Introduction
Although commercial aviation is not short on aspiration without visionaries, heavier than air flight would not have been possible. Boom Supersonic is in a class of its own when it comes to raising the bar. Since Concorde was retired in 2003, commercial supersonic travel has been on hold. The Colorado based business wants to bring it back. But as contrast to Concorde, an exclusive engineering wonder that was only ever used by a few airlines. Boom thinks that their supersonic aircraft, named Overture, would democratize this mode of transportation and make it available to everyone.
Boom intends to launch Overture as a for-profit service by 2029. And while that goal may be difficult to achieve. Scholl thinks that recent revelations about the company’s partners and technologies have helped get that ambition a little closer to reality.
Airlines are attempting to revive the Concorde era
Tuesday saw the announcement by American Airlines that it will buy a fleet of 20 planes from Boom Supersonic, a young company developing aircraft that can fly faster than the speed of sound. The purchase was made in response to United Airlines’ previous year’s announcement that it would purchase 15 of its Overture aircraft. Although passenger flights aren’t anticipated until the end of the decade, supersonic commercial travel may resume for the first time since the Concorde era if all goes as planned.
According to Boom, their aircraft are built to fly twice as quickly as a usual flight. That would allow someone to travel in just three hours from Los Angeles to Honolulu and just three hours from Newark to London. The business intends to begin transporting passengers by 2029, with the first of these flights set to depart in 2026. If all goes according to plan, United and American each have the option to purchase at least 35 additional planes from the company. But there’s still more to it. Additionally, Boom aims to make these trips as ecologically benign as possible, stating that these aircraft would be “net-zero carbon from day one” and entirely run on sustainably sourced, recycled aviation fuel.
Boom CEO Blake Scholl stated, “We want to accomplish supersonic as rapidly as possible. We believe that the world needs this. The Overture aircraft, which costs approximately the same as a first-class ticket, can transport passengers from Miami to London in less than five hours as opposed to the customary eight hours and 40 minutes.
A challenging procedure
Overture is intended to fly at a speed of Mach 1.7 and an altitude of 60,000 feet while carrying 64 to 80 people. Overture would cut the flight time between London and New York. In half by travelling at double the speed and 50% higher altitude than current wide body aircraft. Like the Boeing 787 or the Airbus A350. Three airlines have already placed orders for the aircraft. Despite the fact that the first one is not yet in existence and is anticipated to leave the factory as early as 2026. They are United Airlines, American Airlines, and Japan Airlines. And they have a combined total of 130 orders, of which 95 are pre-orders and 35 have non-refundable deposits. So no money has really changed hands.
According to Boom’s current schedule, the aircraft should make its first flight in 2027 and be certified in 2029. At which point it will be prepared to go into service. Although Scholl acknowledges that these goals are “aggressive”. He also says that he is pleased with the success the business has achieved to date. We don’t require a completely new set of rules in order to be licensed. He claims, unlike electric aircraft or vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. This airliner is yet another. It simply moves at a different pace. But from a regulatory standpoint. It’s the same safety standards and written laws that apply. All we have to do is follow them and demonstrate that we do so.
Impact on environment
The editorial board also emphasised the need for further research into the environmental effects. And the requirement for supersonic flights to adhere to contentious international carbon offset regulations. Rather than concentrating on speed or size. The future of aviation has to be more energy-efficient and less harmful to the environment. According to Bednarek, the airline historian.