A new aircraft which aims to take passengers from London to New York in just three and a half hours will hit milestones in travel.
The Boom’s XB-1 supersonic plane has been called the “son of Concorde” and is expected to carry 80 passengers on its flights.
This week, it underwent its second successful test flight and is now a step closer to becoming a reality for passengers looking to take a journey across the pond.
Developers watched closely as it flew over the Mojave Air and Space Port in California on Monday. It flew for around 15 minutes and reached an altitude of 10,400 feet, travelling at 277 miles per hour.
The first test flight took place in March. While it was successful, improvements made since then made the future of the plane look even more promising. Aviation experts have noted the progress made and this time, the landing gear was tested for the first time and was successful.
Routine checks were done with engineers who assessed the plane’s ability to handle strong airflow across the wings.
Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic spoke of how well the flight went and said that the aircraft is now planned to move to the next stage of flight tests.
There will be another 10 tests before the team can achieve supersonic status. Tests will help to determine the feasibility of fuel consumption, speeds and flight characteristics.
The XB-1 plane is being used for the test flights before the company unveils the actual aircraft, Overture, to be used by future passengers.
It is promised Overture will offer business-class levels of comfort for passengers when it sets to the skies on commercial flights.
It will be able to fly from Tokyo to Seattle in just four and a half hours, with the first flight expected to be available in 2030. Many expect the plane to rival Concorde which ran until 2003.
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