Following XB-1’s first flight in March, the completion of the Overture Superfactory in June, and significant advancements across Overture and Symphony programs in July, September has proven to be another month of major progress. XB-1 successfully flew its third and fourth test flights in Mojave, California, piloted by Chief Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg. We marked Boom’s 10th anniversary, sharing key milestones from the past decade. Boom took Overture on the road, landing at the UP.Summit in Bentonville, Arkansas, where attendees had the opportunity to pilot the supersonic airliner. Read more below.
XB-1 completes third and fourth test flights
This month, XB-1 completed its third and fourth flights at the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California. Chief Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg was at the controls for both. During flight three on September 13, the team tested key systems, including the environmental control system (ECS) as they continue to systematically expand the flight envelope. XB-1 reached 15,000 feet in altitude and 232 KIAS.
Just eight days later, flight four was XB-1’s fastest flight yet. XB-1 reached Mach 0.617 – more than halfway to breaking the sound barrier at Mach 1. This flight marked the first use of the flutter excitation system (FES) in flight.
Read more about XB-1’s full flight test program here.
XB-1 first flight pilot presented Kincheloe Award
This month, Bill “Doc” Shoemaker received the Society of Experimental Test Pilots’ Iven C. Kincheloe Award for piloting XB-1’s first flight in March, 2024. Doc joins a revered group of honorees, including Andre Turcat, Neil Armstrong, Dick Rutan, and Scott Crossfield.
Following its historic first flight in March 2024, XB-1 continues to progress through the flight test program to confirm its performance and handling qualities, with approximately 10 subsonic flights planned before reaching supersonic speeds. The XB-1 program provides the foundation for the design and development of Overture, Boom’s supersonic airliner, while establishing a safety-first culture. Get up to speed on XB-1’s first flight and the full program here.
Boom marks 10th anniversary
On September 26, 2014, Blake Scholl founded Boom in his Denver basement. Among our many achievements, here’s 10 highlights from our first 10 years.
- Designed, built, and flew XB-1—the world’s first independently developed supersonic jet.
- Secured 130 Overture orders and pre-orders from United, American, and Japan Airlines.
- Built the first supersonic airliner factory in the US—this first assembly line will produce 33 Overtures per year. A second planned assembly line will double output to 66 supersonic airliners annually, where we’ll build 33 Overtures per year.
- Progressed Symphony, the purpose-built turbofan engine for Overture, through design and into hardware testing. In late 2025, an operational engine core will be complete and ready for testing.
- Signed all major tier-1 suppliers for Overture, building a global network of industry leaders.
- Expanded the market for Overture into government and defense, collaborating to offer special mission variants of Overture.
- Built a strong relationship with the FAA, charting a clear path to Overture certification.
- Secured a total of 10M gallons of SAF annually for Overture test flights. We’re building Overture and Symphony to meet existing noise regulations and run on up to 100% SAF.
- Assembled a talented, agile team that can design and execute rapidly, with a shared passion to make the world dramatically more accessible.
The Overture experience lands at UP.Summit 2024
This month, we brought the Overture experience to Bentonville, Arkansas for UP.Summit 2024, where professional and aspiring pilots took the controls of the Overture flight simulator.
Founder and CEO Blake Scholl was a speaker at the event, which gathers the world’s most innovative minds rethinking the future of transportation.
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