Tuesday, January 28, 2025 is an important day with regard to supersonic travel returning to commercial aviation as early as 2029, as the first supersonic flight that was operated by Boom broke the sound barrier successfully with the XB-1 airplane, which became the first independently developed supersonic jet aircraft that was created in the United States to accomplish this feat and the first civil supersonic flight that was piloted by a human being since the retirement of Concorde greater than 20 years ago.
Boom Broke the Sound Barrier.
The XB-1 demonstrator aircraft reached a speed of Mach 1.122 at an altitude of 35,290 feet at the Mojave Air & Space Port in California. The aircraft provides the foundation for Overture, which will carry between 64 passenger and 80 passengers at a speed of Mach 1.7 on greater than 600 global routes. Mach 1.7 is 1.7 times the speed of current subsonic airliners, which is slightly greater than 1,300 miles per hour and thus would be slower than the Concorde, which flew as fast as Mach 2.1. The top speed of conventional airplanes is typically 500 knots; or approximately 575 miles per hour.
Overture airplanes are designed to run on up to 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel.
United Airlines entered into an agreement with Boom Supersonic back in 2021 to purchase a fleet of 15 airplanes which will be capable of supersonic travel — with an option to acquire 35 additional airplanes — in an effort to return supersonic speed to commercial aviation as soon as 2029. Since then, American Airlines and Japan Airlines have also agreed to purchase fleets of supersonic aircraft.
At a cruising altitude of 60,000 feet and a length of 205 feet, Overture will be able to carry between 65 and 88 passengers up to a range of 4,250 nautical miles, which is approximately 4,888 miles. By contrast, Concorde also cruised at an altitude of 60,000 feet; but its range was 4,143 miles and contained 100 seats — 40 seats in the front cabin and 60 seats in the rear cabin, with two seats per row on either side of the aisle — and Concorde was approximately one foot shorter in length than Overture…
…but the Overture airplane is expected to be 75 percent cheaper to operate than the Concorde as a result of advancements in engines and lighter fuselages in recent decades.
The Race to Market by Competing Technologies
In this article at The Gate With Brian Cohen on Sunday, March 27, 2016, Boom Supersonic — which is based in Denver — had been hoping to beat to the market similar offerings proposed by a partnership between Aerion Supersonic and Airbus Group; as well as proposed by a partnership between Lockheed Martin and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States, which had supposedly progressed one step closer to supersonic travel becoming a reality.
There was even a company which claimed that it has plans for an airplane which can travel at up to approximately 12 times the speed of Concorde where it would be able to fly from New York to London in eleven minutes; New York to Dubai in 22 minutes; and New York to Sydney in 32 minutes…
…and this does not even include the assorted futuristic technologies about to which I referred in this article where you could travel from New York to Beijing in as few as two hours; or this article pertaining to possibly one day traveling from London to New York in approximately one hour; or this article where passengers can be transported between Toronto and Montréal in as few as 30 minutes with Hyperloop technology.
One competitor reportedly claimed on Friday, May 21, 2021 that the company was running short of money to get its airplane into production. “Aerion Supersonic, which had touted plans to build a $375 million jet-building facility at Orlando Melbourne International Airport, abruptly announced Friday it was shutting down”, according to this article written by Rick Neale for Florida Today. “‘The AS2 supersonic business jet program meets all market, technical, regulatory and sustainability requirements, and the market for a new supersonic segment of general aviation has been validated with $11.2 billion in sales backlog for the AS2,’ a company statement released Friday afternoon said.”
Neither the official Internet web site of Aerion Supersonic nor its official social media channels — such as its Twitter account — indicate that the company has indeed abruptly halted its supersonic endeavors at the time this article was written.
Final Boarding Call
Although I flew as a passenger on Concorde, I would like to be a passenger aboard either this aircraft or its potential competitors during flights. You can read all about my experience — as well as view photographs and a video — in this article; and you can view photographs of souvenirs in this article — including the menu of the choices of food and beverages that were being served aboard the supersonic aircraft on that flight.
…but Concorde supposedly failed because tickets were expensive — as well as the maintenance of the fleet of aging aircraft. The affordability of traveling on an Overture airplane remains to be seen — especially with fewer passengers and more luxury amenities.
Supersonic travel is technically no longer “vaporware” at this point; but one can hope that it will return in some form — and hopefully, more affordably and substantially more fuel efficient — as soon as possible…
…but I still do not believe that that day will be as soon as in the year 2029 — although it is looking more and more likely that it will occur within our lifetimes…
All photographs ©2003 and ©2024 by Brian Cohen.
