Blake Scholl: Why Plane Speed Stalled, Supersonic Commercial Flight, & Revolutionizing the Engine
Blake Scholl argues that U.S. aviation policy and the legacy of Concorde helped stall commercial supersonic flight, while Boeing has not launched a new airplane since 2004. He describes Boom's small-team approach, XB-1's 2025 sound-barrier milestone, and the company's vertically integrated engine manufacturing strategy. Scholl says Boomless Cruise could enable roughly Mach 1.3 travel over land, with supersonic speeds still possible over water, and views broad passenger access as the measure of success.
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Read the Full SummaryKey Takeaways
Blake Scholl says the U.S. ban on supersonic flight over land, in place since 1973, was ended by executive order on June 6 of the prior year, but he argues the Supersonic Legalization Act is needed to make the change permanent. The bill passed the House unanimously and the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously, which Scholl presents as evidence that supersonic aviation is not a partisan issue.
Scholl links the legacy of Concorde and the U.S. overland supersonic ban to prolonged commercial-aircraft stagnation, noting that Boeing has not launched a new airplane since 2004. He contrasts that history with Boom becoming the first private company to build a supersonic jet using a 50-person team rather than the thousands of employees typically deployed by large aerospace companies.
Boom's XB-1 became the first privately developed jet to break the sound barrier in 2025, and Scholl says it demonstrated that supersonic flight could be boomless. Boomless Cruise is designed to use the atmosphere's natural refractive power to redirect the sonic boom upward, keeping it from reaching people on the ground.
GEO-POLITICS
“So that ban that started in 1973 actually ended June 6th of last year. But this was just an executive order and theoretically some idiot could reverse it, right?…”—
TECHNOLOGY
“The legacy, the political legacy of Concorde was a ban on supersonic flight over The US…”—
“But big things often have humble beginnings and fast forward to last year and Boom became the 1st private company ever to build a supersonic jet.”—
“In 2025, XB 1 became the 1st privately developed jet to break the sound barrier.”—
FORECASTS
“The boom comes off the airplane, it's kind of a normal strength boom. And it makes a big u-turn in the sky and never touches the ground…”—
Welcome Blake Scholl!
Blake Scholl traces aviation's stalled progress to Concorde's political legacy and Boeing's lack of new airliners, then recounts Boom's small-team origins and XB-1 milestone.
Solving the sonic boom & legalizing supersonic flight
Scholl explains how Boomless Cruise redirects sonic booms upward, describes unanimous progress toward legalizing supersonic flight, and argues that overland supersonic travel can become practical.
The pivot to powering data centers
After ending its Rolls-Royce partnership, Boom vertically integrated engine design and manufacturing, using the supersonic core first for water-free, behind-the-meter data-center power.
Jason joins: data center demand, private jets & what winning looks like
Scholl discusses fares and a possible 2030 launch, Mach 1.3 overland travel, strong data-center demand, and success as making supersonic flight accessible to every class of passenger.
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