Up to Speed: September
Soon You Can Fly XB-1
Coming December 8, you’ll be able to break the sound barrier and fly supersonic in Boom’s demonstrator aircraft, XB-1.
Last week, Microsoft announced that XB-1 will be available in Microsoft Flight Simulator, the world’s most advanced consumer flight simulator—now also available on PlayStation for the first time. See what it’s like to fly America’s first civil supersonic jet: listen to air traffic control, takeoff from Mojave, push the throttle to hit Mach speeds, and experience what it’s like to fly faster—from your living room.
Symphony Update: Turning Metal Into Mach
This September was a month of momentum for Symphony, the engine that will power Overture.
We moved from blueprint to metal: machining and 3D-printing early hardware, welding and brazing critical components, conducting bench tests for control systems and signal verification, and developing the engine core split case with built-in precision—with quality checks at every step.
The focus is on testing, testing, and more testing, in order to build confidence before we light the engine. Rapid, efficient iteration thanks to vertical integration is paying off: more speed, more control, and tangible progress toward the first Symphony engine coming to life.
Vertical Integration: Changing The Physics Of What’s Possible
In a two-part Substack piece, CEO Blake Scholl unpacks Boom’s approach to building hardware quickly and efficiently. If you missed the first post, you can find it here: “Move fast and don’t break (safety critical) things.”
His latest post explores vertical integration, why it’s critical to building hardware, fast—and the yardstick to measure efficiency, the “Slacker Index.” The Slacker Index measures how much time engineers spend not engineering and building, because they’re waiting for parts, suppliers, or because of other delays.
Spoiler alert: The most powerful way to crush the Slacker Index is—you guessed it—vertical integration, and owning the tools, supply chains, and test infrastructure yourself. It can be either liberating or painful—Blake has a story for both.
Boom In The News: Forbes Features Boom-United Partnership
Forbes spotlighted Boom and United Airlines in a recent piece revisiting the partnership, with United CFO Michael Leskinen voicing strong support for supersonic: “There’s real demand across the North Atlantic for sure… Blake Scholl at Boom has done some amazing things to drive that forward, and we’re excited about it.”
Momentum is building. Supersonic isn’t just coming—it’s inevitable.
On The FlyBy Blog: How Supersonic Will Unlock The Next Era of Sports
Sports don’t stand still—they evolve with each new era. From the Jet Age to today, every leap in flight has been accompanied by shifts in how the world plays sports. Supersonic is poised to do it again, redefining how athletes compete, how teams expand, and how fans connect.
In the latest piece on the FlyBly blog, we look at what faster travel will do for sports. From year-round football to tighter soccer seasons to new global rivalries, supersonic won’t just move athletes and fans faster—it’ll be a gamechanger.
Around The Boom Office
Who needs wind tunnels when you’ve got printer paper?
At Boom’s Denver HQ earlier this month, team members went head-to-head in a paper-airplane competition, complete with questionable aerodynamics, moderate trash talk, and some surprisingly smooth flights.
Boom also turned 11 this month (September 26!). We’re celebrating eleven years of supersonic speed, breaking barriers, bold ideas, and making the impossible happen. Thanks for cheering us on and being part of our mission to bring supersonic back!
Featured News
Aerospace America: U.S. House aviation subcommittee chair targets October for markup on new supersonic flight regulations
Skift: Skift Annual Power Rankings: Blake Scholl
Daily Express: The new ‘Concorde’ on the brink of making flight times from UK to America way shorter
