BOOM Supersonic Delays XB-1 Demonstrator As the race continues to heat up in the supersonic jet sector the realities of pursuing speed-of-sound benchmarks will crop up. BOOM Supersonic, a company in close competition with the likes of Aerion Corporation (AS2), announced at the ongoing Farnborough International Air Show in England, that it is delaying the XB-1 Demonstrator by a year.
The XB-1 Demonstrator will be a scaled down variant of what would be eventually a Mach 2.2 supersonic jet. The XB-1 'Baby BOOM' as it is called, has already been delayed a couple times as it was originally supposed to fly in 2017 then got pushed back to later in 2018 and now BOOM CEO Blake Scholl suggests another year push-back. They continue to assure that service entry will still be around 2025. Using a different GE engine variant and tweaking with aerodynamics of the plane are said to have contributed to the new delay. For more information: BOOM Supersonic www.boomsupersonic.com ***