Private jet breaks sound barrier for first time

A privately built civilian aircraft has broken the sound barrier for the first time.

Boom Supersonic’s X1-B — named for the Bell X1, in which Chuck Yeager went supersonic in 1947 — reached Mach 1.12 over California’s Mojave Desert.

Only two supersonic transport planes have ever flown, Concorde and Russia’s Tupolev Tu-144: Both were state-backed, very loud and expensive, and in the Tu-144’s case unreliable. The X1-B is much quieter when it breaks the sound barrier, leading to hopes that a future version could go supersonic over land and make it commercially viable.

Boom Supersonic’s planned Overture airliner would seat up to 80 passengers, but one analyst told The Washington Post there is still “a long, long, long way to go.”