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Boom Supersonic ’s XB-1 has successfully broken the sound barrier , becoming the first ultrasonic civic aircraft in U.S. history .
Today ( Jan. 28 ) , the XB-1 took off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California and reached Mach 1.1 — equivalent to 1.1 times the stop number of sound , or 844 miles per hour ( 1,358 km / h ) . It reached this platter stop number on three separate occasions during its 34 - minute mental test flight .
A photo of the XB-1 plane, which just broke the sound barrier.
Boom Supersonic is now the first independent company to break the sound barrier with an aircraft intended for civilian use . ( The Concorde was create in accord with the U.K. and Gallic authorities , while the Tupolev Tu-44 was designed and fabricate with support from the Soviet government . )
In the first phase of the flight , the aircraft climbed to 34,000 feet ( 10,300 meter ) in just a few minutes , showcasing its power to perform exceedingly outrageous climb . It then perform several subsonic checks , running through condom measurement like to those perform inprevious XB-1 test flights .
The aircraft then pushed on to supersonic speeding . Once the aircraft bump off Mach 1.1 , engine driver remotely activated the " flutter irritation organization " to test the flow of air around the craft and verify it was n’t touch on the integrity of the carpenter’s plane ’s fuselage . After this , the aircraft do tactics to try out its handling and flying abilities at eminent speed , as well as test its " deal - off " behavior .
Boom Supersonic flew at a top speed of Mach 1.1 during the test flight, sustaining these speeds for a few minutes at an altitude of 35,000 feet.
The XB-1 has a curved shape and downward - curving nose to slim wave pull and airflow , thereby keep it stable and preventing damage .
The XB-1 sustained its disk - break airspeed for just a handful of minute of arc , as Boom Supersonic was only allowed to practice a relatively small pocket of air space .
San Francisco to Tokyo in 6 hours
The successful test flight , which waslive - streamedby Boom Supersonic , proved the capabilities of several in - planetary house technologies . In plus to its three Symphony engine , the XB-1 has two photographic camera on its landing place gear that enable pilots to see the runway clearly , thus negating the need for a moving " droop nose " like the one on the Concorde . All in - flight performance was cautiously assess by squad on the ground
" We just collected some really valuable data , and I ca n’t wait to get my hand on that data,“Nick Sheryka , primary trajectory test engineer for the XB-1 , said during the livestream .
" The intact restraint way team is going to drop several days poring over the information that we collect here during today ’s flight , " Sheryka added . " And they ’re belong to be moderate the actual performance that was show against what our mannikin predicted , and how we expected it to fly . "
Data collected on these successful test bring the companionship closer to building the Boom Overture , a plannedsupersonic passenger airlinerintended to set forth regular commercial operations in the 2030s .
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" So we ’ve got our litmus test test here today , our proof data that we ’ll use to inform our succeeding efforts on Overture , " Sheryka said .
If in full realized , Boom Overture would shorten transatlantic flights to less than four hour , while a flight from San Francisco to Tokyo could take just six hours .
The XB-1 will vaporize at ultrasonic speed again as soon as next calendar week . The caller is planning on take away picture during this flying , using a process known as " Schlieren picture taking , " which is used to visualize shock waves .
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