A plane dubbed the ‘son of the Concorde’ that could fly from London to New York in three and a half hours has completed its eleventh test flight.
Boom Technologies say their plane is ‘on track to break the sound barrier in early 2025’ and bring supersonic flight back on the cards for commercial passengers – if they can afford it.
The XB-1 jet, which engineers are hoping could reach supersonic speeds, has been undergoing test flights since March of last year.
During a flight which lasted around 44 minutes on January 10, the plane reached close to supersonic speeds at an altitude of 29,481ft, which is just above the height of Mount Everest.
And engineers don’t intend on stopping there.
The plane is set to fly higher, and faster until it eventually reaches the speed of sound.
This week’s test flight was one of the last, doing final safety checks before the plane is taken supersonic.
Flight 11 reached a top speed of Mach 0.95, which is faster than the cruising speed of today’s airliners and transonic, meaning just below supersonic, Mach 1.
The main aim of the latest test flight was to see how well it can withstand dynamic pressure (the force of air pushing back against the aircraft).
Such pressure is increased as the aircraft goes faster. It is decreased at higher altitudes because the air is less dense, so the plane will face less pressure in its actual supersonic flight because it will fly higher to reach Mach 1.1.
The Colorado team behind the new plane said: ‘During flight testing, we carefully expand one parameter at a time—either Mach number or dynamic pressure—in order to ensure safe and precise performance.
‘Following a thorough data review of aircraft performance and handling qualities on Flight 11, the team will determine whether another test flight is needed prior to taking XB-1 to supersonic speeds.’
Before it was retired, the passenger plane Concorde could reach speeds of Mach 2.
For reference, modern fighter jets, which are smaller than Concorde, fly at speeds between Mach 1.2 to Mach 2.5.
But a range of factors led to Concorde falling out of favour, including the fatal tragic crash of Air France Flight 4590 in 2000 which dented public confidence.
High costs of fuel and restrictions on where it could fly to avoid noisy sonic booms over busy areas were also barriers to it commercially, as well as aging technology.
But now, there are an increasing number of companies trying to build supersonic aircraft capable of drastically cutting longhaul flight times, with regulators urged to review their restrictions.
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