Boom Supersonic partners with Flight Research to test its XB-1 supersonic aircraft

Supersonic aviation startup Boom is making progress on its XB-1 demonstrator aircraft, the airplane that will prove out its tech and pave the way for construction of its future production commercial supersonic passenger jets. The Denver-based startup has partnered with Flight Research, Inc., a company that specializes in in-flight testing and certification, as well as pilot training.

The XB-1 demonstrator aircraft will be tested with support from Flight Research, Inc., with Boom hoping to fly the aircraft over the Mojave desert in a stretch used for supersonic testing. As part of the deal, Flight Research will be providing Boom with a hanger at the Mojave Air and Space Port to fly from, and a T-38 Talon supersonic trainer aircraft, which will be used both to train the XB-1’s test pilots and to trail the Boom aircraft for observation while it’s in flight.

Boom is in the process of building the XB-1, which will be used to test and refine the final design of Overture, the passenger commercial airliner it eventually hopes to build. Already, Boom says the development of the subscale XB-1 has led to improvements of the design elements it’s going to be using to construct Overture. The flight controls system and engines on XB-1 are complete, and the company is now working on finishing touches on the cockpit construction, with about half of the work still left to go on the fuselage and a third of the construction of the wings still to be done. Its first flight is currently planned for sometime later this year. techcrunch.com