'Supersonic travel is here': Boom rolls out XB-1 demonstrator aircraft

There's been very little good news to report in the aviation industry over the past few months, with airplanes grounded or pushed into early retirement. However, Boom Supersonic is going all out to show that there will be light at the end of the tunnel in the future. More than 50 years after the world's first supersonic airliner took its maiden flight, the Denver based start-up has made history with the roll out of XB-1, the first independently developed supersonic aircraft. Dubbed Baby Boom, the 71-foot-long fuselage is a 1:3 scale prototype of Boom's upcoming supersonic commercial jet Overture, which is to have a maximum speed of Mach 2.2, making it capable of flying London to New York in just three hours and 30 minutes. "Supersonic [travel] has been promised for so long," Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic says. "What's different is that we now have history's first independently developed supersonic jet. We have an assembled aircraft with all the technology that we need to do what we're talking about here. And it's not a piece of paper, it's not a computer render, it's an airplane. An airplane designed to be safe enough for humans to fly on. So supersonic is here." XB-1, which has a wingspan of 6.40m, is equipped with three J85-15 engines, designed by General Electric, that supply more than 12,000 pounds of thrust, allowing it to fly at breakthrough supersonic speeds. According to the team at Boom, the aircraft's carbon-composite airframe will enable it to maintain its strength and rigidity "under the high temperatures and stresses of supersonic flight." The eagerly anticipated roll out of XB-1, specifically designed to "discover learnings" for Overture, was broadcast on October 7 in a live virtual presentation.<br/>