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 post Boom Unveils Supersonic Overture Flight Deck appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Dawn Aerospace, manufacturer of the Mk-II Aurora, announced that New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has granted it approval to fly at “unlimited” speeds at up to 80,000 feet in altitude. The company is permitted to fly beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) of a remote pilot and will not be limited to restricted airspace.

Dawn describes the Aurora as “an aircraft with the performance of a rocket.” According to the company, the aircraft is designed to be the first vehicle capable of flying to the Kármán line—which at about 100 kilometers in altitude is considered the edge of space—twice in one day.

“This unlocks the next major performance milestone for the Mk-II vehicle, namely supersonic flight,” said Stefan Powell, CEO of Dawn. “To the best of our knowledge, this would be the first privately funded [uncrewed aerial vehicle] to break the sound barrier.”

The only successful supersonic airliner, Concorde, which was developed by two now-defunct manufacturers, was retired more than two decades ago. But a new crop of companies, including Dawn and Boom Supersonic, are trying to break the sound barrier again.

Unlike Boom’s Overture, which is being developed as a passenger airline, Dawn’s Aurora is intended for space transportation.

The Mk-II first flew in 2021 and has since completed more than 50 test flights, operating under both jet and rocket power. It last flew in 2023, reaching 200 knots at an altitude of 9,000 feet. But those flights were under a more restrictive license than the one obtained by the company last week.

The goal of the firm’s upcoming campaign, which will comprise about a dozen flights between July and September, is to reach Mach 1.1—the boundary of supersonic speed—at an altitude of 70,000 feet. It hopes to fly to space twice in one day and spend about 180 seconds in microgravity.

If it achieves all objectives, the company believes it would set records for speed, altitude, and climb rate for a self-powered aircraft.

Dawn’s primary business is manufacturing propulsion systems for satellites, and it has 76 thrusters in space. But the company is now looking to enter the suborbital space.

The Aurora is a first-stage demonstrator for the company’s more robust Mk-III—a two-stage-to-orbit model that will take off from the runway and deploy a 250 kilogram satellite at the apex of its flight path.

According to Dawn, it is remotely piloted, low cost, and “rapidly reusable,” designed to fly multiple times per day and between 100 and 1,000 times over its lifespan.

Its engine uses storable, “aircraft friendly” propellants that allow the vehicle to take off without having to wait to be fueled. The engine is also carbon neutral, producing no hydrocarbons during operation.

“Room temperature storable propellants will not boil off, and carbon fiber will not suffer from microcracking, as is common in cryogenic composite tanks,” the company says on its website.

Dawn chose a winged design in order to reduce the risk of an engine malfunction, which could jeopardize the landing—and therefore reusability—of the Mk-II. It will be certified as an aircraft in New Zealand. The model takes off like a conventional aircraft, accelerating to Mach 3 speeds and bending upward into a near-vertical route. On the way down, it descends and glides horizontally back to the runway.

Dawn’s first phase of aircraft testing, conducted with the company’s jet-powered Mk-I, comprised eight hours of flight time across 47 flights. After receiving CAA approval for rocket-powered flight in March 2023, it began flying in just a few weeks.

So far, the Mk-II has made three rocket-powered flights, completed within a three-day span a little over one year ago, as part of the second phase of aircraft development, with the goal of reaching the Kármán line under certification.

According to a blog post from Powell, the current version of the vehicle has a maximum altitude of about 60,000 feet, which will require the company to develop a more powerful variant called the Mk-IIB.

“At full performance, the Mk-II will fly faster and 2.5 times higher than any prior aircraft that takes off from a runway, including the current record holder, the SR-71 Blackbird,” said Powell. “That is the power of bringing rocket performance to an aircraft platform.”

Despite being a demonstrator, Dawn plans to one day use the aircraft for Earth observation, high-speed flight research, in-space science including microgravity research, and even civil and defense applications. According to Powell, the company is already fielding interest in a commercial version of the Mk-II and will be in a “prime position” to roll one out once it reaches the Kármán Line.

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The one-of-a-kind X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft is part of NASA’s Low Boom Flight Demonstration project aimed at collecting data to help shape regulations for possible future commercial supersonic flight over land 50 years after it was banned by the FAA due to the noise of the sonic boom.

It’s expected to fly 1.4 times the speed of sound, or around 925 mph, according to NASA.

• READ MORE: NASA Ready to Roll Out Experimental X-59

“This is the big reveal,” said Catherine Bahm, the manager of NASA’s Low Boom Flight Demonstrator project who is overseeing the development and build of the X-59. “The rollout is a huge milestone toward achieving the overarching goal of the Quesst mission to quiet the sonic boom.”

Bob Pearce, associate administrator of NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, recalled one of America’s test flight heroes during the ceremony.

“This journey actually began in 1947, when the era of supersonic flight started right here in the California high desert with test pilot Chuck Yeager in the X-1,” said Pearce. “It soon became apparent that the sonic boom’s sharp thunderous sound heard when the airplane flies overhead at supersonic speed was going to be a problem.”

Engineering Sound Through Shape

The X-59 is designed to lessen the perceived sound of a sonic boom to that of a gentle thump, and it does that through a specialized aircraft shape.

“What’s most obvious right away is the long, distinct nose which comprises almost a third of that 99.7-foot length,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “This design is really critical in dispersing shockwaves” and preventing the shocks from merging together and creating the boom.

The cockpit sits almost halfway down the length of the aircraft, and there’s no forward-facing window, which would have increased noise, Melroy said.

“It’s a huge challenge—limited visibility in the cockpit,” Melroy said. “The team developed the external vision system, which is really a marvel of high-resolution cameras feeding an ultra-high-resolution monitor. Beyond its immediate applications in the X-59, the external vision system has the potential to influence future aircraft designs, where the absence of that forward-facing window may prove advantageous for engineering reasons. It’s creating capabilities that we haven’

NASA will collect data on how communities perceive the sound of the X-59 flights, which will then be used to inform the agency’s recommendations for an acceptable noise-level standard for commercial supersonic flights and possibly repeal the current ban of supersonic flight over land.

• READ MORE: NASA X-59 Cleared for Final Assembly

“The unveiling of NASA’s X-59 supersonic aircraft is a major milestone in aviation history that has the potential to transform our industry,” said Dave Schreck, vice president and general manager of military avionics and helicopters at Collins Aerospace, which provided the primary avionics system on the aircraft.

The X-59 is expected to take its first flight later in 2024.

“The Quesst team will conduct several of the aircraft’s flight tests at Skunk Works before transferring it to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards [Air Force Base], California, which will serve as its base of operations,” NASA said.

Watch: Time-Lapse Video of the X-59

This time-lapse video shows the manufacturing of the X-59 aircraft from May 2019 to June 2021 when the merger of its main sections—the wing, tail assembly, and fuselage—was completed.

The post NASA Reveals the X-59—Its Antidote to the Sonic Boom appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The one-of-a-kind X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) experimental aircraft is part of NASA’s Low Boom Flight Demonstration project aimed at collecting data to help shape regulations for possible future commercial supersonic flight over land. 

The official unveiling ceremony is set for Friday, January 12, at 1 p.m. PST, Lockheed Martin said Friday. The event will be streamed on NASA+, the space agency’s website, as well as on social media.

• READ MORE: NASA’s Supersonic X-59 Clears Critical Ground Tests

The X-59’s first flight, originally slated to take place last year, was moved to 2024 in October. 

“As part of the demands of developing this unique aircraft, the QueSST team is working through several technical challenges identified over the course of 2023, when the X-59 had been scheduled to make its first flight,” NASA said in a statement at the time. “Extra time is needed to fully integrate systems into the aircraft and ensure they work together as expected. The team is also resolving intermittent issues with some of the safety-redundant computers that control the aircraft’s systems.”

In November, NASA revealed the aircraft had progressed to the paint barn at Skunk Works and that its primarily white paint scheme would include red wing accents and a NASA “sonic blue” underside.

“The paint doesn’t just add cosmetic value,” said NASA, adding that it protects the aircraft from moisture and corrosion, as well as provides key markings needed for ground and flight operations.

Said Cathy Bahm, NASA’s lowe boom flight project manager: “The year ahead will be a big one for the X-59, and it will be thrilling for the outside of the aircraft to finally match the spectacular mission ahead.” 

‘Gentle Thump’

The X-59 is designed to lessen the perceived sound of a sonic boom “to that of a gentle thump, similar to a car door shutting in the distance,” according to Lockheed Martin. 

NASA will collect data on how communities perceive the sound of the X-59 flights, which will then be used to inform its recommendations for an acceptable noise-level standard for commercial supersonic flights and possibly repeal the current ban of supersonic flight over land.

While the aircraft will showcase new technology, it will also utilize components from existing aircraft, according to NASA. Its life-support system, for example, comes from an F-15 Eagle, and its landing gear from an F-16 Fighting Falcon.

New Year, New Flight Horizon.@NASA and Skunk Works® will reveal the X-59 quiet supersonic flight demonstrator on January 12. Get ready for the first look at the future of supersonic flight. pic.twitter.com/ponIgN33dE

— Lockheed Martin (@LockheedMartin) January 1, 2024

The post NASA Ready to Roll Out Experimental X-59 appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Today’s Top Pick is a 1974 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21UM.

When somebody says “warbird,” I think of the piston-powered fighters and bombers of World War II. Wasps, Wrights, and Merlins swinging huge propellers come to mind. But there is so much more to the warbird world these days, especially since Eastern Bloc fighters once considered contraband have grown increasingly available to private pilots and collectors in the U.S. and around the world. A few years ago, I was surprised to spot a MiG-21 in a parking lot as I drove on Route 1 near Ellsworth, Maine. Times have changed.

Unlike the forlorn salvage special that I saw, this 1974 MiG-21UM “Fishbed,” a trainer version, is current and flying. This is the type of airplane that gave U.S. pilots a hard time in the skies over Vietnam and elsewhere, as dozens of air forces used them over the years. We often picture it challenging the mighty McDonnell F-4 Phantom, a U.S Navy and Air Force multirole fighter that was more technologically advanced but less agile.

This MiG-21 has a total of 1,774 hours on the airframe and 224 hours since the airframe was overhauled. There are 226 hours remaining on its Tumansky R11F25K-300 engine before recommended overhaul. The aircraft has been flying since 2002 under an experimental exhibition certification. The updated panel includes a Garmin SL 60 GPS/com, Collins VHF-251 com, and Garmin 320A transponder.

Pilots who wish to spend time in a somewhat remote corner of the warbird community with Mach-busting Soviet fighters should consider this 1974 MiG-21UM, which is available on AircraftForSale.

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.

• FLYING Magazine: The Effective, Long-Lasting MiG-21
• FLYING Magazine: What the Ukrainian Air Force Has in the Sky
• Plane & Pilot: Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-21 “Fishbed”

The post This 1974 MiG-21 Is a Supersonic ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Though Audrey Hepburn didn’t actually deliver that line in her 1954 film Sabrina, it’s widely attributed to her, and having lived in Paris for three years, I couldn’t agree more. To this day, I never need an excuse to go. I’d happily hop the pond to La Ville-Lumière for the opening of an envelope.

But on one day in April 2000, Paris became a great idea, an incredible idea, une très, très bonne idée—no, that’s not hyperbolic enough. On one April day, Paris became the best idea ever, as I booked myself on Air France Flights AF001 and AF002 aboard Concorde for a round trip from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (KJFK) to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport (LFPG).

To say a flight on Concorde (not “the” Concorde) was unlike one on any other commercial aircraft is an understatement. The delta-winged Concorde was a truly unique airplane and an extraordinary feat of aeronautical engineering, especially for its time. Incorporating groundbreaking technologies like fly-by-wire, it was as stunning and graceful as it was swift, scorching the stratosphere at altitudes high enough to make a flat-earther blush. On my particular flights, we got up to FL580 and Mach 2.02—faster than a bullet and high enough to plainly see the curvature of the Earth.

• READ MORE: Tripping the Light Fantastic

From its first flight a few months before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon to its first commercial flights in 1976—G-BOAA, London to Bahrain and F-BVFA, Paris to Rio de Janeiro via Dakar, Senegal—to its final flights 27 years later, Concorde captured hearts, minds, and dreams around the world. Coincidentally, F-BVFA is also the airplane I flew on from New York City to Paris. It is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. 

Tuesday, October 24 marks the 20th anniversary of the final scheduled commercial flights of Concorde. On that day, British Airways Concorde G-BOAG, as BA002, took off from JFK, with chief pilot Mike Bannister at the controls, and landed at London’s Heathrow Airport (EGLL) a scant few hours later, but not before “Alpha Golf” formed up with two other Concordes for a low formation pass over London.

Alpha Golf is now on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. On its way to retirement—because of course it did—G-BOAG set a New York-to-Seattle speed record of 3 hours, 55 minutes, 2 seconds, flying supersonic over Canada along the way. As one would expect, Concorde holds many speed records, including the fastest Atlantic crossing and New York to London in 2 hours, 52 minutes, 59 seconds.

The final scheduled passenger flight for an Air France Concorde came earlier in 2003 on May 31. That morning, Concorde F-BTSD, as AF001, departed JFK at 8:15 a.m. and landed at 4:30 p.m. local time in Paris. That airframe is on display near Paris at the National Air and Space Museum of France, located at Paris Airport-Le Bourget (LFPB) .

There are just three Concordes on display in the U.S. In addition to the two mentioned earlier, British Airways G-BOAD is preserved at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.

I recently caught up with both Bannister and John Tye, another British Airways Concorde captain, and asked them both what they thought about this anniversary. 

“I was fortunate enough to fly that last flight from New York to London,” said Bannister. “Every time I go to Brooklands [Museum near London] and look at the stylish lines of our Concorde there, she still looks like she was designed only a few years ago, very 21st century. I also still find it difficult to get my mind around just how technically advanced she was—an aeroplane that could carry 100 passengers 1,350 miles per hour across the Atlantic in great safety. We did something then that can’t be done now.

“When we look at Concorde, there is nothing like it today. It’s amazing to think that the last flight was 20 years ago. It seems like yesterday, both literally and metaphorically.”

Tye wasn’t flying any of the final flights.

“I was at a beach bar in Barbados, rum and coke in hand and tears streaming down my face as I watched Mike land that last airplane,” Tye said. “On October 24, there will be a big crew reunion at Brooklands. All flight crew, cabin crew, ground staff, 196 people coming together. Concorde is an aluminum tube. It’s the people who brought her alive, made her so special. We were just the privileged ones who got to fly Concorde and get paid for it—absolutely astonishing.”

Look for more in 2024 from FLYING Media Group on Concorde. I will detail not only my own experiences flying on the airplane but also bring you along as we meet the pilots who flew Concorde and get into the weeds with them about what she was really like to fly.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on Plane & Pilot.

The post October 24 Marks 20 Years Since Final Scheduled Concorde Flights appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

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 deal for the jet—which is currently in development—was cinched by the airline paying a non-refundable undisclosed deposit on an initial 20 aircraft. The agreement also comes with an option for the purchase of an additional 40 Overtures, each with an estimated $200 million price tag.

• READ MORE: Curious About Boom Supersonic? Here Are Five Things to Know

The move is the latest in commercial airlines putting money into the supersonic civilian aircraft endeavor. Last year, United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) signed a provisional agreement to buy 15 Overtures. Japan Airlines has also invested at least $10 million towards Overture’s development.

“Looking to the future, supersonic travel will be an important part of our ability to deliver for our customers,” Derek Kerr, American’s chief financial officer, said in a statement. “We are excited about how Boom will shape the future of travel both for our company and our customers.”

Overture is designed to seat 65 to 80 passengers and fly at speeds up to Mach 1.7 over water with a range of 4,250 nm.

• READ MORE: Northrop Grumman and Boom Partner on Special Mission Supersonic Jet

“We believe Overture can help American deepen its competitive advantage on network, loyalty, and overall airline preference through the paradigm-changing benefits of cutting travel times in half,” said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom.

Last month, Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) announced it was teaming up with Boom for a military variant of the Overture.

The military variant, Boom said, would be a supersonic aircraft tailored for quick-reaction capabilities. It would also carry up to 80 passengers for missions that require rapid response, such as delivering medical supplies, or providing emergency medical evacuations. 

The first flight of a sub-scale test article is expected to take place later this year. The first Overture aircraft is expected to roll out in 2025, and begin commercial service with passengers by 2029, Boom said.

FLYING’s Thom Patterson contributed to this report.

The post American Airlines Inks Deal for 20 Boom Supersonic Overture Aircraft appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

If it feels like you’ve been hearing about Overture for a while, you’re right. Boom has been developing Overture since 2016 and the company says it isn’t expected to enter service until at least 2029. 

On Tuesday at the U.K.’s Farnborough International Airshow, Boom announced it has joined forces with the iconic company that led development of the James Webb Space Telescope, the U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, and NASA’s Apollo LEM lunar lander. 

Keep in mind that United Airlines [NASDAQ: UAL] signed a provisional agreement last year to buy 15 Overtures and—while a military variant would broaden Overture’s mission—it also would significantly increase its potential customer base. 

Overture is designed to fly at speeds up to Mach 1.7 over water with a range of 4,250 nm. In addition to the military variant, Overture unveiled a refreshed design for its airliner Tuesday, which Boom said, is the “culmination of 26 million core-hours of simulated software designs, five wind tunnel tests, and the careful evaluation of 51 full design iterations.”

The aircraft will now be powered by four wing-mounted engines instead of two wing-mounted engines and a rear engine. It will also include a contoured fuselage and gull wings. Response to the redesign initially seemed to raise more questions than it answered. The revelation of Northrop Grumman’s involvement has helped to fill a few gaps in the program’s trajectory.

The Use Case 

The military variant, Boom said, would be a supersonic aircraft tailored for quick-reaction capabilities. It would carry up to 80 passengers for missions that require rapid response, such as delivering medical supplies, or providing emergency medical evacuations. The aircraft, Northrop Grumman said in a news release, could “surveil vast areas faster than conventional aircraft.”

“Time is a strategic advantage in high-consequence scenarios, from military operations to disaster response,” said Blake Scholl, Boom founder and CEO in a news release Tuesday. “This collaboration between Boom and Northrop Grumman unlocks Overture’s unmatched high-speed mission capability for the United States and its allies.”

Tom Jones, president of Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems, said in a released statement that by teaming up, the two companies “can ensure our military customers have variants of Overture for missions where advanced system capabilities and speed are critical.”  

Boom also announced that Collins Aerospace, Eaton, and Safran Landing Systems will supply key systems for Overture, including landing gear, fuel, and avionics.

Where Can You Fly Supersonic? 

During the 19 years since the last flight of Concorde in 2003, several projects have been announced aimed at returning civil supersonic travel to the airways.

Lockheed Martin and NASA are developing a faster-than-sound research aircraft with a quieter sonic boom. Spike Aerospace—based in Boston—is working on a supersonic business jet called the S-512. California-based Exosonic is designing an uncrewed supersonic aircraft that it hopes will lead to a quiet supersonic passenger airliner. 

Don’t second guess yourself if you thought you saw XB-1 on APA/KAPA’s taxiway lately. Engine runs are underway. https://t.co/6c9zQ7nhdw #Aviation #Supersonic pic.twitter.com/NZFPn4NieD

— Boom Supersonic (@boomaero) March 25, 2022

Boom’s sub-scale test article—XB-1—is expected to make its first flight later this year, the company told FLYING. But flight testing of civil aircraft at supersonic speeds over land has been tricky since the FAA banned supersonic overland flights in the 1970s under Part 91. The ban was a response to broken windows and other damage from sonic booms. 

Generally, the U.S. Air Force requires its supersonic flights take place over open water, above 10,000 feet, and at least 15 miles off shore. Supersonic operations over land must be conducted above 30,000 feet or, when below 30,000 feet, in specially designated areas approved by the Air Force and the FAA.

Aircraft traveling faster than the speed of sound (about 750 mph at sea level) produce shock waves—the sudden onset and release of pressure produces a sonic boom. In fact, the most powerful sonic boom on record measured 144 pounds per square foot, according to the U.S. Air Force. (That  boom was produced by an F-4 flying slightly faster than supersonic, at 100 feet agl.)

In 2021, prompted by “development of a new generation of supersonic aircraft,” the FAA issued a rule “modernizing the procedure for requesting a special flight authorization to operate in excess of Mach 1 over land in the United States.” 

Boom told FLYING it has been “working with the FAA on a [special flight authorization] per [Part] 91.818 to allow supersonic overland flights in specified areas, such as the ‘supersonic corridor’ in the Mojave Desert.”

When flight testing begins for Overture, Boom told FLYING it plans to “evaluate testing in supersonic corridors that are available,” but the company currently expects to perform flight tests along the Eastern seaboard near the Overture “superfactory,” in Greensboro, North Carolina. Boom says it will break ground on the new facility later this year. 

Kansas Supersonic Transportation Corridor

Meanwhile, aviation authorities in Kansas say they’re ready for a surge in civil supersonic aviation. In 2020, the state inked an agreement with the FAA creating an official Supersonic Transportation Corridor (SSTC), covering a 770 nm swath of Kansas prairie just north of the Oklahoma border. Kansas says the route—which is within range of several airports—can accommodate sustained flight at speeds as high as Mach 3.

“Our vision is to build a robust flight test infrastructure, centrally located in the U.S., where [the] FAA and general aviation manufacturers can collaborate to certify emerging aircraft technologies safely in a more expeditious manner,” Bob Brock, Kansas director of aviation, told FLYING. “We’re working with the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University to deploy an array of acoustic sensors in key locations across the state to monitor the effects of aircraft noise.” 

The data, along with live telemetry from test aircraft, is expected to help engineers improve aircraft performance, and study potential sonic impact on the environment.

“Right now the technologies that they’re using, and the altitudes that we’ve actually selected for this activity are above 39,000 feet,” Brock said. “That altitude is high enough to actually mitigate the noise impact in a way that we really believe is going to be very nominal, of any impact on the ground.”

“I don’t think that there could be a more exciting time for growth and transportation, than during a time when growth is desperately needed across the whole country.”

Brock pointed out that Kansas has 138 airports. Aircraft manufacturing and other economic impacts from aviation, he said, total $20.6 billion statewide.

“Within Kansas, we have roughly 19,300 people that are either building, designing, or working with aircraft,” Brock said. “The state has the resources and skilled workers to field 2,000 new jobs in the first year of aircraft manufacturing,” he added. “That is part of the reason we think Kansas is a great place to advance these type of technologies because we’re already good at that.”

Reducing Booms to Thumps

In Palmdale, California, NASA’s X-59 program, in partnership with Lockheed Martin, aims to build a supersonic demonstrator that reduces sonic booms to a gentle thump. The jet’s long nose and other features are designed to reduce noise by shaping the shock wave. After its first flight, which is expected later this year, NASA plans to fly X-59 over selected U.S. cities to collect data on impact from the sonic thumps. That data will be shared with the FAA and the International Civil Aviation Organization. In the future, the data might be useful in the establishment of rules for supersonic civilian operations over land. 

Selena Shilad, executive director of the Alliance for Aviation Across America—a non-profit, non-partisan coalition leading business and aviation groups—says she’s hopeful that noise mitigation can make limited civil supersonic flights over land acceptable on a wide scale. 

“That’s where public awareness really comes in as critical—working with companies and local elected officials to highlight that there are these technological advances that will really be beneficial to the community,” Shilad told FLYING. “We can achieve both. You can achieve noise mitigation and support industry growth at the same time. It’s a win-win situation.”

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The Texas-based company unveiled its first design vehicle at UP.Summit, a three-day, invitation-only gathering of mobility innovators across air, sea, ground, and space being held this week in Bentonville, Arkansas. 

The hypersonic aircraft will take off from a conventional airport, then climb to the edge of space. It is designed to travel at Mach 9 taking passengers to the other side of the world in one hour.

The Stargazer has been in development since Venus Aerospace was founded in 2020 by Sarah “Sassie” Duggleby and Dr. Andrew Duggleby.

• READ MORE: Why Are So Many Aviation Innovators Meeting in Arkansas?

Seeing an artist’s rendering of what took so many hours to create was an emotional moment for the team.

“This isn’t science fiction, this is science fact,” said Andrew Duggleby, noting the design has been in the making since the company was founded. “The rendering you see took many, many cycles to achieve.”

Duggleby noted that Stargazer must have the ability to takeoff and land subsonically at conventional airports, and then it will fly hypersonically. The Stargazer as it stands now measures 100 feet wide by 150 feet long and will have a takeoff weight of 150,000 pounds. It will also have room for 12 passengers. 

After the space plane takes off from a conventional airport and reaches 170,000 feet, Stargazer will level off and accelerate to Mach 9, the company says. Distances that take the better part of a day in a conventional airliner will be covered in about an hour.

Duggleby said the team really wants to keep the windows in the design because the high altitude views will be tremendous. “We think existing window technology will allow us to do that,” he said.

He declined to say what kind of fuel the space plane will use, but noted that the aircraft will not have a carbon footprint. 

One of the challenges the development team faced was determining the sound imprint.

“We worked with NASA at the Johnson Space Center and were able to access the information from the sonic boom testing from the Space Shuttle program,” Duggleby said. “We determined that at altitude and speed flying you will not be able to hear us—we will be flying at 170,000 feet at Mach 9.”

Flight testing of Stargazer will begin with subsonic speeds, followed by hypersonic.

Venus Aerospace has $1 million in government funding and has raised more than $33 million.

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