About 35,000 feet (10,670 meters) over the Mojave Desert, northwest of Los Angeles, Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 became the first privately funded airplane to break the sound barrier during a test flight on Tuesday.
“She was real happy supersonic,” Boom Chief Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg said after landing, in a video posted by Boom Supersonic. “That’s the best she’s ever flown, was supersonic.”
After getting to altitude, Brandenburg opened up the test plane’s throttles, accelerating to Mach 1.1, or about 845 mph (1,360 kph) — faster than the speed at which sound travels.
In 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first human to break the sound barrier when he pushed the Bell X-1 past Mach 1 during a flight over the Mojave Desert.
Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 is a stepping stone in its plan to develop a commercially viable supersonic airliner, the Overture, capable of carrying 64-80 passengers across the Atlantic in about 3 1/2 hours.
The company has 130 orders and pre-orders from American Airlines, United Airlines and Japan Airlines.
Last year, it completed construction on its Overture Superfactory in Greensboro, North Carolina, where it plans to build 66 Overture aircraft per year.
—Dan Catchpole, Reuters
Melden Sie sich an, um einen Kommentar hinzuzufügen
Andere Beiträge in dieser Gruppe
I can tell you the exact moment when a new browser called Deta Surf clicked for me.
I was getting a demo from Deta cofounder Max Eusterbrock, and he showed me how
Two romantasy authors have publicly defended their use of artificial intelligence after being caught with AI-generated prompts left in their published works. While their readers are far from impre
After back-to-back explosions, SpaceX launched its
Chris Rogers, Instacart’s current chief business officer, is taking over as the delivery giant’s next CEO, the company announced on Wednesday.
Rogers, who has worked at Insta
As the global migrant crisis continues to dominate our airwaves, Welcome.US has triggered a dramatic impact on U.S. immigration, resettling 800,000 refugees across all 50 states. The organization’
Nvidia’s earnings have become some of the most closely watched numbers on Wall Street. The company makes up about 6.5% of the Nasdaq 100, and 5.5% of the S&P 500, so a good quarter can send
