Credit: BoomIn what the FAA has termed “a major federal action,” the U.S. aviation regulator has granted Boom permission to conduct supersonic overland tests of the company’s XB-1 demonstrator.
The special flight authorization (SFA) is the first ever issued by the FAA for tests of a civil supersonic aircraft, as all non-military aircraft are currently prohibited from operating above Mach 1 over land in the U.S. The authorization follows the first flight of the XB-1 at Mojave Air and Space Port in California on March 22, and opens the way for the expansion of the flight envelope over coming months.
The SFA permits supersonic XB-1 test flights to be conducted in the restricted airspace R-2508 Complex and specifically in the Black Mountain Supersonic Corridor and in a portion of the High-Altitude Supersonic Corridor within the R-2515 airspace around Edwards AFB. The SFA also allows Boom’s civil registered Northrop T-38/F-5 chase aircraft to accompany the XB-1 at supersonic speeds.
The FAA authorization covers expected supersonic flight profiles up to 30,000 ft. and is limited to a total of 20 paired flights of the XB-1 and chase aircraft between now and April 2025.
Boom says that, following the FAA action, the XB-1 test team “will systematically expand the flight envelope to confirm its performance and handling qualities through and beyond Mach 1. This includes in-flight checks of all systems, as well as multiple test points demonstrating safe margin to flutter boundaries. There are a total of 10-20 flights planned before reaching supersonic speeds.”
The initial supersonic test flight will be flown by Boom test pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenberg. Speaking earlier to Aviation Week, Brandenberg says, “the plan is three supersonic flights. We will do Mach 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3. The reason for that is each one of those points takes so much gas and airspace that you only have time to do one of them, so we will be on condition for several minutes, we’ll get a flying qualities and handling qualities block, and be out of airspace or out of gas and have to come back home.”
Boom’s chief test pilot Bill “Doc” Shoemaker, who conducted a flying qualities assessment during the XB-1’s initial 12-min. flight, is scheduled to fly the second test mission. This will “take it up to 16 deg. AOA (angle-of-attack) and will also evaluate the sideslip which will expand the envelope in order to give us a little bit more margin on a nominal landing. It will also be the first time the ‘dampers’—or stability augmentation system—is used,” Shoemaker adds. The landing gear will also be retracted and extended for the first time on the second flight.
Brandenburg is scheduled to fly the third mission which will evaluate the XB-1 flutter excitation system. Flutter is a self-excited instability which can occur because of interactions between aerodynamic and inertial forces.
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