For the first time since the final flight of the Concorde in 2003, a commercial airliner – albeit a prototype – has exceeded Mach 1, achieving supersonic flight. The airplane, which has been dubbed the XB-1, was designed and built by a company appropriately named Boom.
Today, for the first time since Concorde was retired in 2003, a commercial-type aircraft, the XB-1, went supersonic, touching Mach 1.1 three times during its one-half-hour test flight out of California’s Mojave Air And Space Port.
The XB-1 first flew in March 2024, with 10 more tests under its belt since – until today. The fastest of those previous flights was Mach .95, earlier this month.
Boom Technology, the company who developed XB-1, is building a bigger aircraft, Overture, a 64-seat affair (Concorde had 100 seats), for commercial operations. It says Overture should ready in a few years….
