Private Company Breaks Sound Barrier, Eyes Return of Fast-Flying Kangaroos

While most of us Down Under are used to marathon flights that feel longer than a Test cricket match, American startup Boom Supersonic has taken a significant hop towards making Sydney to LA shorter than a T20 game.

In a milestone achievement in late January, Boom’s XB-1 demonstrator aircraft has cracked the sound barrier, becoming the first privately developed aircraft to deliberately go supersonic. The sleek prototype hit Mach 1.1 (about 845 km/h) over California’s Mojave Desert, the same patch of sky where Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in 1947.

“She was real happy supersonic,” reported test pilot Tristan ‘Geppetto’ Brandenburg after landing, in what might be the most laid-back description of breaking the sound barrier ever recorded.

While several commercial business jets have reportedly nudged past Mach 1 during testing or in unusual circumstances – including a Gulfstream G650 that allegedly broke the sound barrier during dive testing in 2009 and speculation around Cessna Citation X’s capabilities – these instances were either unintentional or part of safety envelope testing. Boom’s XB-1 on the other hand is purpose-built for as a test platform for sustained supersonic flight.

The breaking of the sound barrier marks a crucial step toward Boom’s ambitious goal of bringing back supersonic passenger travel, which has been grounded since Concorde hung up its wings in 2003.

Boom’s proposed Overture airliner promises to slash the dreaded trans-Pacific journey times, with the potential to zip up to 80 passengers from Sydney to Los Angeles in roughly half the current flight time.

Unlike its French-British predecessor Concorde, which was notorious for being about as fuel-efficient as a V8 ute, Boom claims its aircraft will use “up to 100% sustainable” aviation fuel. While this still produces emissions, it’s a step up from the gas-guzzling days of yore.

The company has already secured 130 pre-orders from major carriers including American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines. It’s backing its ambitions with bricks and mortar too, having completed construction of its Overture Superfactory in North Carolina, where it plans to crank out 66 aircraft annually.

Boom’s founder and CEO, Blake Scholl, reckons the company has learned from Concorde’s mistakes.

“Concorde was a technological marvel for the 1960 but they weren’t focused on the economics, and it became too expensive to fly,” Scholl told the Guardian in an interview in August 2022.

The Concorde used redesigned military aircraft engines with the attendant running and maintenance cost issues. Boom is seeking to address running costs with measures including developing its own bespoke engines, ground tests of which are ambitiously targeted at late 2025.

The XB-1’s success doesn’t guarantee smooth sailing ahead—or smooth flying, for that matter. But with plans to reach speeds of Mach 1.7, roughly twice the speed of current commercial aircraft, and the ability to fly significantly faster than current airliners even when staying subsonic, Boom might just succeed in making those long-haul flights from Oz feel less like a biblical journey and more like a quick jump across the ditch.

Next time you’re settling in for that 15-hour Pacific crossing, just remember: help might be coming, mate.