Boom Supersonic is a company that has been developing its Overture concept for several years. The goal is to make available a supersonic commercial aircraft that is economical in of fuel consumption, where new technologies enable a breakthrough in this sector.
And Boom Supersonic's objective is quite clear, to have its aircraft competitive on long-haul flights, mainly focusing on Business Class engers.
The company's CEO, Blake Scholl, recently told Portal Simple Flying which plans to considerably lower the cost:
“Our expectation is that in many cases this will not be so different from what we pay in business class today. That's for the Overture 1. There's going to be an Overture 1 and there's going to be an Overture 3. The goal is to reduce the cost of high speed to the point where there's no reason for anyone to choose subsonic [flight]. That will take time, it will be several generations of aircraft, but that's where we're going. Also, I think it's one of the reasons to be excited. Even with Overture 1, that's a 75% jump from what we've had before. That means it will be within reach of tens of millions of engers on day one.”
In this part of the interview, the CEO indirectly mentions the Concorde, the iconic supersonic plane that was in service from 1976 to 2003. At the time, flying on the Concorde was more expensive compared to an airline ticket in First Class on the Boeing 747.
To achieve this feat, Boom reduced the design speed of the Overture 1 to Mach 1. The company is also betting on composite materials, lighter metals and new generation engines that can operate without afterburning, something that practically doubles fuel consumption. engine fuel.
In this way, a typical flight between London and New York should cost between 2500 and 5000 dollars, according to Blake Scholl's interview with SimpleFlying.
“The Concorde had four engines and ran on afterburning… which means pouring fuel straight into the exhaust as it exits the engine, so it burned a huge amount of fuel and was therefore very, very expensive.”, said Scott Kirby, previously justifying United's commitment to Overture.
"It doesn't burn fuel the way the Concorde did", completed Kirby after the explanation about the afterburners.
BOOM's Supersonic Airplane
In 2020, BOOM Supersonic presented the final design of an aircraft capable of flying at supersonic speed. The company already had a base project for a few years, however, the concept was still being developed.
The Overture project will be used as a base, which will also serve for future projects and other updates. This design was even offered to the US Air Force, as a high-speed alternative to Air Force One.
According to Boom, this aircraft is capable of cutting long-haul travel time in half. This is possible thanks to an aerodynamic design similar to the Concorde, but with significant updates.
The thin, pointed nose allows the aircraft to take full advantage of all the reduced drag under its wings. This aircraft will have 3 turbofan engines, which will allow it to fly at speeds of Mach 1.7 with a range of 8300 km.
Along with the presentation, the company showed an XB-1 prototype, which should be used to test the technologies that will equip the big Overture, as well as the aerodynamic concepts. Its size is similar to a modern fighter, but with some different ideas.
For now we should not see a move by the company towards launching the prototype of the larger plane for now. The technology in the Little Boom is expected to be developed within four to five years.
At the same time, Boom will finalize the Overture's propulsion system and conduct wind tunnel tests to validate the aircraft's design.
The larger plane, the Overture, will be able to have 88 seats on board, will fly at Mach 1.7 and have a flight range of 4500 nautical miles (8300 km). The XB-1 prototype, in turn, has similar performance characteristics, except for its lower weight and flight range.
The launch is scheduled for 2025, with commercial flights starting in 2029. The price per plane, if an airline wants to acquire it, is US$ 200 million.
