Boom’s one-third-scale prototype supersonic jet finally takes off
The private startup Boom has finally flown its third-scale prototype supersonic jet, dubbed XB-1, on its first short flight, taking off on March 22, 2024 from the flight test facility in Mojave, California.
Following behind was Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg in a T-38 chase plane to observe the flight and confirm altitude and speed. With a length of 62.6 feet (19 m) and a wingspan of 21 ft (6 m) , the XB-1 achieved an altitude of 7,120 ft (2,170 m) and speeds up to 238 knots (273 mph, 440 km/h) under the force of its three GE J85-15 engines generating a maximum thrust of 12,300 lbs.
According to Boom, once its aerodynamic characteristics and flight worthiness are confirmed, the XB-1 will increase speed until it is flying on later tests in excess of Mach 1.
This prototype supersonic test plane was first unveiled in 2020, four years ago, but runway taxi tests did not begin until 2023. I suspect the Wuhan panic contributed to the three year delay between unveiling and first tests, though this is speculation.
The goal is to build the first commercial superonic passenger plane since the Concorde. At present Boom has a contract from United for fifteen Boom 12-passenger planes, plus development deals with Boeing, and Japan Airlines.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
The private startup Boom has finally flown its third-scale prototype supersonic jet, dubbed XB-1, on its first short flight, taking off on March 22, 2024 from the flight test facility in Mojave, California.
Following behind was Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg in a T-38 chase plane to observe the flight and confirm altitude and speed. With a length of 62.6 feet (19 m) and a wingspan of 21 ft (6 m) , the XB-1 achieved an altitude of 7,120 ft (2,170 m) and speeds up to 238 knots (273 mph, 440 km/h) under the force of its three GE J85-15 engines generating a maximum thrust of 12,300 lbs.
According to Boom, once its aerodynamic characteristics and flight worthiness are confirmed, the XB-1 will increase speed until it is flying on later tests in excess of Mach 1.
This prototype supersonic test plane was first unveiled in 2020, four years ago, but runway taxi tests did not begin until 2023. I suspect the Wuhan panic contributed to the three year delay between unveiling and first tests, though this is speculation.
The goal is to build the first commercial superonic passenger plane since the Concorde. At present Boom has a contract from United for fifteen Boom 12-passenger planes, plus development deals with Boeing, and Japan Airlines.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
Is it me or do all experimental supersonic test planes usually have a canopy that wobbles back and forth as you are getting into it on its maiden flight?
Other than that, probably minor issue, if it is an issue, looks great.
Just a guess, but the full-scale prototype and production vehicles probably won’t have openable canopies, so the current canopy design is a throwaway that does not represent the first step to a production item. Sort of reminds me of the canopy on the 15-meter sailplane I used to have. Rock solid when latched down, but with a rather flimsy hinge at the back, designed to tear away in the slipstream if it had to be opened in flight.
My partner and I invested in a very expensive thin-pack parachute and harness that made aerobatics comfortable, but we informally agreed there was no point in using it – the other partner would kill you if you ever did use it and survived!
A canopy is a piece of very floppy plastic fitted into a very thin metal frame. When it’s open, it’s secured to the airplane by only one or two hinges. Open, it has to be strong enough to handle wind gusts, bumps from personnel, and airflow at taxi speeds, but it’s not really structurally strong until it’s mechanically locked down in its (sometimes inflatable) rubber gasket. And it gets really really strong when the cockpit is pressurized above ~10,000 feet.
Thanks for the real-world clarification.
The video was a bit short on detail. Anyone know if the experimental prototype has an ejection seat?
Ray van Dune, I don’t know where you flew sailplanes but if it was anywhere near southern California in the late 1980’s you’d have seen my name in quite a few instrument panels.
Bob,
I think Boom, 62 ft, is 1/3 the size of the 201 ft future Overture.
Dennis: I had the text at 1/3 scale, but then changed it when I read the news reports that said half scale. Go figure.
It would be nice if Boom gave a few details of how their plane is not going to go boom, as in sonic boom, at least not as much. Their whole path to profitability is the ability to fly supersonic over land. If they’re restricted to Mach > 1 only over the ocean, they will join the Concorde as a very cool money loser. Reducing sonic boom on the ground is the whole point of the X-59. Is Boom incorporating any of that design?
As has been pointed out by others on this very Forum, this company really needs to find a new name. I would hesitate to invest in a company that sounds like an explosion.