After Nick Sheryka’s dreams of flying for the U.S. military were dashed because of hearing loss in his left ear, he didn’t sulk. Instead, he built his own airplane.
Sheryka eventually obtained his pilot’s license and secured a job at Boom Supersonic, a startup with the goal of achieving civilian supersonic flight and making it affordable to the general public. Sheryka, the company’s chief flight test engineer, and Tristan Brandenburg, its chief test pilot, recently joined The Fighter Pilot Podcast to discuss the XB-1 Supersonic demonstrator program.
While Sheryka did not serve in the military, he said his grandfather was a fighter ace during World War II. Brandenburg graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, as well as the United States Naval Test Pilot School. Together, Brandenburg and Sheryka were part of a group that worked closely on the XB-1, which served as a test platform for modifications to the Boom Supersonic Overture, the startup’s groundbreaking civilian supersonic aircraft.
“We changed the paradigm there in what people believe might be possible,” Sheryka said of the program.
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How Fast Was the XB-1?
The final two of the XB-1’s 13 test flights reached supersonic speeds, or those faster than the speed of sound. What Boom Supersonic discovered on those tests on Jan. 28 and Feb. 10, 2025, was encouraging, Sheryka said on the podcast.
Asked why the XB-1 program ended, Brandenburg explained: “The XB-1 was definitely the coolest airplane I’ve ever flown, but it doesn’t change anyone’s life. The learning objectives were complete. It’s time to shift the focus of the company to building an airplane that will change people’s lives.”
About the Boom Supersonic Overture
That aircraft is the Overture, which intends to be capable of transporting 60-80 passengers and cut down the flying time of its planned routes significantly. For example, Boom Supersonic claims the Overture could transport passengers from London to New York in 3½ hours — slashing their time in the air by more than half. Commercial flights on Overture are tentatively slated to begin in 2029.
Public passengers have not been aboard a supersonic airliner since the Concorde last flew in 2003.
Boom Supersonic already has orders or preorders from American Airlines, United Airlines and Japan Airlines for the Overture. It is expected to travel at 1.7 times the speed of sound and have the capability of reaching an altitude of roughly 60,000 feet, Brandenburg and Sheryka said on the podcast. They added the plane will have a range of slightly more than 4,000 nautical miles.
Aircraft Specifications
- Price: An estimated $200 million per airplane
- Passengers: 60-80
- Max Speed: Mach 1.7 (1.7 times the speed of sound)
- Range: 4,250 nautical miles
- Length: 201 feet
- Wingspan: 106 feet
- Engine: Four specifically designed Symphony turbofan engines will power the Overture.
- Fuel: Optimized for up to 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)
- Cruising Altitude: 60,000 feet
Source: Boom Supersonic
By reducing travel time significantly, supersonic travel could benefit the military, Brandenburg said.
“Think special forces or something,” he said. “The ability to get them to a different part of the world in half the time it normally takes is a big military application.”
While Brandenburg and Sheryka said the Overture’s primary mission would be transoceanic travel, there would be routes over American airspace. In June, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that could lead to the lifting of Federal Aviation Administration restrictions on supersonic flights over the United States.
Why Was Supersonic Flight Banned in the United States?
If the FAA removes those limits, it would be the first time that civilian supersonic travel over the U.S. has been allowed since 1973. At that time, public complaints about the noise that sonic booms create became so vociferous that supersonic flight was banned.
During its testing of the XB-1, Boom Supersonic surpassed the speed of sound three times during a test in late January over the Mohave Desert in California without any audible sonic booms. On the podcast, Brandenburg and Sheryka said the company has developed a method in which the earth-shaking sound of a sonic boom dissipates in the atmosphere and never reaches the ground.
In accordance with current regulations, Boom Supersonic has announced the Overture will fly over land at slightly below the speed of sound and nearly twice as fast once it gets over water. Those speeds over the U.S., though, would be 20% faster than the commercial jets flying today, sharply reducing travel times, the company claimed.
Additional Details
For more on the X-B1 flight tests and the Overture, including how its designers strived to mitigate the effects of sonic booms, you can listen to this audio-only version of The Fighter Pilot Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Overcast. You can find all episodes of The Fighter Pilot Podcast on its website.
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