Boom Technology SST (XB-1)

History

The dream of supersonic passenger flight finally became a reality in the 1970s with the introduction of the British-French BAC/Aerospatiale supersonic jet engine "Concord" into practical service. Eventually, however, it became clear that such aircraft would not become viable, and early airlines limited or abandoned purchases of impressive planes. Fuel consumption, combined with the decline of such businesses and rising fuel costs from the tragic crash of Flight 4590 in 2000, was just the final nail in Concorde's coffin.

The series officially ended on October 24, 2004, with only 20 aircraft delivered.

Fast forward to 2016, and the aviation industry is talking more and more about the return of supersonic passenger travel. Aerion is developing the privately funded AS2 "Supersonic Transport" (SST) (detailed elsewhere on this site), while Spike Aerospace's S-512 is in the works. Another contender, Boom Technology, is launching the "XB-1" prototype as a precursor to a more advanced full-scale form.

The aircraft will be used to evaluate various elements and components of the pending final design.

The original aircraft had only twin engines, shorter overall length, and larger area winged aircraft. The revised appearance, based on available renderings, shows the plane has Concorde delta wings and no horizontal stabilizers. The stern will consist of a single, swept vertical plane spanned by air intakes to power the stern-mounted engines.

Each wing also received an engine nacelle below (similar to Concorde). The nose should be pointed and the cockpit should be mounted directly behind this assembly. The tubular fuselage features passenger compartment seats, traditionally lined with viewing windows.

Currently (2016), engine selection for final design has not been made, but it is expected that these engines will be operational off-the-shelf (OTS) units and will meet the required noise limits by region (target market remains North America). The XB-1 prototype will fly three GE CJ610 series turbojets. As a small passenger aircraft mainly used for passenger transportation on water routes, its performance is expected to surpass that of the famous Concorde.

2. A target speed of Mach 2 has become a project goal.

The design is expected to make its maiden flight sometime in 2017 or 2018 and is expected to enter service sometime in 2023. Flight tests will begin in Colorado airspace before moving to California.

Project support comes from The Spaceship Company (Virgin Galactic), which is also ordering the first 10 aircraft.

Some of the values ??given in the specifications below are estimates and will be adjusted as new information becomes available.

The technical model of the XB-1 subscale demonstrator has been revealed.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes