NASA has snapped a stunning image of a supersonic plane breaking the sound barrier – as its creators boast that there was “no audible sonic boom”.
The Boom Supersonic XB-1 – dubbed a “Son of Concorde” – is America’s first civil supersonic jet.
Nasa snapped this stunning image of the XB-1 flying at supersonic speeds[/caption]
The XB-1 is a test design for what could eventually become the commercial Overture airliner[/caption]
To hit supersonic speeds, an airplane needs to travel at 768 miles per hour.
Boom Supersonic is testing the XB-1 with the hopes of building its Overturne plane, which it’s hailing as “the world’s fastest airline”.
The hope is that it could slash journey times for tourists and business travellers, potentially cutting the journey time between London and New York City to as low as 1.5 hours-per-trip.
The aircraft flew faster than the speed of sound for the first time in January this year.
And now Boom has revealed that Nasa used “specialised photography” to capture the XB-1 “pushing through the air at supersonic speeds”.
Nasa also collected audio data on the jet while it was flying overhead.
Analysis of this data showed that there was no sonic boom heard at ground level.
“This image makes the invisible visible – the first American made civil supersonic jet breaking the sound barrier,” said Boom Supersonic chief Blake Scholl.
“Thanks to Geppetto’s exceptional flying and our partnership with NASA, we were able to capture this iconic image.
“We also confirmed that XB-1 made no audible sonic boom, which paves the way for coast to coast flights up to 50% faster.”
The stunning image is an example of Schlieren photography, which shows the “fluid flow” around a moving object.
Boom said that it required “ideal conditions and timing”, as well as “exceptional flying by the pilot”.
The aircraft’s chief test pilot Tristan ‘Geppetto’ Brandenburg was able to position the XB-1 at an exact time – and in an exact location – over the Mojave Desert.
This allowed Nasa to snap the XB-1 flying in front of the Sun, which meant it could capture the changing air density around the aircraft when it was flying at supersonic speeds.
The Overture is meant to be a commercial aircraft that would carry holidaymakers and business travellers[/caption]
Why did the Concorde fail?
CONCORDE was the supersonic passenger jet considered the ultimate luxury in air travel.
Air France and British Airways announced they would be retiring their fleet of Concorde planes on April 10, 2003.
The plane had its first commercial flight on January 21, 1976, so was retired after 27 years of service and 50,000 flights.
Several reasons led to the decision to retire Concorde.
Air France and British Airways cited low passenger numbers and high maintenance costs.
By the early noughties, the planes were outdated and expensive to run, despite being incredibly advanced when they were first introduced almost three decades previously.
The 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001 majorly impacted passenger numbers, as people opted not to fly.
Passenger numbers also fell after an Air France Concorde crashed just minutes after taking off from Paris in July 2000.
The disaster killed all 109 people on board and four others on the ground.
The plane ran over a small piece of metal on the runway, which burst a tyre and caused an engine to ignite.
It was also the only aircraft in the British Airways fleet that required a flight engineer.
Boom Supersonic says it has already had orders from top air travel companies, including United Airlines[/caption]
“Using waypoints computed by NASA, the XB-1 team rapidly developed avionics software,” Boom explained.
“To guide the pilot to the specific points in space that XB-1 would have to fly through in order to eclipse the sun.
“To capture the imagery, NASA used ground telescopes with special filters that detect air distortions, such as shock waves, around the supersonic aircraft.”
The plan was for Boom to break the sound barrier at a high enough altitude to avoid a sonic boom.
By flying at high enough altitudes, Boom Supersonic says that it can avoid generating sonic booms that are audible from the ground[/caption]
Before the flight, modelling showed that it would be able to fly so high that the sonic boom would “refract” in the atmosphere – and fail to reach the ground.
Several microphones and devices designed to record sound pressure levels were dropped across the flight path.
And Boom says that the data shows that supersonic flight without disturbances from sonic booms is possible.
It would be a major win, as the noise of sonic booms is one of the main barriers for allowing supersonic aircraft to travel over land.
Supersonic and Hypersonic Jets
There are several types of hypersonic and supersonic jets. A breakdown of what’s been happening in the industry and what’s expected in the coming years.
- Built by Stratolaunch
- Reported speeds of Mach 5
- The first test flight conducted in 2024
- Built by Nasa and Lockheed Martin
- Predicted max speeds of Mach 1.4
- The first test flight in 2024 – but subject to delays
- Built by Venus Aerospace and Velontra
- Predicted max speeds of Mach 6
- First test flight in 2025
- Built by Hermeus
- Predicted max speeds of Mach 2.5
- First test flight in 2026
- Built by Hermeus
- Predicted max speeds of Mach 5
- First test flight by 2030
- Built by China’s hypersonic plane programme
- Predicted max speeds of Mach 6
- First test flight in 2025
- Built by Hypersonix Launch Systems
- Predicted max speeds of Mach 7
- First test flight in 2025
Boom Supersonic wants to build as many as 66 Overture aircraft each year[/caption]
Aircraft giants are interested in snapping up the plane design, which will be called Overture.
Boom says that it has received 130 orders and pre-orders from top brands, including United Airlines, American Airlines, and Japan Airlines.
A factory was built in Greensboro, North Caroline last year to produce Overture.
And Boom says that it’s hoping to build as many as 66 Overture planes each year.
There are more than 600 potentially profitable flight routes that Overture could serve, Boom Supersonic claims[/caption]
The hope is that Overture will be able to cruise at speeds of Mach 1.7 – that’s just over 1,300mph.
By contrast, a commercial Boeing 747 would typically cruise at around 575mph.
Boom Supersonic says that it would be twice as fast over water and 50% quicker over land versus traditional airliners.
And promises that there are “more than 600 profitable routes” that the Overture could serve.
