After Nick Sheryka's dreams of flying for the U.S. military were dashed because of hearing loss in his left ear, he didn't sulk. Instead, he built his own airplane. Sheryka eventually obtained his pilot's license and secured a job at Boom Supersonic, a startup with the goal of achieving civilian supersonic flight and making it affordable to the general public. Sheryka, the company's chief flight test engineer, and Tristan Brandenburg, its chief test pilot, recently joined The Fighter Pilot