Harking back to the heyday of supersonic air travel and the defunct Concorde, Boom Technology has just unveiled their new 1/3 scale prototype of their Boom XB-1 Supersonic Demonstrator Passenger Plane. The “Baby Boom” is slated to test the new technology they are creating to bring supersonic air travel back into the realm of the affordable.
Utilizing data from the old Concorde designs, the XB-1 prototype will help fine-tune the final production craft. It hosts three General Electric J85-21 non-afterburning engines and Honeywell avionics. Built with extensive carbon composite materials the XB-1 helps reduce weight to increase speed and stability in the air. The team behind it assures that their new craft will cruise at Mach 2.2 (1,451 mph) which is even faster than the Concorde that only managed Mach 2. This prototype, hailed as the future of aviation, will begin test flights early in 2017.
