The US government just gave permission to Boom Supersonic, an airplane company, to fly their XB-1 test plane faster than the speed of sound (which is called supersonic) over land in the United States. This is a big deal because currently, no civilian airplanes are allowed to do this!
This special permission is called an SFA, and it’s the first one ever given by the FAA for a supersonic civilian airplane. The XB-1 had its first successful flight in California on March 22nd, and now Boom can fly it in special areas to test it out more.
The XB-1 will be allowed to fly supersonically up to 30,000 feet in the air. There will be a total of 20 test flights with a chase plane to accompany the XB-1. These flights will happen between now and April 2025.
The Boom team will slowly test the plane’s abilities by flying faster and faster. They will also check all the plane’s systems and make sure it can handle flying supersonically. The first supersonic test flight will be flown by a pilot named Tristan Brandenberg. He says they will fly at three different speeds: Mach 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3.
This is an exciting step towards supersonic travel for civilians! We will see how the XB-1 tests go and what this means for the future of airplanes.