Boom Supersonic, a company seeking to build an airliner that travels faster than the speed of sound, announced that they tested a supersonic airplane without an audible sonic boom.
The company tested their XB-1 airplane last month for the first time, breaking the sound barrier three times without the sonic boom reaching the ground. The test shows that “quiet supersonic travel is possible” and that significantly faster air travel over land can be achieved in the future.
“XB-1 broke the sound barrier three times during its first supersonic flight,” Boom Supersonic chief executive Blake Scholl commented in a statement. “This confirms what we’ve long believed: supersonic travel can be affordable, sustainable, and friendly to those onboard.”
The airplane flew at a top speed of Mach 1.12, but specialized microphones on the ground did not detect the sonic boom. The company planned to operate Overture, their airplane still under development, at Mach 0.94 while flying over land and only break the sound barrier over water.
That means the Overture should be able to travel 50% faster over land relative to modern subsonic jets, an increase from the 20% faster rate Boom Supersonic had originally anticipated.
American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines have each preordered Overture airplanes, constituting the first five years of expected production. Boom Supersonic completed building a factory in Greensboro, North Carolina, that will construct sixty-six Overture airplanes per year.
