A supersonic passenger jet dubbed the ‘New Concorde’ travelled faster than the speed of sound for the first time during a test flight today.
Some 34,000ft above California’s Mojave Desert, the XB-1 prototype reached speeds of 844 miles per hour – more than the 770mph speed of sound.
As it broke the sound barrier, it unleashed a boom in the sky – fitting for the US aviation company, Boom, that’s been testing the aircraft.
Founder Blake Scholl said: ‘Today, XB-1 took flight in the same hallowed airspace where the Bell X-1 first broke the sound barrier in 1947.
‘I’ve been looking forward to this flight since founding Boom in 2014, and it marks the most significant milestone yet on our path to bring supersonic travel to passengers worldwide.’
Previously, XB-1 record was Mach 0.95, or 728 miles per hour, which it hit during its last test flight on January 10. It has been undergoing tests since March last year.
The company hopes the XB-1 – or Overture – can revolutionize commercial air travel, flying passengers between New York and London in three and a half hours, less than half the current journey time.
It wouldn’t be quite as fast as the Concorde’s fastest transatlantic crossing – which was just short of three hours on February 7, 1996.
But it would be faster than commercial flights since the Concorde was retired in 2003.
The world’s only supersonic passenger service so far, it was deemed too noisy and expensive to continue operating.
Already Boom has received 130 pre-orders from airlines including America, United and Japan.
A New York City to London ticket is estimated to cost £4,000.
By comparison, a one-way ticket on one of British Airway’s last Concorde flights would have cost the equivalent of £6,280, when adjusted for inflation.
Boom’s Denver, Colorado, based team 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.’
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