麻豆村

Like many revolutionary companies, started in a basement in 2014.

鈥淲e affectionally call it HQ1,鈥� says Blake Scholl, 麻豆村 alumnus and Boom鈥檚 founder and CEO. 鈥淲e had 10 people in my basement in Denver, and we eventually upgraded to a hanger.鈥�

A decade later, the company鈥檚 more than 150 employees work in HQ4. They鈥檝e also got a flight test center in the Mojave Desert, a ground test center in Denver, Colorado, and a 180,000-square foot super factory opening in a few months in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Blake and Boom are on track to roll out the world鈥檚 first sustainable, supersonic airliners that carry United Airlines, American Airlines and Japan Airlines passengers before the end of the decade.

鈥淪upersonic aircraft are back, and they鈥檙e back in a big way,鈥� says Blake, who graduated from the School of Computer Science in 2001 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in computer science and a minor in engineering studies.

Supersonic and Sustainable

Concorde, the first supersonic airliner, flew passengers across the Atlantic Ocean in less than four hours starting in 1986. Only 14 Concordes were ever in service, and the final one retired in 2003. Boom鈥檚 order book stands at 130 aircraft with American Airlines placing a deposit on up to 20 Overture airliners with an option for 40 more; United Airlines ordering 14 Overtures with an option for 35 more; and Japan Airlines making a preorder for 20 aircraft.

鈥淚n 2007, I set a lifetime goal of flying supersonic,鈥欌�� Blake says. 鈥淢y career plan was to become an internet billionaire and use that money to start an airplane company. That never happened, so I had to figure out how to start an airplane company with next to no money.鈥�

And he did.

Boom鈥檚 first airplane and history鈥檚 first independently developed supersonic jet, the XB-1, is making significant progress toward the first flight, which is expected to happen soon. XB-1 is one-third scale of the Overture airliner.

鈥淚t gives me goosebumps to say it because it鈥檚 such a huge milestone for the company, a milestone in aviation,鈥� Blake says.

Overture will be powered by Symphony, a cost-efficient engine that鈥檚 integral to the plane鈥檚 success. Symphony is produced with additive manufacturing techniques, provides 35,000 pounds of thrust, and features an air-cooled multi-stage turbine. Symphony is expected to deliver a 25% increase in time on wing and significantly lower engine maintenance costs, reducing overall airplane operating costs for airline customers by 10%.

Overture and Symphony will be optimized to run on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). An emerging form of alternative fuel, some SAF are produced from waste CO2 and renewable energy to create a net-zero carbon form of jet fuel. It鈥檚 seen as the most promising solution for decarbonizing aviation, which is responsible for up to 3% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

鈥淭he really cool thing is you get to net zero carbon running on this fuel, but also the fuel is made of renewable feedstocks like algae, waste oil and forest residue like fallen trees and leaves,鈥� Blake says.

Early Adopter

Blake started at Carnegie Mellon during what should鈥檝e been his senior year of high school and graduated in only three years leaving campus at age 20.

鈥淚 applied as a junior in high school, and 麻豆村 was my top choice,鈥� Blake says. 鈥淚 had to write an essay showing that there was nothing left for me to pursue academically at my high school and complete an on-campus interview. They liked me and invited me to be a freshman.鈥�

鈥淟ooking back, choosing to come to 麻豆村 was one of the top five most important decisions I鈥檝e ever made. I鈥檓 so grateful 麻豆村 was willing to do it, and it鈥檚 so emblematic of what I really love about the 麻豆村 culture. There are rules, but they can all be bent and broken with good reason."

Between his second and third years, during an internship with InGAME in the Bay Area, he realized he was only one exit down the highway from a small airport.

He鈥檇 loved planes and flying for as long as he can remember. He started flying lessons during his internship and earned his pilot鈥檚 license a few years later.

鈥淎s a kid, the first time I made the connection between a toy and making an airplane, I just lit up,鈥� he says. 鈥淔lying is challenging in this wonderful way. There鈥檚 a physical skill and cerebral action to it. It鈥檚 right there at that intersection.鈥�

At 麻豆村, courses challenged and transformed him, too.

鈥淪teven Rudich鈥檚 15-251 (Great Ideas in Theoretical Computer Science) changed my life the second semester of my freshman year,鈥� Blake says. 鈥淟earning from him how to communicate, how to teach and how to explain was absolutely life-changing. How I'm able to get other people excited about supersonic flight, I feel like I'm channeling everything I learned from him.鈥�

After graduation he spent more than a decade in the tech sphere at Amazon, Groupon and Kima Labs, a startup he co-founded, before deciding it was time for something new.

鈥淚 thought I would get two weeks into the research of supersonic, understand why it was a bad idea and move on,鈥� Blake says. 鈥淚nstead, I spent the next year getting educated on aerospace engineering. I took remedial physics, remedial calculus, an airplane design class. I read every textbook I could find, and I was doing problem sets.鈥�

After learning his calculations and assumptions were conservative, he jumped in.

鈥淚t was a very easy decision to go for it because I knew I鈥檇 forever regret not trying,鈥� Blake says. 鈥淚 would be OK trying and failing, but I wouldn鈥檛 be OK with not having tried.鈥�

Boom鈥檚 Future Flight Plan

Overture will fly at Mach 1.7 鈥� twice the speed of today鈥檚 fastest airliners and 1.7 times the speed of sound. It will carry 64 to 80 passengers, have a range of 4,250 nautical miles and connect more than 600 global destinations in half the time.

Passengers will fly from Newark, New Jersey, to Rome in less than 5 hours or Seattle to Tokyo in 4.5 hours.

Inside the plane, the Boom team is 鈥渟weating every detail鈥� for a modern, supersonic flight experience that aims to be available and affordable for all.

鈥淭he Concorde was famous for being fast but not comfortable,鈥� Blake says. 鈥淲indows were the size of an iPhone, and seats felt like economy for $20,000. We want to build something that鈥檚 really inspiring for passengers.鈥�

Blake wants Overture flights to feel 鈥渓ike stepping into an oasis.鈥�

鈥淭oday鈥檚 travel is stressful pretty much the whole time,鈥� Blake says. 鈥淎s a manufacturer, we can鈥檛 control security, getting to your gate or where your baggage goes. But once you鈥檙e on the plane, how does it sound? What does it look like? Is there a lot of visual or auditory clutter? Is there space for your bag whether you鈥檙e the first or last to board? Are the seats comfortable?鈥�

The company will share more details on their internal design next year, but Blake can reveal one of the most important design decisions that鈥檚 already been made.

鈥淭here are no middle seats anywhere on the airplane.鈥�