Boom about to go supersonicThe commercial supersonic airplane company Boom is on the verge of flying its XB-1 test vehicle faster than the speed of sound.
The company has been doing a regular test flight program, each time increasing the plane’s speed.
During the latest 44-minute flight at an altitude of 29,481 ft (8,986 m) with Chief Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg at the controls, the prototype aircraft reached transonic speed. That is, flight so close to Mach 1 that some areas of airflow over the airframe exceed the speed of sound.
It’s also the point where the XB-1 was subjected to a maximum dynamic pressure of 383 Knots Equivalent Air Speed (KEAS), which is a pressure on the fuselage and wings greater than what it would experience when flying supersonic at Mach 1.1.
In short, XB-1 pushed what was once called the Sound Barrier.
Next step: break the sound barrier.
At the completion of this testing the company will then begin manufacture of its full scale supersonic passenger plane, dubbed Overture, that will carry up to 80 passengers and will sell to airlines. It already has contracts and financial support from a number of major airlines, including United and Japan Airlines.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The commercial supersonic airplane company Boom is on the verge of flying its XB-1 test vehicle faster than the speed of sound.
The company has been doing a regular test flight program, each time increasing the plane’s speed.
During the latest 44-minute flight at an altitude of 29,481 ft (8,986 m) with Chief Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg at the controls, the prototype aircraft reached transonic speed. That is, flight so close to Mach 1 that some areas of airflow over the airframe exceed the speed of sound.
It’s also the point where the XB-1 was subjected to a maximum dynamic pressure of 383 Knots Equivalent Air Speed (KEAS), which is a pressure on the fuselage and wings greater than what it would experience when flying supersonic at Mach 1.1.
In short, XB-1 pushed what was once called the Sound Barrier.
Next step: break the sound barrier.
At the completion of this testing the company will then begin manufacture of its full scale supersonic passenger plane, dubbed Overture, that will carry up to 80 passengers and will sell to airlines. It already has contracts and financial support from a number of major airlines, including United and Japan Airlines.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Related new flying technology:
DELTA CEO ON JOBY’s EVTOL / AIR TAXI’S / “FLYING CARS”
“EVTOL’s (Electric Vertical Take Off and Landing) powered by battery technology are closer to being operational than you might think.”
https://www.sigma3ioc.com/post/delta-ceo-on-joby-s-evtol-air-taxi-s-flying-cars-1
The first time I saw something like a flying car was Moller’s.
I think it was on Adam Savage’s site where he said the facility only looked like a ship.
The X-Jet was more interesting
Yes, The Moller Skycar.
It was really the first serious attempt at such a thing.
Rotary engines and ducted fans.
$100K back then if I remember correctly.
Never quite made it but was going in the correct direction.
The Moller Skycar was terribly noisy! 8-12 tiny 2-stroke engines, all at full song, trying to lift that heavy Skycar made for quite a racket! Future flying cars will need to be as quiet as non-flying cars, or they won‘t be accepted by the public.