'Son of Concorde' jet that will take you from New York to London in 3.5 hours breaks the sound barrier for first time
Joe Yates
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/boomsupersonic9928
A vacation to London from New York usually requires you write off the first day, with the flight taking around eight hours.
But soon enough, we might be able to charter jets between the UK and the US in next to no time at all - well, in three hours and 30 minutes anyway.
That's thanks to the 'Son of the Concorde', which yesterday (January 28) broke the sound barrier as it traveled at an incredible speed of 844mph - 83mph faster than the speed of sound, which travels at 761mph.
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The XB-1 model aircraft took off at 11.22am ET, and when at 35,000ft it smashed the sound barrier.
Boom, the US company behind the plane, uploaded footage to YouTube showing the event - which included three live commentators at the time.
"There we are XB-11 is supersonic, faster than the speed of sound - we've got confirmation from the control room that she is supersonic," commentator Mike Bannister, who is a former Chief Concorde Pilot for British Airways, said at the time.
"What a wonderful achievement and the whole team know what a really historic moment this is - the first civil aircraft independently constructed that has ever flown supersonic and Geppetto [Brandenburg] is the first pilot ever to do it.
"It is really thrilling moment."
It is all part of the tech company's dream of designing a supersonic airliner, called the Overture. XB-1, known as Baby Boom, is just a demonstrator aircraft and so is just a third of the size of the Overture.
Founder and CEO Blake Scholl said: "Today, XB-1 took flight in the same hallowed airspace where the Bell X-1 first broke the sound barrier in 1947.
"I’ve been looking forward to this flight since founding Boom in 2014, and it marks the most significant milestone yet on our path to bring supersonic travel to passengers worldwide."
While pilot, and former US Navy aviator, Tristan 'Geppetto' Brandenburg - who has led the testing for Boom's 11 previous missions, added: "She was real happy supersonic.
"That’s the best she’s ever flown."
However, those of us excited about what this means for the future may not be able to fund a trip on the jet - if, of course, Boom succeed in their dream of making the Overture a supersonic commercial airline.
That's if we're going off how much it cost to hitch a ride on a Concorde two decades ago - flights between New York City and London were in the region of $5,000, which equates to around $20,000 with inflation today.