Boom Supersonic Announced ‘Boomless Cruise’ & Conducted its XB-1’s 13th Test Flight Today
‘Boomless Cruise’ refers to Boom’s capability to conduct supersonic travel without an audible sonic boom, opening a potential pathway to travel over land onboard Boom’s forthcoming Overture airliner.
(Mojave, California) Boom Supersonic simultaneously announced today both “Boomless Cruise” for its supersonic airliner – which will potentially enable supersonic travel over land by its forthcoming Overture airliner without an audible sound boom – and the completion of its XB-1 test demonstrator’s 13th test flight (and second supersonic test flight).
Infographic demonstrating Boom Supersonic’s “Boomless Cruise” courtesy of Boom Supersonic.
During Boom’s XB-1’s first supersonic flight on January 28th, the aircraft broke the sound barrier three times without generating a sonic boom that reached the ground, thereby demonstrating the feasibility of quiet supersonic travel and opening the door to supersonic travel over land onboard Boom’s forthcoming supersonic airliner, Overture, according to today’s press release from Boom,
“XB-1 broke the sound barrier three times during its first supersonic flight—without an audible boom,” said Boom Supersonic Founder and CEO Blake Scholl. “This confirms what we’ve long believed: supersonic travel can be affordable, sustainable, and friendly to those onboard and on the ground. With this success, we’re bringing Boomless Cruise to Overture, unlocking faster travel on even more routes.”
Photo of Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 demonstrator in flight courtesy of Boom Supersonic.
Specialized microphone arrays placed in strategic locations under XB-1’s January 28th flight path confirmed that sonic booms did not reach the ground as XB-1 flew at a top speed of Mach 1.12, according to Boom Supersonic.
Today’s test flight provided additional confirmation of no audible supersonic boom, according to a post from Boom Supersonic’s X account, @boomaero.
Boomless Cruise will enable Overture to fly at speeds up to Mach 1.3 without an audible boom, reducing U.S. coast-to-coast flight times by up to 90 minutes; international routes with overland segments can also benefit from increased speeds, per Boom.
Prior to receiving the results from XB-1’s Jan. 28th test flight, In order to operate within today’s regulations, Boom planned to operate Overture at Mach 0.94 over land — approximately 20% faster than today’s subsonic jets — and only break the sound barrier over water, where it would speed up to Mach 1.7, or twice as fast, according to the company.
Thus, the data collected from XB-1’s supersonic flight establishes the possibility of Overture traveling up to 50% faster than today’s jets over land without an audible boom, according to Boom Supersonic.
