier around 12 minutes later. It reached a speed of Mach 1.1, or 844 miles per hour while flying at about 35,000 feet.
A plane is classed as having reached 'supersonic' speeds once it passes Mach 1. The Boom XB-1 is the first civil supersonic jet made in the US to break the sound barrier. Today marked the 12th test flight of the aircraft, which had twice previously reached "transonic" speeds of Mach 0.95.
Speaking to former Concorde pilot Mike Bannister after the flight today, chief test pilot Tristan "Geppetto" Brandenburg said in a press conference: "There's something special about going supersonic. It felt like going up a rollercoaster. It was smooth, it was predictable, and it felt great.".
It is hoped a smaller version of the Boom plane could eventually be used in regular passenger services should further test flights be successful. A total of 130 orders have already been placed by American Airlines, United Airlines and Japan Airlines. This would mark a landmark first return to supersonic passenger flights since the end of Concorde, a joint UK-French enterprise which was retired over two decades ago after a deadly crash. Air France Flight 4590 hit the ground shortly after takeoff in 2000 while en route from Paris to New York, leaving 113 people dead. The French airline and British Airways, who each owned seven of the aircraft, began to take it out of service in the months that followed, and the last commercial Concorde flight set off in October 2003.
