In recent days, the global aviation community has witnessed significant milestones in the quest to bring supersonic commercial flights back. All of these developments have come from Boom Supersonic, a U.S.-based aerospace company independently developing the Overture, a next-generation passenger aircraft designed for supersonic travel.
Using its XB-1 experimental aircraft to test Overture's technologies, Boom has made history by successfully flying a new piloted civilian aircraft beyond the speed of sound. This achievement marks the first time in history that a privately developed supersonic aircraft has reached such speeds—unlike the Concorde, which had the backing of government and corporate partnerships.
Additionally, the company recently demonstrated a well-known physical phenomenon that could enable supersonic flights over land without generating a disruptive sonic boom at ground level.
Blake Scholl: Leading the Supersonic Revolution
At the forefront of these breakthroughs is Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. Scholl, an American entrepreneur, established the company in September 2014 with the mission of making high-speed travel more accessible and creating new opportunities for human connection, according to AEROIN.
Scholl is passionate about tackling big challenges that have been overlooked, believing that supersonic travel was abandoned too soon. Inspired after seeing a Concorde in a museum, he envisioned the return of commercial supersonic flights.
Determined to turn this vision into reality, he self-studied aerospace engineering, reading textbooks and taking courses to master the fundamental principles of supersonic flight. As a leader, he focuses on assembling top experts from diverse fields to drive Boom’s innovation forward.
Before founding Boom, Scholl held leadership positions at Amazon and Groupon and co-founded Kima Labs, a mobile technology startup.
From Software to Supersonics: Scholl’s Career Path
Scholl began his career at Amazon in 2001 as a software engineer, developing personalization and merchandising automation software. By age 24, he was managing a $300 million business unit and pioneered automated digital ad-buying, allowing advertisers to reach highly specific market segments.
Later, he became the first employee and director of product development at Pelago, a startup backed by Kleiner Perkins. In 2010, he co-founded Kima Labs, which was acquired by Groupon in 2012. At Groupon, Scholl held various executive roles, ultimately overseeing relevance, email, and search operations.
His passion for aviation dates back to his childhood in suburban Cincinnati, where his parents would take him to watch Cessnas take off and land at the local airport. During college, he started flying for fun and earned his private pilot’s license in 2008, followed by an instrument rating in 2011.
Scholl holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University. He lives in Denver and is a father of three.
XB-1’s Historic First Supersonic Flight
On January 28, 2025, Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 aircraft broke the sound barrier for the first time, marking a major milestone for the company and civil aviation.
That day, Scholl shared his thoughts on social media:
“I have dedicated more than a decade of my life to reaching this moment. It has been worth it. The next ten years will be about scaling this project so that the world can benefit from supersonic travel.”
With this achievement, Boom Supersonic moves one step closer to bringing back commercial supersonic flights, setting the stage for a new era in high-speed aviation.
AUTOR
AEROIN es el medio líder de aviación en Brasil, y uno de los más leídos del mundo, con el que Aviacionline posee un acuerdo de intercambio editorial. https://www.aeroin.net
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