Reaches 32,400 Feet In Quest For Mach 1.0

Boom’s XB-1 demonstrator took another step closer to achieving its goal of getting to airspeed Mach 1.0 in its latest Flight 10 on December 19, 2024, setting new records for both altitude and airspeed in the process.

Chief Test Pilot Tristan “Gepetto” Brandenburg pushed the aircraft to a maximum altitude of 32,417 feet MSL and reached Mach 0.95 (553 knots true airspeed) in a 46-minute flight. The airspeed attained is further into the transonic regime than the aircraft has yet been. The transonic regime is the speed range just below and slightly above supersonic, from about Mach 0.8 to Mach 1.2.

At XB-1’s speed in this flight, it was flying faster than the cruise speed of a Boeing 787 or Airbus A380, which is about Mach 0.85. Its top altitude of 32,417 is near the altitude for the planned supersonic flight at 34,000 feet MSL.

The flight team evaluated the aircraft’s handling qualities at Mach 0.90 with the stability augmentation system off. The aircraft cleared this requirement and confirmed that the pilot can safely control the aircraft at higher speeds even if the stability augmentation system experiences an unlikely failure.

The team also tested flutter points at Mach 0.85, 0.90, and 0.95 at varying altitudes to ensure the aircraft’s structure continues to behave as predicted as the flight envelope expands. In the remaining two flight tests, the dynamic pressure will be expanded to a higher level than will be experienced in XB-1’s supersonic flight.

Boom expects that 1 or 2 more flight tests will be performed to complete final systems checks before XB-1’s supersonic flight in early 2025.

FMI:  boomsupersonic.com/flyby/