Boom Supersonic, the American company building the world’s fastest airliner, officially inaugurated its Overture Superfactory a few days back. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to celebrate the completion of construction. The state-of-the-art factory is located at the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, which makes it the first supersonic airliner factory in the United States. The 180,000-square-foot facility was completed ahead of schedule without any safety incidents. It will house the final assembly line, test facility, and customer delivery center for the Boom Overture supersonic aircraft. “Construction of the Overture Superfactory represents a major milestone toward ensuring the United States’ continued leadership in aerospace manufacturing,” said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. “Supersonic flight will transform air travel, and Overture provides a much-needed innovative alternative for airlines across the globe.”
The opening of the ambitious Overture Superfactory marks an important step towards bringing back supersonic commercial air travel. The Concorde 216 was the last supersonic commercial aircraft to roll out from a factory in 1978. It’s rather astonishing that it took 46 years to set up a full-scale factory to build supersonic passenger jets. However, the Boom’s Superfactory is still not ready to start building Overture jets just yet.
If everything goes according to plan, the first Overture aircraft should be completed by 2030. The work at the Superfactory will begin with an advanced test cell unit. It will help develop manufacturing processes, optimize the assembly line flow, and prepare staff for the supersonic jet’s production.
The completion of Overture Superfactory comes just a few months after Boom successfully conducted the inaugural flight of XB-1, the supersonic demonstrator aircraft for Overture. Interestingly, it is the first civilian aircraft to receive Special Flight Authorization to exceed Mach 1 from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Currently, the XB-1 is undergoing subsonic tests in preparation for its first supersonic flight.
Boom Supersonic’s CEO also noted the historical significance of the location of the Superfactory. North Carolina is known as the birthplace of aviation because it is where the Wright Brothers tested their first airplanes more than 120 years ago. The company claims the Superfactory will grow North Carolina’s economy by at least $32.3 billion over 20 years, adding more than 2,400 jobs. Interestingly, Tesla Inc and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk expressed his optimism for Boom on Monday. “I hope they succeed!,” the billionaire tweeted.
