Boom Supersonic announced Tuesday, Dec. 13, that Florida Turbine Technologies would be developing the engines for the Overture, the supersonic passenger aircraft it plans to manufacture at Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA).
Along with Florida Turbine Technologies, Boom will be working with StandardAero and GE Additive in developing the Symphony jet propulsion system for the Overture, according to the announcement made at PTIA.
Boom announced it would be building its $500 million aircraft manufacturing facility at PTIA in January, and in June it announced that Rolls Royce would develop and manufacture the engines.
However, in September, Rolls Royce announced that it was no longer interested in collaborating with Boom. Along with Rolls Royce, GE Aviation, Honeywell and Safran all publicly stated they were not interested in developing the engines for the new supersonic passenger aircraft. Boom said that it would have a new engine manufacturer by the end of 2022, and it made that deadline with weeks to spare.
Boom has also been in the process of making changes to the Overture, which originally was proposed as a two-engine jet, then Boom said it would have three engines and the current plan is for the Overture to have four engines – two under each wing.
Florida Turbine Technologies was started in 1988 as an engineering services firm and evolved into designing and manufacturing turbine engines. It is best known for its work on jet engines for cruise missiles and unmanned aerial systems.
In 2019, Florida Turbine Technologies, which is based in Jupiter, Florida, was bought by Kratos Defense & Security Solutions.
Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic, in a press release said, “Developing a supersonic engine specifically for Overture offers by far the best value proposition for our customers. Through the Symphony program, we can provide our customers with an economically and environmentally sustainable supersonic airplane – a combination unattainable with the current constraints of derivative engines and industry norms.”
Boom already has 130 orders for the Overture including orders from American Airlines, United Airlines and Japan Airlines.
Recent news that the proposed engines for the Overture will be “carbon neutral” sounds like a pipe dream. I hope the city and county didn’t advance any money to Boom because I see a Bust in the making….
“Florida Who..”????
I’d fly if it were powered by Rolls-Royce, but Freddy’s Florida Flying Factory..? At Mach 2? No thanks.
The only overture I know is 1812.