‘Son of Concorde’ test pilot reveals update on jet’s first supersonic flight that will blast from London-NY in 3.5 hours
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THE XB-1 'Son of Concorde' jet is expected to reach speeds faster than sound for roughly to four minutes in an upcoming flight, its test pilot has revealed. And civilians on the ground will, fortunately, be spared the deafening sound of its sonic boom.
![[A pilot in a flight simulator.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/q-chief-test-pilot-tristan-965228501.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The supersonic plane, built by Colorado-based Boom Technology, is on track to break the sound barrier in early 2025. In its first major update of the year, bosses confirmed the jet was able to reproduce "transonic" speeds of Mach 0.95 or 575 knots. Mach 1 and above is when a jet can be classed as supersonic.
![[Two men in conversation.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/q-chief-test-pilot-tristan-965228398.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Chief test pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg, who has headed XB-1's previous test flights, will be the man inside the cockpit when the next-generation aircraft tops Mach 1 - which is about 767mph. "Before each flight, I practice several times in the XB-1 simulator," Brandenburg said in a recent post.
![[The Boom Supersonic XB-1 aircraft taxiing on a runway.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/q-chief-test-pilot-tristan-965228507.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
"It’s a very useful tool to practice airspace and fuel management. "It also gives me our best prediction of how we expect the aircraft to behave in each new condition.". There are several emergency scenarios that Brandenburg has to run through - such as if the engine fails.
![[A test pilot inspecting a supersonic aircraft.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/q-chief-test-pilot-tristan-965228516.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
"Finally, we run the profile at least twice with the entire control room: once with the flight going as expected and once with some sort of failure or emergency," he said. While XB-1’s supersonic flight will last between 30 and 45 minutes, it will only fly at true supersonic speeds for about four minutes.
![[Supersonic aircraft XB-1 flying over mountains.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/q-chief-test-pilot-tristan-965228518.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
