At the Farnborough International Airshow in the U.K., Boom unveiled Overture’s flight deck, built around technology from partner Honeywell, and predicted it will have a full-scale engine core operational by 2025. The company also announced Tuesday it secured a Symphony assembly and testing facility through an expansion of its existing partnership with StandardAero.

Boom aims to fly Overture in 2026 ahead of a planned 2029 commercial rollout with airlines worldwide. A supersonic demonstrator aircraft, the XB-1, completed its maiden voyage in March.

Overture’s state-of-the-art flight deck runs on Honeywell’s Anthem avionics suite, which is also the system of choice for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturers Lilium and Vertical Aerospace.

According to Boom, it will be the first airliner to feature force-feedback sidesticks, which give pilots a physical response to the aircraft’s movement as well as inputs made by the copilot or autopilot.

Like something out of a science fiction film, Overture pilots will don augmented reality goggles during takeoff and landing. The headset, built by Universal Avionics, uses multiple cameras and sensors to fill any gaps in the pilot’s vision. Boom says this is intended to eliminate the droop nose configuration seen on aircraft such as Concorde—the only successful supersonic airliner in history. The views seen through the goggles will also appear on the flight display, and an autolanding system will assist pilots on the way down.

Breakers and buttons are replaced by high-definition, 17-inch touchscreen displays, while some physical controls such as stick, throttle, and landing gear remain. However, Boom says all aircraft functions can be accessed through software, which will receive routine over-the-air upgrades.

Already, the new flight deck has been tested by real-world airline, business, and military pilots, including Mike Bannister, the former chief Concorde pilot for British Airways. In a recent evaluation, commercial airline pilots cruised over the Atlantic Ocean at supersonic speed before flying into London Heathrow Airport (EGLL).

“After experiencing Overture’s flight deck, which is incredibly well designed and delightful to fly, my excitement and enthusiasm for this aircraft has only intensified,” said Bannister, who now works as an aviation consultant.

Separately, Boom gave several updates on the progress of its Symphony engine program, most notably that it expects to have a full-scale engine core operational within 18 months despite unveiling the program less than two years ago.

The company will collect data on the core via testing, which will inform the development of other components such as the compressor and turbine section. Those parts will come from newly announced partner ATI Inc.

Fuel nozzles and other 3D-printed parts have already been produced, and Boom has begun testing certain hardware components. It plans to conduct more than 30 engine hardware rig tests with partner Florida Turbine Technologies (FTT), which helped design the technology.

“We are on schedule as we pursue critical component rigs for compressors, combustors, and bearings and are developing a ‘Sprint Core’ engine demonstrator that will provide valuable confirmation of engine component performance prior to finalizing the engine design,” said Stacey Rock, president of turbine technologies for FTT owner Kratos.

Symphony engines will be built and tested at a StandardAero facility in San Antonio, which Boom projects will one day include 100,000 feet of manufacturing space. The company plans for its partner to produce as many as 330 engines per year.

“We are excited to expand our role to include the assembly and testing of Symphony engines, further supporting the development of next-generation flight with Boom,” said Russell Ford, CEO and chairman of StandardAero.

Next up for Boom will be the second test flight of the XB-1, a smaller, less powerful version of Overture.

The company’s flagship model is intended to carry 64-80 passengers at Mach 1.7—just over 1,300 mph, twice the speed of subsonic airliners—while cruising at 60,000 feet.

Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom, previously told The New York Times that the company’s goal is to fly passengers anywhere in the world within four hours for just $100. Concorde, for comparison, flew at Mach 2.0 and cost passengers thousands of dollars per trip. 

Unlike Concorde, though, Overture can run on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel. The aircraft will only fly at supersonic speeds over water, since the FAA has banned those flights over land.

So far, Boom has racked up more than 130 orders and preorders for Overture, including from United, American, and Japan Airlines.

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The announcement was made on Tuesday at the Paris Air Show, along with several updates on the airframe and engine development as well as manufacturing and testing plans. The final product—the Overture—is projected to fly at Mach 1.75 in overwater cruise powered by bespoke Symphony engines running on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel.

Mainline Suppliers

Leonardo, based in Rome, will provide its expertise in composite structure development and manufacturing as engineering lead for the Overture’s fuselage structural components integration, and serve as a design and build partner for fuselage sections—including the wingbox. The cross section of the Overture has a larger diameter at its fore section growing smaller towards the rear of the airplane. The design is intended to “minimize wave-drag and maximize fuel efficiency at supersonic speeds,” according to a statement from the company.

Aernnova, in Madrid, a large tier-one aerospace supplier, has been chosen to design and develop the Overture’s gull-shaped wings, which are structurally thinner than typical subsonic wings. Their nature is intended to reduce drag and increase efficiency at high speeds.

Aciturri, based in Miranda de Ebro, Spain, and another major tier 1 supplier, has been selected to provide the empennage to the Overture. A horizontal stabilizer that allows for greater control at subsonic speeds, including takeoff landing, is a key element to the tail design.

Symphony Engine Milestones

Florida Turbine Technologies (FTT) of Doral is the main partner on Boom’s proprietary engine, named the Symphony, and it continues to move forward in the two-spool, medium-bypass turbofan’s development. Scholl gave details on the powerplant’s specs along with teasing photos of the cross section that include the aforementioned optimization to run on 100 percent SAF. “Symphony features a high-specific-flow fan,” said Scholl, “which allows us to reduce the frontal area of the engine, which reduces supersonic drag.” Other details include:

• 35,000-pound thrust
• single-stage 72-inch fan
• air-cooled, multi-stage turbine
• FAA Part 33 and EASA CS 33 compliant
• adherence to ICAO Chapter 14 noise levels

Use of additive manufacturing will enable lightweight composition, low parts count, and reduced assembly costs. The engine features three low-pressure compressor stages, six high-pressure compressor stages, three low-pressure turbine stages, and a single high-pressure turbine stage. Former Rolls-Royce CTO and Singapore Aerospace programme chair Ric Parker serves as lead on the engine program, which has been under the magnifying glass when it moved away from former engine partner Rolls-Royce and went with a trio of new collaborators: FTT, GE Additive, and Standard Aero. Scholl spoke to this tangentially, stating that the need for a bespoke engine “specifically optimized for sustained supersonic flight and sustainable supersonic portions of that.” The vertical integration strategy is key to achieving this.

• READ MORE: Boom to Lead New Powerplant Design for Supersonic Jet

Manufacturing of the engines at scale will take place at FTT’s facility in Jupiter, Florida, Scholl revealed at the press conference. He also updated on progress of the company’s “iron bird” testing facility at its headquarters on the Centennial Airport (KAPA) on the south side of the Denver metro area in Colorado. 

“This is the integrated test facility, where we will be able to put all of the systems hardware through exhaustive testing, with software and hardware in the loop, with thousands of simulated first flights before Overture makes its maiden voyage,” said Scholl. Flight controls, electrical power, and landing gear will all be operable in the iron bird facility.

Fuel System as CG Control

One of the unique aspects of the Overture includes systems architecture updated upon during the press conference by Scholl. While avionics, flight controls, hydraulics, and gear systems were touched upon—and will meet FAA and EASA Part 25 regs—he offered a bit of insight on the fuel system, which will be used to provide center of gravity (CG) control during both sub- and supersonic operations.

The all-composite makeup of Overture enables the use of complex aerostructures to create the contoured fuselage and gull-wing planform. Overall, the use of already certified technologies have been chosen thus far to reduce the risk on the program, as it breaks ground in significant ways in commercial passenger service.

The program remains on track in its 10-year development cycle—where it stands 3.5 years in—for a planned type certification in 2029.

The post Boom Aerospace Delivers Update on Supersonic Model appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA) certificated the A3R system following a collaboration with the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), Airbus announced Tuesday at the U.K.’s Farnborough International Airshow.

The A3R system is designed to reduce the workload of air refueling operators, while also optimizing air-to-air refueling transfers, all while requiring no additional equipment on the receiving aircraft.

Airbus first tested automated contact with a boom system in 2018, during a joint operation with the Royal Australian Air Force, according to Jean-Brice Dumont, head of military air systems at Airbus Defence and Space.

“Since then, we’ve achieved more aeronautical ‘world firsts’ thanks to the support of our customers, especially with the key participation of our partner the RSAF, a launch customer and the first operator to benefit from this game-changing capability,” Dumont said.

The A330 MRTT, which is based on the A330-200 widebody civilian airliner, is able to haul up to nearly 245,000 pounds of fuel, which according to Airbus, “is the highest capacity of all tanker aircraft, even those with additional fuel tanks in the cargo deck.” The aircraft can also offload about 55 tons of fuel during a four-hour loitering mission at a range of more than 1,000 nm from the departure point.

By comparison, Boeing’s KC-46A Pegasus operated by the U.S. Air Force, tops out its fuel capacity at 212,299 pounds. The KC-130J tanker operated by the U.S. Marine Corps has a maximum fuel load of 61,364 pounds, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

To date, Airbus has delivered at least 51 of 66 A330 MRTT aircraft ordered by customers including Australia, France, NATO, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, and the U.K.

Autonomous Refueling

Airbus is working to take air-to-air refueling automation even further. In late 2021, the company launched development work on technology that would make the A330 MRTT fully autonomous. Unlike the traditional air-to-air refueling operations, the autonomous capability—known as A4R—would not require any crew onboard to monitor fuel transfers.

“A4R is a kind of unmanned execution of the refueling operation and for long-range combat missions we see the need for predictable, deterministic, reliable AAR capability,” Dumont said during the Airbus Defence and Space Trade Media Briefing late last year, Australian Defence magazine reported.

Like the A3R capability, Airbus intends for the unmanned A4R version to not require retrofitting receiver aircraft in order to accommodate operations, he said. 

Airbus is gearing up to test the concept soon. Through its subsidiary Airbus UpNext, the aircraft manufacturer has launched an “Auto’Mate” demonstrator to develop, adapt, and evaluate technologies that enable autonomous air-to-air refueling.

The company aims to flight test the technology in 2023. A final end-to-end demonstration using an A310 as a tanker refueling flight testbed and DT-25 target drones as receiver aircraft is planned the following year.

“The set of technologies developed in the Airbus Auto’Mate demonstrator will enable a disruptive step forward in the autonomy level of current air-to-air refueling (AAR) operations, to reduce crew fatigue and training costs, improve safety and efficiency, and pioneer unmanned air-to-air refueling operations (including unmanned-to-unmanned AAR operations), a highly demanded capability for future defense scenarios,” Airbus said in a statement.

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Development of spaceships that can operate in the Mars environment is providing lessons for scientists exploring rockets that could deliver cargo across the Earth in an hour, the new head of U.S. Transportation Command said.

USTRANSCOM is responsible for surface, maritime, and air delivery of equipment and supplies for military aircraft using a mix of military assets and industry partners. Rapid advances in technological capabilities are now spurring the armed forces to investigate space transportation as a complementary distribution mode within its supply chain.

The organization in 2020 began executing cooperative research and development agreements with industry and academia to understand use cases, feasibility, and cost of hyperfast cargo delivery around the world. In December, Jeff Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin, entered into an agreement with Transportation Command to explore the possibility of using rockets to transport cargo and people. 

The private sector research hopes to answer questions such as: “How would you stack it? How would you load? How could you…put it on the rocket, take it off the rocket? You know, what kind of frequency would you need? Where would you go to make this work? And there’s a lot of great ideas out there, and there’s some experimentation going on and that’s why we’re doing these research initiatives with them,” said Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, the new commander of USTRANSCOM, earlier this month during an online discussion with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“If something is that critical, whether it’s food or it’s an electronic part that you absolutely have to have, why wouldn’t we use that opportunity? And frankly, the different space companies are already experimenting with how to go to Mars. They already have to think about how to defeat gravity in landing, and this is just a little more gravity than what you see on Mars. So how do we take advantage of that and…just show up with humanitarian capability or with anything else we need to move around the world?”

In early 2020, Transportation Command signed a two-year research partnership with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to investigate the potential use of the company’s space transportation vehicles for expedited global delivery of Defense Department material and personnel. It also partnered with XArc to study the potential for utilizing spaceports as logistics bases. There is no exchange of money under the program, but the government does provide access to other resources.

Objectives of the SpaceX effort include investigating the technical possibility of employing its Starship Super Heavy launch vehicle and delivery costs in the next decade and using the Civil Air Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) program as a model for partnering with rocket transport providers. 

Under CRAF, airlines contractually commit to supplement military air transport of troops and equipment during wartime or other emergencies. To encourage carriers to participate, only CRAF partners can bid on government airlift contracts issued through the Defense Department during peacetime.

While Transportation Command acts as the contracting authority and is providing operational requirements, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is leading the science and technology effort to determine the viability and utility of using large commercial rockets for Department of Defense global logistics. 

Early Adopter

Last summer, the Department of the Air Force added rocket cargo as the fourth transformational science and technology area included in the Vanguard program, which focuses on prototyping and experimentation for advanced emerging weapon systems and warfighting concepts that can provide superiority on the battlefield in the next decade.

The AFRL will research and develop the techniques and processes needed to utilize rockets for terrestrial cargo delivery, including the ability to land a rocket on a wide range of nontraditional materials and surfaces, including at remote sites. Scientists and engineers will also research the ability to safely land a rocket near personnel and structures, engineer a rocket cargo bay and logistics for rapid loading and unloading, and air drop from the rocket after reentry in order to service locations where a rocket or aircraft can’t land, according to the announcement.

High launch costs and the relatively small payload capability have made cargo delivery by rocket impractical. But with commercial companies now developing large rockets and reusable stages that safely land back on Earth, there is the potential for expanding cargo capacity and dramatically reducing launch costs, military officials say. 

“Rapid logistics underpins our ability to project power,” said Gen. Arnold W. Bunch Jr., commander of Air Force Materiel Command, in a statement last June. “That is the fundamental motivation for initiating the rocket cargo program. We see its initial applications in swiftly restoring operational capability for forces forward in austere environments as well as dramatically reducing the time required to deliver crucial humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.”

In the past, the government led rocket technology development and bore most of the cost. Now the Air Force is primarily investing in the science and technology to quickly adapt commercial advances to the Pentagon’s logistics missions and then be the first customer to procure the new capability through service leases.

In related news, the U.S. Air Force’s innovation arm last month signed a three-year contract extension valued at up to $60 million with Boom Supersonic, the aerospace company developing a 65- to 88-passenger jet that can travel at 1.7 times the speed of sound. Last summer, United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) formally expressed interest in the airplane and invested seed money in the company. 

The Air Force’s strategic funding is designed to accelerate R&D in Boom’s commercial aviation project, called Overture, and identify how it can assist in military missions such as reconnaissance. The announcement said a derivative of Overture could offer the Air Force a future strategic capability in rapid global transport and logistics.

Boom recently selected the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, as the site of its first full-scale manufacturing facility. The company says it plans to fly commercial passengers by 2029, a timetable skeptics say is overly ambitious.

Earlier this month, startup developer Destinus raised $29 million as it tries to build an  autonomous, hydrogen-powered hypersonic aircraft capable of delivering cargo anywhere in the world.

The post Understanding Mars Helps Rocket Cargo on Earth, Military Official Says appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The Overture Superfactory will comprise approximately 400,000 square feet and be constructed on a 65-acre campus at the Piedmont Triad airport. Boom proposes that the facility will bring more than 1,750 jobs to North Carolina by 2030 and more than 2,400 jobs in 2032. 

The move answered some questions for those who might have been curious about where the Colorado-based startup would designate a suitable place to build its Overture aircraft. But the step left one question unanswered.

Why North Carolina?

All indications point to Boom being able to join a growing aerospace cluster of approximately 200 companies with ties to Greensboro and Piedmont Triad, including Honda Aircraft Company, Textron Aviation (NYSE: TXT), HAECO, FedEx Express (NYSE: FDX), and others. It will be strategically beneficial for Boom to leverage the talent and capabilities.  

In a statement announcing the move, Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom said, “With some of the country’s best and brightest aviation talent, key suppliers, and the state of North Carolina’s continued support, Boom is confident that Greensboro will emerge as the world’s supersonic manufacturing hub.”

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called it “poetic and logical that Boom Supersonic would choose the state that’s first in flight,” harkening to the day of the Wright Brothers’ achievement at North Carolina’s Kill Devil Hills. 

The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina

For one, in conjunction with the Economic Development Partnership (EDP) of North Carolina, the North Carolina Department of Commerce coordinated Boom’s recruitment. For those curious about who is a crucial driver of what, whom, and how much innovation might occur in their state, part of the answer relates to that behind-the-scenes EDP group.

Every state has an economic development partnership that rigorously incentivizes companies to set up shop in their area. A cursory look at how other states attract other aviation companies will find that familiar player in the mix. So what is an EDP, and how did they get Boom to come to Piedmont Triad?

An EDP’s goal is to promote development within a defined area and typically complement the work of a local or regional chamber of commerce. A chamber of commerce’s primary focus is to be a spokesperson for the local businesses in its area, while the economic development corporation tries to attract new companies to the site. 

• READ MORE: Five Things to Know about Boom Supersonic

To do this, a state-level economic development corporation taps into a cadre of incentives: low-interest loans, grants, tax credits, and other economic upsides that might be beneficial for that business.

In North Carolina’s case, its Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina’s (EDPNC), led by CEO Christopher Chung, went to work to win Boom’s business. 

Shortly after the announcement, Chung spoke exclusively with FLYING to explain how his entity successfully met Boom’s need for its superfactory and offered insights about states that could partner with aerospace and aviation companies to keep manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

With a staff of more than 60 professionals and an annual operating budget of more than $24 million, the EDPNC focuses on advancing the economic interests of North Carolina’s 100 counties and more than 10 million residents. Chung has been a prolific operator. He says for 2022, the EDPNC is working on 200 other deals complementary to Boom’s operation. 

Incentives for Boom

Chung told FLYING that some of the reasons they could attract Boom to the area were:

• The costs of doing business
• The strong aerospace industry
• Available talent in the area 

The Research Triangle and Park area of North Carolina has gained the confidence of companies like Apple, Toyota, and Google, which announced plans to expand their corporate footprint to that area. Boom perhaps wants to tap into the dense talent pool that will come with that.

“I know that it is very important for Boom to pull this off and to have a market-ready aircraft that sells well. They’re going to depend on human capital—both engineering and manufacturing,” Chung explained.

“I think that’s always been one of our strongest, strongest cards here in North Carolina—the depth of our talent pool, the diversity of our talent pool, and the fact that it keeps growing because people keep moving here.” 

According to the statement from the governor’s office, the project is supported by a high-yield job development investment grant (JDIG) that the state’s Economic Investment Committee approved. It was the first of its kind for North Carolina. The state estimates that Boom’s presence will grow the state’s economy by at least $32.3 billion over 20 years—the period when the grant could be active.

“The more attractive North Carolina is as a place to do business, that ultimately benefits any of the companies that are already here,” Chung said.

In exchange, Boom taps into more immediate incentives that allow them to scale its business faster. Chung explained that some of the incentives help with “real estate and facilities construction,” which allows Boom to put its direct funding to its aircraft.

Boom Must Create and Retain Jobs

The jobs incentive is also an important one. Using a formula that accounts for Boom’s $500 million investment and new tax revenues generated by the nearly 1,800 jobs, the JDIG agreement would reimburse Boom up to $87.2 million paid over 20 years.

“For every one of those 1,800 jobs they create, they’re essentially receiving a grant amount to spend those dollars however they want,” Chung explained, adding that “of course, it is tied to them creating those jobs. If they do that, they’re going to get this nice size annual grant every year from the state.”

Furthermore, the state would only have to pay once the Department of Commerce conducts a performance verification audit to see if Boom met the job creation goal and investment target.

On Boom’s end, the agreement requires that it contribute as much as $9.6 million into the state’s Industrial Development Fund-Utility Account. The utility account helps rural communities anywhere in the state finance necessary infrastructure upgrades to attract future business. 

Salaries for the new jobs will vary by position but will average $68,792—better than the Guilford County average annual wage of $53,994. The state says this would increase the regional payroll by more than $120 million every year.

It won’t be so easy for Boom. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists jobs in the aerostructure field as one of the fastest declining fields over the next decade, shrinking by nearly 16 percent and replacing highly automated factories. FLYING asked Chung how the EDPNC was accounting for this or if provisions were allowed if Boom fell short of its job target.

“We know companies will have to evolve to stay competitive,” Chung shared. “But if we’re going to offer incentives to a company, that’s an agreement between the state, the community, and the company. The state has to hold its end of the bargain–so does the company. That means Boom is agreeing that in exchange for receiving these incentives from the state, they are going to be creating a certain number of jobs.”

Chung explained that Boom will need to be flexible, balancing automation to speed things up while adding enough jobs every year to meet the target.

The post How North Carolina Got Boom’s Overture ‘Superfactory’ appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) contract was awarded by the Air Force’s innovation arm, AFWERX, and will accelerate critical design and development work on Overture, Boom’s supersonic commercial airliner concept set to enter production in 2023, the company said Tuesday.

The Denver, Colorado-based startup, which launched in 2014, aims to build the fastest supersonic airliner. 

Boom is currently developing its XB-1 supersonic demonstrator, which was formally revealed in October 2020, and Overture, a 65-88 passenger, Mach 1.7 supersonic airliner. Both the XB-1 and Overture share key technologies, such as advanced carbon fiber composites and a refined delta wing.

Overture is slated to roll out in 2025. It’s expected to carry passengers by 2029, according to the company. The aircraft is designed to run on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuels and will cost about $200 million per copy.

“[A] derivative of Overture could offer the Air Force a future strategic capability in rapid global transport and logistics,” the company said. “Potential users and applications include executive transport; intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance; special operations forces; and the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF).”

• READ MORE: Five Things To Know About Boom Supersonic

The partnership between the Air Force and the supersonic aircraft manufacturer is “mutually beneficial,” Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl said in a statement. 

“With STRATFI, we’re able to collaborate with the Air Force on the unique requirements and needs for global military missions, ultimately allowing Boom to better satisfy the needs of the Air Force where it uses commercially-derived aircraft,” Scholl said. “As a potential future platform for the Air Force, Overture would offer the valuable advantage of time, an unmatched option domestically and internationally.”

The contract is the second awarded by the service to Boom in little more than a year. In September 2020, the Air Force awarded a contract to Boom to explore use of the Overture aircraft for DOD executive transport of top military and government leadership.

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“The United States Air Force is constantly looking for technological opportunities to disrupt the balance of our adversaries,” Brig. Gen. Ryan Britton, program executive officer for Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate, said at the time. “Boom is an example of the American ingenuity that drives the economy forward through technological advances. We are extremely excited to team with them as we work to shrink the world and transform the future of executive airlift.”

The post Air Force Awards Boom Supersonic $60 Million Contract For Aircraft Development appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Boom is a Denver-Colorado-based startup founded in 2014 that seeks to build what it calls the world’s fastest supersonic airliner as more companies seek to revive supersonic commercial flight nearly 20 years after the grounding of the Concorde, history’s only successful supersonic airliner.

What is Boom building?

Boom is currently developing its XB-1 supersonic demonstrator and Overture, a 65-88 passenger, Mach 1.7 supersonic airliner. (Concorde boasted a cruise speed above Mach 2.)

The XB-1 shares key technologies with Overture, such as advanced carbon fiber composites and a refined delta wing. Boom will use lessons learned from XB-1 flight testing to help optimize Overture and to prove that in-flight key technologies are safe for efficient travel at supersonic speeds.

The XB-1 was formally revealed to the public in October 2020.

When will you be able to fly in the Overture?

Overture, with an estimated $200 million price tag (plus options and interior)—and a cruising altitude of 60,000 feet—is slated to roll out in 2025, fly in 2026, and carry passengers by 2029, according to Boom.

While the company says final ticket prices will be set by airlines, Overture is being designed “to allow airlines to offer fares comparable to today’s business class. Our long-term vision is that the fastest flight is also the most affordable,” according to its website. 

Boom’s founder, Blake Scholl, told The New York Times that the goal is to deliver passengers anywhere in the world within four hours for $100. In comparison, tickets from New York to London aboard Concorde cost thousands of dollars.

Can Boom fly supersonic in the U.S.?

Like the iconic Concorde, the supersonic Overture will only exceed the speed of sound during overwater routes such as New York to London and San Francisco to Tokyo. Decades ago, the FAA banned supersonic flight over the continental U.S. because of the effects that sonic booms can generate.

In January, the FAA announced final rules for supersonic test flights in the U.S. meant to streamline the approval process, which is a key step in ultimately getting a product to market. 

While the FAA still prohibits unlimited supersonic flight over U.S. soil, it does provide exemptions for testing, which is good news for Boom. 

Who are Boom’s supporters?

In June, United Airlines became the first U.S. airline to sign a commercial agreement with Boom, announcing it plans to buy 15 of the supersonic airliners, contingent on Boom hitting certain milestones. 

Japan Airlines has also pitched in $10 million for the development of the airliner and with an option to purchase 20.

Boom is also working with the United States Air Force for government applications of Overture. 

Its partners include Collins Aerospace, which is collaborating on the nacelle technology development; Rolls-Royce, which is developing a custom propulsion system; and Amazon Web Services for high-powered computer cloud storage and security.

So far, the company has raised $270 million as of May; its investors include American Express, Bessemer Ventures, Prime Movers Lab, Emerson Collective, and Celesta Capital.

The post Curious About Boom Supersonic? Here Are Five Things to Know appeared first on FLYING Magazine.