Boom Overture, the small Concorde of tomorrow

With the signing of prestigious partnerships for the wings, fuselage, and engines, the Overture is ready to take off.

Boom Supersonic designed the Overture to transport 65 to 80 passengers at Mach 1.7, or about 2,100 km/h, at 60,000 feet. At these speeds, it could connect Paris to New York in three and a half hours, nearly halving the flight duration.

Until now, skeptics outnumbered optimists. Nothing unusual when you consider the number of projects that have fallen by the wayside without even progressing beyond the cardboard model stage displayed between glasses of champagne at the Paris Air Show.

But rather than stirring up social media controversy, Boom prefers to silence its opponents with concrete, very serious evidence. The Colorado-based company had already partnered with Florida Turbine Technologies (FTT) to design, build, and test its Symphony engines. Knowing that this company develops engines for F-22 and F-35 fighter jets, we can imagine it’s capable of meeting the challenge. In June 2023, Boom signed several subcontracting agreements at the Paris Air Show with Italian company Leonardo for the fuselage, Aernnova for the wings, and Aciturri for the empennage. Another partnership was established with French company Latécoère for wiring. American companies Eaton, Collins, and GE, as well as French firm Safran through its Landing Systems subsidiary, will supply the brakes and landing gear. Consider it: we are close to having a complete airplane built by major names. Boom has also started constructing a production factory in Greensboro, North Carolina, which they claim will be capable of producing 33 aircraft annually.

This week, the manufacturer chose Honeywell and its Anthem avionics system to equip the Overture cockpit. Following that, it announced its first test flight within the year 2024 and a planned market entry in 2029. If a prototype flying this year, why not aim for this totally ambitious goal?

The only reservation we have concerns the fuel used by the Overture. Boom aims to use exclusively sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to reduce its carbon emissions by up to 90%. They have signed an supply agreement with Air Company and Dimensional Energy for 40 million liters per year. Currently, these figures are highly optimistic as they far exceed global production capacities. But let’s assume that increased demand will lead to increased supply.

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