XB-1 will pave the way for commercial supersonic flight, but challenges remain.
Regularly scheduled, commercial supersonic flight became a reality half a century ago with Concorde, but the high costs associated with supersonic aircraft technology doomed the project to commercial failure, despite its engineering excellence. Boom Supersonic is moving forward with an 80-seat composite faster-than-sound airliner using proprietary engines. Developing a novel airframe and engine both in-house is ambitious for any startup, but Boom has commitments from three major airlines, and has begun construction of a production facility in North Carolina.
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Episode Transcript:
Half a century ago, the Concorde project represented the pinnacle of commercial air transport. Supersonic transcontinental travel at double the speed of even the fastest jet airliners.
While it was an engineering triumph, as a commercial venture Concorde failed. But a lot has changed in aerospace technology over the last 50 years. Can new technology make supersonic commercial air travel not only feasible, but profitable?
Centennial, Colorado-based Boom Supersonic thinks so, and is taking an unusual step for an airframer by developing new jet engines concurrently. Boom’s medium bypass turbofan design, called Symphony, carries very ambitious performance goals: 35,000 pounds of thrust with a single-stage 72-inch fan, 10 percent lower operating costs and 25 percent more time on wing compared to derivatives of existing engines, with compliance to ICAO, FAA and EASA standards for noise and airworthiness.
The engine will make significant use of additive manufacturing, and in its primary application—propulsion for the company’s 80-passenger Overture airliner—it must propel the airframe to supersonic speeds without the use of afterburners. This is called “super cruise” and it’s the key to both transcontinental range and, critically, reasonable operating and MRO costs.
Most fledgling supersonic aircraft concepts from smaller air framers are designed around existing military or civilian engines, a favourite being General Electric’s venerable J-85. But by careful matching of engine to airframe, Boom is designing the entire system for maximum efficiency at cruise.
There is technical risk in this approach, not just from an engineering perspective but from a financial one. Both new jet engine and large airframe development is expensive—very expensive—and developing a new, complex, competent airframe for a very challenging flight regime, alongside a new and untested engine would be a daunting task for even a Boeing or Airbus.
At the recent Paris Air Show, Boom announced structural supplier agreements with Aernnova for Overture’s wings, Leonardo for the fuselage and wing box, and Aciturri for the empennage as well as an expanded partnership with Florida Turbine Technologies to assemble the initial production units of the Symphony engine for ground test, flight test and certification.
Production facilities are under construction in Greensboro, North Carolina, with a planned production start in 2024. Meanwhile, a single seat proof of concept airplane called XB-1 is undergoing taxi tests in Mojave and is expected to fly shortly.
First flight of a production representative Overture is planned for 2026 with a service introduction of 2029, a very ambitious timeline for such a complex project.
At this point, Japan Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines have expressed interest, with United and American placing orders for 35 aircraft, and options from these three airlines standing at 171. Virgin Group has withdrawn an option for 10 aircraft.
Can Boom Supersonic succeed where the Concorde consortium failed? With 50 years of technological progress, the engineering answer is “yes”—but the real race is against time and money.
Investor interest is there, and Boom predicts a market for 1,000 faster-than-sound airliners by 2035.
