Boom Supersonic shares new jet details as work on Greensboro airport plant takes off
At the Paris Air Show on Tuesday, Boom Supersonic unveiled new details about its future commercial supersonic jet, which the company plans to assemble at the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro.
Boom announced a trio of suppliers will design and develop key components for the jet, called Overture.
The Spanish firm Aernnova will handle the wings, which Boom says will be thinner than traditional jet wings to minimize drag.
The Italian company Leonardo will handle the fuselage, the aircraft’s main body, while the Spain-based firm Aciturri will create the tail section, technically called the empennage, which helps stabilize the aircraft.
Once complete, Boom anticipates Overture to cruise at twice the speed of modern passenger airliners.
In its tax incentive agreement with North Carolina, Boom has pledged to invest $500 million and employ more than 1,750 people at the Greensboro site by the end of the decade. Company spokesperson Aubrey Scanlan told The News & Observer that Boom hopes to become certified to carry passengers in 2029.
Boom broke ground on its 62-acre Piedmont airport campus in January and began to erect steel for the factory foundation this month. Officials anticipate completing construction by mid-2024.
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The company has received 130 Overture orders from three commercial airlines: American, United, and Japan Airlines. Around a fourth of these orders included non-refundable deposits.
Boom, which is based in Colorado, also has an agreement with the defense firm Northrop Grumman to design aircraft for the U.S. military.
This week’s event in Paris is among the largest air shows in the world. On Tuesday, Boom also shared the design of its proprietary engine, Symphony, which the company says will initially be built in Jupiter, Florida. Other key internal details Boom released involved Overture’s flight controls, hydraulics, and landing gear.
The landing gear, Boom says, is compatible with completing more than 600 commercial routes worldwide.
But some point out there are still many benchmarks Boom must meet before the first Overture lifts off.
“It is still very much in the promise stage,” said Janet Bednarek, an aviation professor at the University of Dayton. “Exciting if it comes about, but a long way from reality.”
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
This story was originally published June 20, 2023 at 1:41 PM.
