Colorado based supersonic airliner start-up, Boom Supersonic, has provided us with some updates to the progress of the Overture project, which the company claims should be ready to enter service in 2029.
In a press conference at the Paris Air Show, Boom announced that it has signed contracts with suppliers to manufacture the following components of the Overture aircraft: the wings are to be made by Aernnova, Leonardo are set to build the fuselage and wing box, while Aciturri will build the tail, or empennage.
Last December, Boom announced that Florida Turbine Technologies (FTT), a company that makes engines for weapons systems such as missiles and UAVs, will build the engines for Overture. Each Overture airliner will be powered by four “Symphony” engines, which are now under development. The design specification for the non-afterburning engines requires that they each produce 35,000lb thrust and will run entirely on SAF (sustainable aviation fuel). The company has presented a 1/3 scale model of the engine at the airshow.
Boom hopes that its new airliner will be the first supersonic commercial airliner since the retirement of the Anglo-French Concorde, which was retired in October 2003, after 27 years of successful service. That being said, there are many industry naysayers who doubt the project, upon grounds that it is unfeasible and unrealistic.
Matt is a Berlin-based writer and reporter for International Flight Network. Originally from London, he has been involved in aviation from a very young age and has a particular focus on aircraft safety, accidents and technical details.
