Monoplane

Boom XB-1

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The XB-1 jet, the company’s prototype, was designed to bring back supersonic travel in a more efficient and accessible way, aiming to halve flight time from the traditional eight hours to just 3.5 hours.

After starting its tests in March 2024, the XB-1 reached a record speed of Mach 0.87 and reaching 27,716 feet of altitude during its ninth test flight.

Modifications to the vibration system made after the previous flight helped make the jet’s progress safer and more efficient.

The test pilot is Tristan Brandenburg.

After years of testing and refinement, a pilot flying the aerospace company’s XB-1 scale prototype finally broke the sound barrier during a livestream event—not once, not twice, but three times.
XB-1 took off from the runway at Mojave Air & Space Port near Barstow, California at about 11:21 AM EST. From there, Boom Supersonic’s Chief Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg ascended in the experimental plane to an altitude of 34,000 ft before turning left and beginning its supersonic test. After successfully achieving Mach 1.1 at 11:32 PM EST, Brandenburg continued XB-1 on its deceleration and descent path. At one point, however, XB-1 briefly broke the sound barrier once again.

XB-1 reached max dynamic pressure during final handling checks during its 10th test flight

“Alright, knock it off, knock it off,” someone in Boom Supersonic’s flight control room could be heard joking during the livestream.

XB-1 surpassed Mach 1 yet again a few minutes later before landing 11:54 PM EST after a total flight time of 33.49 minutes.
Tuesday’s success comes less than a year after the demonstrator aircraft’s debut flight on March 22, 2024. The XB-1 conducted another 10 flights prior to today’s Mach 1 breakthrough. Its most recent took place on January 10, when Brandenburg topped out at Mach 0.95 at an altitude of 29,481 ft (575 knots true airspeed, or roughly 661 mph).
At almost 63-feet-long, the XB-1 is about one-third the size of Overture, Boom Supersonic’s proposed commercial jet.
XB-1’s first flight was originally scheduled for 2021, but required pushbacks to address various engineering and design concerns.

Boeing 417

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Boeing’s vision of a futuristic regional airliner, the model 417, emerged in the years following WWII.
Boeing took a fresh look at the travel requirements of a postwar populace and identified a need for a smaller airliner to serve regional routes. In 1946, it came up with the 417, an 18,365-pound, twin-engine aircraft designed to carry 20-24 passengers at a speed of 200 mph.

Boeing chose the 800 hp Wright Cyclone C7BA1, essentially the same powerplant as the R-1300 used by the North American T-28 Trojan trainer.

The Boeing appeared more advanced than the competing DC-5, but the performance numbers were nearly an exact match with the exception of the 417’s short-field performance, which was notably optimistic. The 417 was claimed to require only 1,200 feet to clear a 50-foot obstacle and 1,735 feet very impressive performance for its size and weight.

Proposed performance on the ground was similarly impressive, with features that were said to enable turnaround times of six minutes or less.

Boeing claimed this was achievable through the aircraft’s independence from ground equipment. The airstair door enabled boarding without the need for separate stairs, and the height of the cargo hold floor was said to match the height of truck beds, eliminating the need for ramps or hoists. In this diagram, we see the aircraft being refueled with the right engine running as cargo is loaded and passengers begin to board.

Presenting the concept to potential customers like Pan Am was one thing. Boeing also released data and artists’ renderings to the media, and it became prominently featured on magazine covers.

Boeing even ran its own ads in various publications.

Boeing did secure at least one order for the 417 when Empire Airlines ordered three of them to replace their Boeing 247s. In the September 1946 issue of Boeing Magazine, the 417 was said to provide a 57 percent greater break-even load factor than the 247D, promising greater profitability with fewer seats filled.

Just as Boeing was presenting the 417 to customers, Convair was doing the same with its 107, albeit without such a strong marketing and promotional effort.

While both concepts were forward-thinking solutions to shorter, lower-capacity routes, their roles would ultimately be filled with the glut of surplus aircraft from the war effort—namely, the DC-3, which provided similar performance for pennies on the dollar.

Žurovec 1912 monoplane

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This monoplane was built at the home of the Žurovec brothers in the village Harty (German: Lilien) near Petrvald (Groß Peterswald) in 1912. When completed it was exhibited in the village inn of the neighbouring Albrechticky (Klein Olbersdorf).

Afterwards it was tested on the meadows between these villages, where today the airport of Ostrava (Ostrau) is located. But because of the quickly overheating 40 hp Delfosse engine only short flights with heights of no more than 40 metres could be obtained.

It was the first aircraft built and flown in Moravia (Mähren). Josef Žurovec was the driving person behind this design. He later should have joined the k.u.k. Fliegertruppe, but not much is known of him. Better known is his elder brother Vilém Žurovec, for his work with Petroczy and Kárman and the developement of the PKZ-1 and PKZ-2 helicopters.

Zuck-Whitaker Plane-Mobile

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Plane-Mobile NX30031

The 1947 Plane-Mobile built by Daniel R Zuck and Stanley D Whitaker was a roadable airplane with a floating, or pivotal, wing, free to change its angle of attack according to the vagaries of the air currents. There were no rudders or elevators in the tail, instead the wings had “ailerators,” a combination of ailerons and elevators.

Registered NX30031, it reportedly suffered a severe ground loop during a test flight.

Engine: Continental A-40, 40hp
Wingspan: 31’6″
Length: 15’6″
Useful load: 375 lb
Max speed: 90 mph
Cruise speed 80 mph
Stall: 40 mph
Range: 285 mi
Seats: 2

Zselyi 1910 monoplane

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Reported in Flight, April 16, 1910, as a monoplane which had just been constructed at Budapest by an engineer, Aladar Zselyi. The frame is constructed of spruce and steel-tubing, braced in the ordinary way by steel wires. The two main-planes fit into sockets in the main frame at a small dihedral angle. They have a span of 20 ft. and a chord of 6 ft., while the total lifting surface of the machine is 130 sq. ft., and the elevator has an area of 21.5 sq. ft. A two-bladed Chauviere tractor-screw, 6 ft. in diameter, is driven direct by a 30-h.p. Darracq water-cooled motor,

Engine: 30-h.p. Darracq
Prop: two-blade Chauviere 6 ft diameter
Wing span: 20 ft
Wing chord: 6 ft
Wing area: 130 sq. ft
Elevator area: 21.5 sq. ft
Length: 23 ft
Empty weight: 340 lb
Loaded weight: 475 lb

Zmaj R-1

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In the first half of the 1930s. In Yugoslavia, the development of aircraft of its own design has become more active. The activities of Yugoslav designers could be seen in 1938 at the Belgrade Aviation Exhibition. Among the other planes there was a prototype of the R-1 bomber from Zmaj.

During 1936 at the Zmaj factory, Dušan Stankov, then technical manager, and George Dukic initiated the design and construction of a reconnaissance-bomber. After tests in the wind tunnel at Warsaw and acceptance by the Yugoslavian Air Force, the project was designated Zmaj R-1 (Serbian Cyrillic: Змај Р-1). The contract for the construction of the prototype was signed in 1937. The team of designers joining Eng. Djordje Ducić and a few young engineers who worked on the design completed the prototype before the beginning of a large aerospace workers strike in April 1940, with final assembly at the military part of the airport in Zemun.

Its design was mixed – Alclad monocoque fuselage and wooden wings and tail, metal construction rudders with fabric cover. The R-1 was equipped with Hispano-Suiza 14AB engines of French production, placed in gondolas under the wing. Flaps and landing gear was hydraulically operated. The composition of the crew varied depending on the purpose of the aircraft. In the version of the bomber R-1, the crew consisted of 4 people, in the variant of the attack aircraft – 3 people. The crew of three was accommodated in separate cockpits. Aiming and firing of the armament was made from the top cockpit while the bombing were performing from the front cockpit. The plane could take on board up to 1600 kg of bombs, and one large-caliber bomb could be placed on a special device in the fuselage for attack from a dive. The attack aircraft carried a smaller bomb load, but its small arms of two 20-mm guns and two 12.7-mm machine guns were much better suited for storming enemy troops. The two Oerlikon 20 mm cannon were in the fuselage sides but this was later changed and repositioned in to the wing roots. Two more 7.9 mm machine guns were placed in the nose top and one machine gun was placed in the rear fuselage for the defense.

The first flight was on 24 April 1940, pilotted by reserve Lieutenant Đura E. Đaković, a transport pilot with Aeroput. The initial testing justified all expectations in terms of aerodynamic characteristics and performance, unfortunately on the third flight the pilot was unable to lower the landing gear and had to land with the undercarriage extended, damaging the propellers and engines. Replacement parts for the propeller and landing gear were imported from Germany and France delaying repairs considerably.

The aircraft was rebuilt so that testing could be resumed at the end of March 1941, but in early April the bombing of Zemun airport damaged the prototype Zmaj R-1 again. In late June 1941 the Germans scrapped the aircraft.

Gallery

Enngines: 2 × Hispano-Suiza 14AB, 552 kW (740 hp) each
Propellers: 3-bladed
Wingspan: 14.40 m (47 ft 3 in)
Wing area: 33.80 sq.m (363.8 sq ft)
Height: 2.50 m (8 ft 2 in)
Length: 12.78 m (41 ft 11 in)
Empty weight: 2,600 kg (5,732 lb)
Gross weight: 5,094 kg (11,230 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 5,664 kg (12,487 lb)
Maximum speed: 450 km/h (280 mph; 243 kn)
Cruise speed: 320 km/h (199 mph; 173 kn)
Range: 1,000 km (621 mi; 540 nmi)
Service ceiling: 10,000 m (33,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 5.55 m/s (1,093 ft/min)
Guns: 2x 20 mm (0.787 in) Oerlikon cannon, and 4x 7.9 mm (0.311 in) machine guns
Bombload: 1,600 kg (3,500 lb) of bombs carried internally
Crew: 3-4

Zlin Z-137

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The Zlin Z-137T Agro Turbos are essentially an updated turbine version of the piston engine Z-37 Cmelak, first flown in 1981. Modifications included strengthening the centre section of the wing, alterations to the tail surfaces and the installation of a rudder trim.

The first Z-137T was #029 and registered OK-UJM in July 1989.

The aircraft were built in batches. The first batch totalled six and from 1960 they were built in batches of 20 or 30, with production reaching its height in 1972 when some 65 aircraft were produced. Along with the agricultural aircraft, some two-seat trainers were built, with a second cockpit replacing the hopper. Production ceased in 1977 but in 1981 the production line was reopened at Kunovice, and a further 40 aircraft were built. Production ceased in 1995 with #053, which was sold to Hungary as HA-MFR. The constructor numbers are in batches — 00-01 through 00-06, then 01-01 to 01-20, 02-xx and so on depending on the number in the batch.

A modernized Z-137 Agro Turbo light aircraft equipped with air-to-air missiles was spotted in the Ukrainian sky in August 2025. The Czechoslovakian-made Z-137 civilian turboprop aircraft was converted to perform air defense missions. Its tail section was marked with a typical army aviation insignia of two white transverse stripes.

Two AKU-73 pylons were mounted under the wings of the aircraft, which made it possible to use R-73 short-range air-to-air missiles. The use of R-73 missiles from non-designated aircraft is possible due to its complete autonomy as it does not require complex integration with the radar or central radar of the aircraft. It uses an infrared guidance system to track the target. The missile head itself ‘captures’ a heat-contrasting object. Given the type of weaponry and the aircraft’s ability to reach speeds of 200-250 km/h, the tasks of such a combat unit could include intercepting Russian attack drones and tactical reconnaissance UAVs.

An R-73 missile on the wing pylon of MiG-29 and Z-137 Agro Turbo.

The use of turboprop aircraft for such tasks can significantly increase the capabilities of the Air Force, as well as unload full-fledged fighters for higher priority tasks.

137T Agro Turbo
Engine: Motorlet M601Z turboprop (520 hp)
Wing span: 44 ft 8.5 in
Length: 34 ft 4 in
Height: 11 ft 6 in
Empty wt: 2756 lb
MTOW: 5566 lb