Boom

Update 21/06/2017:

Supersonic plane startup Boom claims it has received 76 orders for its new passenger jet and expects them to fly within in the next six years. At the Paris Air Show, TechCrunch reports the company had five different customers order the planes.


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As well as signing deals for future orders, Boom has also revealed a new design for its supersonic jet. This demonstrator plane, dubbed the XB-1, will hold two crew, have a range of 1,000 nautical miles, a cruise speed of 1,451mph and be key to the firm developing the technologies it needs for creating passenger planes. It expects to achieve supersonic flight for passenger planes by 2023.

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Original story:

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In a significant step towards the return of commercial supersonic travel, startup Boom has completed the first wind tunnel tests of a model of its planned Mach 2.2 passenger jet.

The test was the culmination of two years' worth of aerodynamic design work and formed part of Boom's plans to build the first prototype of the 40-seat plane by the end of 2017. When built, the plane will travel 2.6 times faster than any other airliners, up to speeds of 1,451mph. Concorde's top speed was in the region of 1,350mph.

The Boom team consists of 11 people and includes certified pilots, and former engineers of Boeing, Lockheed Martin and more. The company was also part of a recent intake by startup incubator Y Combinator and it has the backing of Richard Branson's Virgin which has a vested interest in making supersonic travel more affordable. The plans suggest the Mach 2.2 jet could fly from London to New York in 3 hours and 20 minutes for the price of a current business class ticket.

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Boom


At the time of investment, in March 2016, Branson said he had invested in Boom to make trans-Atlantic supersonic commercial flights possible for the first time since Concorde fell out of service 13 years ago.

His firm signed a deal to buy 10 of the planes from Boom founder Blake Scholl, who is working on the prototype supersonic plane from a base in Colorado. The company also reportedly signed a $2 billion (£1.4bn) deal with an unnamed London airline to help it develop its own planes.

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"We are talking about the first supersonic jet people can afford to fly," Scholl said. "This isn't science fiction, we are actually doing this. You will be able to fly New York to London in three-and-a-half hours for $5,000 (£3,548) return," he said, before adding it will be a similar price to transatlantic business class flights.


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Scholl claims technology including new types of carbon fibre have made it cheaper to produce planes capable of supersonic speeds. Others are also working on the idea; Nasa announced in February last year it had awarded the contract for the design of a supersonic passenger plane.

The US space agency said it believes its possible to create a supersonic plane that doesn't produce a 'boom' as it reaches the supersonic barrier. It has given Lockheed Martin $20 million to create the designs for the plane.