Steady Progress Toward Mach 1 Continues

Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 demonstrator aircraft successfully carried out Flight Six on October 24, 2024, achieving the primary objective of testing the Flutter Excitation System (FES).

The company said the flight made significant progress toward validating a fully functional FES, as it was successfully tested at Mach 0.65, a higher airspeed than the previous flutter test point. In addition, the XB-1’s flight envelope was expanded to an altitude of 20,000 feet and achieved a higher overall airspeed of Mach 0.67 during the 39-minute flight.

Flutter testing is a critical element of testing new aircraft designs to ensure there are no undesirable interactions between the airflow around the aircraft and its structure. Flutter is a dangerous dynamic instability that occurs when airflow induces the natural vibration modes of the structure that could lead to structural failure. The FES inputs energy into the aircraft’s structure during flight testing to validate the design, and is performed at incrementally higher airspeeds as testing progresses.

Boom insists that safety is their main priority during development of XB-1 and its full-size successor, the Overture passenger aircraft. Its testing is done incrementally, adding one new item at a time as well as increases in airspeed.

This was the sixth of the ten flights planned during progression to Mach 1, which the company has planned to complete by the end of 2024.

FMI:  boomsupersonic.com/