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Concorde

*** Shopping-Tip: Concorde
{{OtherUses}} The '''AÃ©rospatiale-British Aircraft Corporation BAC Concorde''' supersonic transport (SST) was Tupolev Tu-144 one of only two models of supersonic passenger airliners to have seen commercial service. Concorde had a cruise speed of Mach number Mach 2.02 (around 2,170 km/h or 1,350 mph) and a maximum cruise altitude of 60,000 feet (18 300 Metre metres) with a delta wing configuration and a afterburner (engine) reheat-equipped evolution of the engines originally developed for the Avro Vulcan strategic bomber. It was the first civil airliner to be equipped with an analogue fly-by-wire flight control system. Commercial flights, operated by British Airways and Air France, began on January 21 1976 and ended on October 24 2003, with the last "retirement" flight on November 26 that year. Image:ba.concorde.g-boac.719pix.jpg 350px|thumb|British Airways Concorde (G-BOAC).

Origins
image:concorde.highup.arp.2.750pix.jpg thumb|left|Concorde's final flight, from Heathrow to Bristol, on [[November 26 2003.]] In the late 1950s the United Kingdom British, France French, United States Americans and Soviet Union Soviets were all interested in developing supersonic transport. Britain's Bristol Aeroplane Company and France's Sud Aviation were both working on designs, called the Bristol 233 Type 233 and Sud Aviation Super-Caravelle Super-Caravelle respectively. Both were largely funded by their respective governments as a way of gaining some foothold in the aircraft market that was until then dominated by the United States. The designs were both ready to start into prototype construction in the early 1960s, but the cost was so great that the companies (and governments) decided to join forces. The development project was negotiated as an international treaty between Britain and France rather than a commercial agreement between companies. This included a clause, originally asked for by Britain, on penalties for cancellation (it turned out that Britain was the country that tried to get out). A draft treaty was signed on November 28 1962. By this time both companies had been merged into new ones, and the Concorde project was thus a part of the British Aerospace British Aircraft Corporation and Aerospatiale. The consortium secured orders for over 100 new airliners from the leading airlines of the time. Pan Am, BOAC and Air France were the launch customers with six Concordes each. Some of the airlines in the order book included: Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, American Airlines, United Airlines, Air Canada, Braniff, Iran Air, Qantas, CAAC, Middle East Airlines and TWA. The aircraft was initially referred to in Britain as "Concord". In 1967 the British Government Minister for Technology, Tony Benn announced that it would change the spelling to "Concorde" to match the French spelling, much to the chagrin of Prime Minister Harold Wilson. This created a nationalistic uproar but it died down when Benn stated that the suffixed "e" represented "Excellence, England, Europe and Entente (Cordiale)". In his memoirs, he recounts a tale of a letter from an irate Scotsman asking how the 'E' represents Scotland, given Scotland's contribution of providing the nosecone for the aircraft. Benn replied "E stands also for Ecosse", the French language French name for Scotland. Construction of the first two prototypes began in February, 1965. Concorde 001 was built by Aerospatiale at Toulouse and Concorde 002 by BAC at Filton, Bristol. Concorde 001 took off for the first test flight from Toulouse on March 2 1969 and the first supersonic flight followed on October 1. As the flight programme of the first development aircraft progressed, 001 started off on a sales and demonstration tour beginning on September 4 1971. Concorde 002 followed suit in June 2 1972 with a sales tour of the Middle and Far East. Concorde 002 made the first visit to the United States in 1973, landing at the new Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to commemorate its opening. These trips led to an influx of orders for over 70 aircraft. However, a combination of factors caused a sudden cascade of order cancellations, including the 1970s oil crisis, acute financial difficulties of the partner airlines, a spectacular crash of the competing Soviet Tupolev Tu-144, and environmental issues such as sonic boom noise and pollution. Air France and British Airways ended up as the only buyers. The aircraft and parts were later sold to them for the nominal price of one Pound Sterling British pound apiece; however, the governments continued to take a cut of any profits made. The United States had cancelled its supersonic (Supersonic transport SST) program in 1971. Two designs had originally been submitted; the Lockheed L-2000, looking like a scaled-up Concorde, lost out to the Boeing 2707, which had originally been intended to be faster, carry 300 passengers, and feature a swing-wing design. It was suggested in France and the United Kingdom that part of the American opposition to Concorde on grounds of noise pollution was in fact orchestrated or at least encouraged by the United States Government out of spite at not being able to propose a viable competitor. However, other countries, such as Malaysia, also ruled out Concorde supersonic overflights due to noise issues. Both European airlines operated demonstration and test flights to various destinations from 1974 onwards. The testing of Concorde set records which are still not surpassed; it undertook 5,335 flight hours in the prototype, preproduction, and first production aircraft alone. A total of 2,000 test hours were supersonic. This equates to approximately four times as many as for similarly sized subsonic commercial aircraft.

Technological features
image:supersonic.arp.750pix.jpg thumb|An unusual camera angle on the final Concorde landing Many features common in early 21st century airliners were first used in the Concorde. For high speed and optimization of flight: *Double-delta (ogee) shaped wings *Rolls-Royce/Snecma Rolls-Royce Olympus Olympus turbojet engines with reheat (afterburners) and variable inlet ramps *Supercruise capability *Thrust-by-wire engines, ancestor of today's FADEC controlled engines *Droop-nose section for good landing visibility For weight-saving and enhanced performance: * Mach 2.04 'sweet spot' for optimum fuel consumption (supersonic drag minimum, whilst jet engines are more efficient at high speed) * Mostly aluminium construction for low weight and relatively conventional build * Full-regime autopilot and autothrottle allowing "hands off" control of the aircraft from climb out to landing * Fully electrically-controlled analogue fly-by-wire flight controls systems * Multifunction flight control surfaces * High-pressure hydraulic system of 28 MPa (4,000 lbf/inÂ²) for lighter hydraulic systems components * Fully electrically controlled analog brake-by-wire system * Pitch trim by shifting fuel around the fuselage for centre-of-gravity control * Parts milled from single alloy billet reducing the part number count Concorde's primary legacy is the experience gained in its design and manufacture later became the basis of the Airbus consortium, and many of these features are now standard equipment in Airbus airliners. Snecma Moteurs, for example, got its first entry into civil engines here. Experience with Concorde opened the way for it to establish the CFM International with GE producing the successful CFM International CFM56 series engines. Although Concorde was a technological marvel when introduced into service in the early 1970s, thirty years later its cockpit cluttered with analogue dials and switches looked very dated. With no competition in either type or airline service, there was no commercial pressure to upgrade Concorde with new avionics or passenger comforts, as occurred with other airliners of the same vintage (e.g. Boeing 747). The primary partners, BAC (later to become BAE Systems) and Aerospatiale (later to become EADS), are the joint owners of Concorde's type certificate. Responsibility for the Type Certificate transferred to Airbus with formation of Airbus SAS.

Scheduled flights
Image:concorde.planview.arp.jpg thumb|left|The final Concorde flight landing at Filton Airfield, near Bristol, on November 26, 2003 Scheduled flights started on January 21 1976 on the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio de Janeiro Rio routes. The Congress of the United States U.S. Congress had just banned Concorde landings in the US, mainly due to citizen protest over sonic booms, preventing launch on the coveted atlantic Ocean transatlantic routes. These concerns over sonic booms and the 'damage' allegedly caused by them (although never proven scientifically or otherwise) may have been caused by America's lack of success in building their own equivalent airliner. When the US ban was lifted in February for over-water supersonic flight, New York quickly followed by banning Concorde locally. Left with little choice on the destination, AF and BA started transatlantic services to Washington, D.C. on May 24. Finally, in late 1977, the noise concerns of New York residents gave way to the advantages of Concorde traffic, and scheduled service from Paris and London to New York's JFK International Airport John F. Kennedy airport started on November 22 1977. Flights operated by BA were coded 'BA001' through 'BA004'. The average flight time on the transatlantic routes was just under 3.5 hours. Up to 2003, both Air France and British Airways continued to operate the New York services daily. Additionally, Concorde flew to Barbados's Grantley Adams International Airport during the winter holiday season and, occasionally, to charter destinations such as Rovaniemi, Finland. On November 1 1986, a chartered Concorde circumnavigated the world in 31 hours and 51 minutes. For a brief period in 1977, and again from 1979 to 1980, British Airways and Singapore Airlines used a shared Concorde for flights between Bahrain and Paya Lebar International Airport Singapore Paya Lebar Airport. The aircraft, G-BOAD, was painted in Singapore Airways livery on the port side and British Airways livery on the starboard side. The service was discontinued after three months because of noise complaints from the Malaysian government; it could only be reinstated when a new route, bypassing Malaysian airspace, was designed. However, an ongoing dispute with India prevented the Concorde from reaching supersonic speeds in Indian airspace, so the route was eventually declared not viable. From September 1978 to November 1982 during the Mexican oil boom, Air France flew the Concorde twice weekly to Mexico City's Benito JuÃ¡rez International Airport via Washington D.C.. The economic crisis caused the cancellation of the route to Mexico City and the last flights were almost empty. From time to time, the Concorde came back on chartered flights with stops in Mexico City and Acapulco. British Airways also, between 1984 and 1991, offered a thrice weekly Concorde service to London from Miami. This was accomplished subsonically by extending the Dulles flight to Miami and returning the same way. From 1979 to 1980, Braniff International leased two Concordes, one each from British Airways and Air France. These were used on subsonic flights from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport Dallas-Fort Worth to JFK International Airport JFK, feeding the routes of BA and AF to London and Paris. The aircraft were registered in both the United States and their home countries, for legal reasons: a sticker would cover up each aircraft's European registration while it was being operated by Braniff. On DFW-JFK flights, the Concordes had Braniff flight crews, although they maintained their native airline livery. However, the flights were not profitable for Braniff and were usually less than 25% booked, which forced Braniff to end its term as the only U.S. Concorde operator.

Passenger experience
Compared to other commercial airliners, Concorde provided an unusual passenger experience. Both British Airways and Air France configured the passenger cabin as a single class with around 100 seats — four seats across with a central aisle. Despite being a luxury class, most passengers were surprised to find how cramped the cabin was. Headroom in the central aisle was barely six feet (1.8 m), and the leather seats were unusually narrow with legroom comparable to economy class on other planes. In the 1990s many features which were common in the first class and business class cabins of a long haul Boeing 747 flight such as video entertainment, rotating or reclining seats and perambulatory areas, were completely absent from Concorde. The only video entertainment was a plasma display at the front of the cabin showing either the altitude, the air temperature or current speed in mach number. With almost no room for overhead storage, even carry on luggage was severely restricted. The ratio of cabin crew and lavatories per passenger was also considerably lower than typical for a first class cabin. These privations were offset by the much shorter flight time (typically three and a half hours to New York from London), making the Concorde attractive to business executives. To make up for these missing features, service on the Concorde was to be "first class" in every sense of the word. Orders for drinks or other needs were met instantly and served with a flourish. Meals were served using specially designed compact Wedgwood crockery with short silver cutlery. The unique experience of passing through the sound barrier was less dramatic than would be expected. The moment would be announced by one of the pilots, and could be seen on the cabin display, otherwise the slight surge in acceleration could easily be missed. At twice the normal cruising altitude, turbulence was rare and the view from the windows clearly showed the curvature of the Earth. During the supersonic cruise, although the outside air temperature was typically -60 Â°C, air friction would heat the external skin at the front of the plane to around +120 Â°C making the windows warm to the touch and producing a noticeable temperature gradient along the length of the cabin causing the plane to expand during flight in length by up to thirty centimetres (twelve inches). Most remarkably, Concorde was able to overtake the terminator (solar) terminator, on routes where subsonic airliners fell behind. On certain early evening transatlantic flights departing from Heathrow or Paris, it was possible to take off at night and catch up with the sun, landing in daylight; from the cockpit you could see the sun rising from the horizon in the west.

Paris crash
Image:Concorde crash.jpg thumb|[[Air France Flight 4590 in flames, prior to the crash]] On 25 July 2000 Air France Flight 4590 crashed in Gonesse, France. All of the people (100 passengers and 9 crew) on board the flight perished, as well as four people on the ground. As the plane was on its take-off run from Charles de Gaulle Airport, a metal piece punctured the tyres which then burst, puncturing the fuel tanks, possibly by a hydrodynamic pressure surge. Leaking fuel was ignited by an electric arc in the landing gear bay or through contact with the hot parts of the engine. A large plume of flame developed, and power was lost on engines 1 and 2 when the crew shut them down in response to warnings. Airspeed decayed, and the undercarriage could not be retracted. Eventually the crew lost control of the aircraft while trying to divert to nearby Le Bourget Airport, leading to the loss of the aircraft as it crashed into a hotel. [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20000725-0] The report of the investigation was published on 14 December 2004, attributing the crash to FOD foreign object damage from a titanium strip that fell from another aircraft, a Continental Airlines DC-10 which had taken off four minutes before. According to the report, the piece had not been approved by the US Federal Aviation Administration. However, Continental maintains that FAA regulations do allow the use of the titanium strip and added that this metal is more wear-resistant than the original part. British and former French Concorde pilots looked at several other possibilities that the report ignored, including an unbalanced weight distribution in the fuel tanks and loose landing gear, which hinted at the Concorde veering off course on the runway, reducing take-off speed below the crucial minimum. The aircraft had veered very close to a Boeing 747 known to be carrying French President Jacques Chirac. The Concorde had been the safest working passenger airliner in the world according to passenger deaths per distance travelled, although the Boeing 737 fleet acquires more passenger miles and service hours in one week than the Concorde fleet acquired in the course of its entire service career. The crash of the Concorde was the beginning of the end of its career. The accident would make way for modifications to be made to Concorde, including more secure electrical controls, Kevlar lining to the fuel tanks, and specially developed, burst-resistant tyres. The new-style tyres would be yet another contribution from the Concorde programme to future aircraft development. On March 10 2005 French authorities began a criminal investigation of Continental Airlines.[http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2005-03-10-continental-concorde_x.htm] As of October 2005, Jacques Herubel, a former Aerospatiale engineer, is under investigation for negligence leading to the crash. A report stated that the company had more than 70 incidents involving Concorde tyres between 1979 and 2000, but had failed to take appropriate steps based upon these incidents.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4285832.stm]

Withdrawal from service
Image:Concorde_Flight_Deck.jpg thumb|right|300px|Chief Pilot [[Mike Bannister (left) and other pilots on flight deck of BA002 30th August 2002]] The first test-flight of the newly-improved Concorde flew from Heathrow Airport to the mid-Atlantic and back in preparation for a return to full scheduled service that week. The flight took place on September 11 2001, and was in the air when the September 11, 2001 attacks attacks on the World Trade Center were taking place. On April 10 2003 British Airways and Air France simultaneously announced that they would retire the Concorde later that year. They cited low passenger numbers following the July 25 2000 crash, the slump in air travel following 9/11, and rising maintenance costs. That same day Richard Branson Sir Richard Branson offered to buy British Airways' Concordes at their original price of Â£1 for service with his Virgin Atlantic Airways. Branson claimed this to be the same token price that British Airways had paid the British Government, but BA denied this- and refused the offer. Indeed, after posting large losses on their Concorde flights in the 1980s, British Airways had paid a flat sum to the UK government to buy their Concordes outright. After doing a market survey and discovering that their target customers thought that Concorde was more expensive than it actually was; BA then raised prices to match. It may be that BA then ran Concorde at net profit, unlike their French counterparts, although BA refused to open the accounts. Branson later wrote to ''The Economist'' (23 October 2003) that his final offer was "over Â£5 million" and that he had intended to operate the fleet "for many years to come". Any hope of Concorde remaining in service was further thwarted by Airbus' unwillingness to provide maintenance support for the aging airframes.

Air France
Air France made its final Concorde landing in the United States in New York City from Paris on May 30 2003. Firetrucks sprayed the traditional arcs of water above the aircraft on the tarmac of John F. Kennedy airport. It made its final commercial flight back to Paris the following day. The end of Air France's Concorde services was also marked by a charter around the Bay of Biscay. An auction of Concorde parts and memorabilia for Air France was held at Christie's in Paris, on November 15 2003. 1,300 people attended, and several lots exceeded their predicted values by a factor of ten or more.

British Airways
Image:Golden Jubilee Palace 43.JPG thumb|right|A special fly-past of Concorde and the Red Arrows for the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations. BA's last Concorde departure from the Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados was on August 30 2003. G-BOAG visited Toronto Pearson International Airport on October 1 2003. A final week of farewell flights saw Concorde visiting Birmingham on October 20, Belfast on October 21, Manchester on October 22, Cardiff on October 23, and Edinburgh on October 24. Each day, the aircraft made a return flight out and back into Heathrow to the cities concerned, often overflying those cities at low altitude. Over 650 competition winners and 350 special guests were carried. On the evening of October 23 2003, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom the Queen consented to the illumination of Windsor Castle, as Concorde's last ever west-bound commercial flight departed London, and flew overhead. This is an honour normally restricted to major state events and visiting dignitaries. British Airways retired its aircraft the next day, October 24. One Concorde left New York to a fanfare similar to its Air France predecessor's, while two more made round-trips, one over the Bay of Biscay, carrying VIP guests including many former Concorde pilots, and one to Edinburgh. The three aircraft then circled over London, having received special permission to fly at low altitude, before landing in sequence at Heathrow. The two round-trip Concordes landed at 4:01 and 4:03 PM British Summer Time BST, followed at 4:05 by the one from New York. All three aircraft then spent 45 minutes taxiing around the airport before finally disembarking the last supersonic fare-paying passengers. The pilot of the New York to London flight was Mike Bannister. Passengers on the final transatlantic flight included: *Poet Maya Angelou *Tony Benn *Former US model Christie Brinkley *Ballerina Darcey Bussell *TV motoring correspondent Jeremy Clarkson *Joan Collins and her husband Percy Gibson. *Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone *Sir David Frost (broadcaster) David Frost *Stock Exchange chairman Chris Gibson-Smith *Actor Nigel Havers *Model Jodie Kidd *British Airways chairman Lord Marshall Colin Marshall, Baron Marshall of Knightsbridge *Advertising mogul Saatchi & Saatchi Lord Saatchi *Piers Morgan, then editor of the Daily Mirror *CNN anchor Richard Quest *The chairmen or chief executives of: **GlaxoSmithKline **BAE Systems **Merrill Lynch **Deutsche Bank **P&O **The London Stock Exchange **The Royal Bank of Scotland *A lucky traveller, who had booked a regular ticket over a year earlier. *The winner (and guest) of an eBay auction conducted by British Airways. *The two winners of an Australian television promotion. Bonhams held an auction of British Airways' Concorde artefacts on December 1 2003 at Olympia Exhibition Centre, in Kensington, London. Items sold included a machmeter, a nose cone, Concorde pilot and passenger seats and even the cutlery, ashtrays and blankets used onboard. About Â£Â¾ million was taken, with the first half-million going to "Get Kids Going!", a charity which gives disabled children and young people the opportunity to participate in sport.

Aircraft histories
Only 20 Concordes were built, six for development and 14 for commercial service. These were: *Two prototypes *Two pre-production aircraft *16 production aircraft **The first two of these did not enter commercial service **Of the 14 which flew commercially, 12 were still in service in April 2003 All but two of these aircraft - a remarkably high percentage for any commercial fleet - are preserved. The two which are not are F-BVFD (cn 211), which was withdrawn from service in the 1980s and scrapped in 1994; and F-BTSC (cn 203), which crashed in Paris. {{further|Concorde aircraft histories}}

Cultural and political impact
The aeroplane remains a powerful symbol of ultra-modern technology although 34 years old, and many people appreciate its sculptural shape. It is a symbol of great national pride to many in Britain and France; in France it was thought of as a French aircraft, in Britain as British. The reaction of people to the prospect of severe overflying noise also represented a socially important change. Prior to Concorde's flight trials the developments made by the civil aviation industry were largely accepted by developed democratic governments and their electors. The popular backlash (particularly on the eastern seaboard of the USA) against the noise of Concorde represented a political turning point and thereafter scientists and technologists in many industries began to take environmental and societal impacts more seriously, accepting that engineers, powerful investors and governments could not always dictate the parameters of debate and allow their narrow economic or career interests to prevail. One of the key protesters to the "SST" (Super Sonic Transport - the US term given to the Concorde aircraft), Carol Vendi, ultimately gained political ground over the whole issue and was elected to the US Congress. Concorde led directly to a general reduction of noise of aircraft flying out of JFK; it was found that Concorde was actually quieter than the other aircraft (due to the pilots temporarily throttling back their engines to reduce noise during overflight of residential areas). This caused the other airliner pilots to have to follow suit. One great irony in the quashing of the Concorde's mass production was the myth of ozone threat. An anti-SST scientist suggested that the jet would produce exhaust which would cause the destruction of the earth's ozone layer, causing "a massive outbreak of skin cancer" and other effects, and this quickly became an accepted view, contributing greatly to the movement against the SST. But, when actual science was applied to the question, it was found that Concorde exhaust emissions, containing NOx, would actually ''increase'' the ozone layer, to the infinitesimal degree that something so insignificant as a plane would have any effect, either way. From this perspective, Concorde's great technical leap forward can be viewed as triggering a cultural leap forward and a boost to the public's (and the media's) understanding of conflicts between technology and natural ecosystems that continues to reverberate around the world. Thus, the fact that many larger jet airliners now produce fewer harmful emissions and smaller noise footprints than Concorde is, perhaps, part of the Concorde's legacy. In France the use of acoustic fencing alongside TGV tracks may be another outcome that might not have been achieved without the 1970s furore over aircraft noise. In Britain the CPRE have issued tranquility maps since 1990 and public agencies are starting to do likewise. A regular ticket on Concorde was a privilege of the rich, but special circular (non-landing) or one-way (with return by coach or ship) charter flights were arranged to bring a trip within the means of moderately well-off enthusiasts. An over-flying example was usually referred to by the British as simply "Concorde" and the French as "the Concorde" (rather than "a Concorde"), as if there was only one. A plane from the BA fleet made occasional flypasts at selected Royal events, major airshows and other special occasions, sometimes in formation with the Red Arrows. On the final day of commercial service, grandstands were erected at London Heathrow for the public to watch the final arrivals, and there was extensive media coverage. Thirty-seven years after its first testflight, Concorde is announced the winner of the Great British Design Quest, organised by the BBC the Design Museum.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/cultureshow/designquest/vote/] A total of 212,000 votes were cast with Concorde beating design icons such as the Mini, mini skirt, Jaguar E-type, Tube map and the Supermarine Spitfire. [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article351851.ece]

Specifications (Concorde)
{{airtemp| |plane or copter?=plane |jet or prop?=jet |crew=9 |capacity=100 passengers |length main=202 ft 3 in |length alt=61.66 m |span main=84 ft 0 in |span alt=25.6 m |height main=ft in |height alt=m)

'''Fuselage internal length:''' 129 ft 0 in (39.32 m)

'''Fuselage max external width:''' 9 ft 5 in (2.88 m)

'''Fuselage max internal width:''' 8 ft 7 in (2.63 m)

'''Fuselage max external height:''' 10 ft 10 in (3.32 m)

'''Fuselage max internal height:''' 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |area main=3,856 ft² |area alt=358.25 m²)

'''Lift/drag:''' 3.94 (low speed), 4.35 (approach), 9.27 (10,000ft 250 kts), 11.47 (M 0.94), 7.14 (M 2.04)

'''Elevon area (each side):''' 172.22 ft² (16.0 mÂ²)

'''Tail fin area:''' 365.0 ft² (33.91 mÂ²)

'''Rudder area:''' 112.05 ft² (10.41 mÂ²) |empty weight main=173,500 lb |empty weight alt=78,700 kg)

'''Maximum fuel load:''' 210,940 lb (95,680 kg)

'''Maximum taxing weight:''' 412,000 lb (186,880 kg) |max takeoff weight main=408,000 lb |max takeoff weight alt=185,070 kg)

'''Maximum landing weight:''' 245,000 lb (111,130 kg)

'''Maximum landing weight without fuel:''' 203,000 lb (92,080 kg) |engine (jet)=Rolls-Royce plc Rolls-Royce/SNECMA Rolls-Royce Olympus Olympus 593 Mk 610 |type of jet=afterburning turbojets |number of jets=4 |thrust main=38,050 lbf with afterburner, 32,000 lbf dry |thrust alt=169 kN / 142 kN |max speed main=Mach number Mach 2.04 or 1,350 mph |max speed alt=2,170 km/h)

'''Fuel consumption:''' 46.85 lb/mi (13.2 kg/km)

'''Maximum Heat shield nose tip temperature:''' 260 Â°F (127 Â°C) -- Mach number was sometimes reduced to keep the temperature within limits |ceiling main=60,000 ft |ceiling alt=18,300 m |climb rate main=ft/min |climb rate alt=m/s |range main=4,500 mi |range alt=7,250 km |loading main=lb/ft² |loading alt=kg/m² |power/mass main=hp/lb |power/mass alt=kW/kg |thrust/weight= }}

Trivia
* In transatlantic flight, Concorde travelled more than twice as fast as other aircraft, and other aircraft frequently appeared to be flying backwards. * Concorde had quite small passenger windows. At the extremely high altitude that Concorde flew, a broken window could have led to the passengers and crew passing out before the aircraft could be brought down to a safe altitude. Standard oxygen masks wouldn't have helped. The windows were made smaller to limit the rate that the air could be lost. * Due to the heat generated by the compression of the air as Concorde traveled supersonically, the fuselage would extend by as much as thirty centimetres, the most obvious manifestation of this being a gap that would open up on the flight deck between the flight engineer's console and the bulkhead. On all the Concordes that had a supersonic flight before retirement, the flight engineers placed their hat in the gap before it cooled, where they remain to this day. However in the case of the Seattle museum's Concorde, the protruding cap was cut off by a thief in an apparent attempt to steal it, leaving a part behind. An amnesty led to the severed cap being returned; the museum has been examining options to reattach it in some way. * During the multi-venue Live Aid famine relief concerts held on July 13 1985, pop star Phil Collins flew with Concorde from London so that he could perform at both venues (London and Philadelphia) on the same day. * The vehicle used reheat (afterburners) to quickly get past the high-Drag (physics) drag transonic regime (i.e. 'go supersonic'). Although the engines were quite capable of pushing the airframe supersonic without reheat, it was discovered operationally that it burnt more fuel that way, since the vehicle took much longer to accelerate through the transonic regime, even though reheat is quite inefficient. * Concorde burnt a reasonably large amount of fuel, but perhaps not as much might be expected; per passenger it works out at about 14 miles to the gallon (0.17 litres per kilometre). * Concorde flew fast enough that the weight of everyone onboard was temporarily reduced by about 1% when flying east. This was due to centrifugal effects since its airspeed added to the rotation speed of the Earth. Flying west this didn't happen to any significant degree, because it was fighting the rotation of the Earth, and the weight ended up almost normal.[http://www.phy6.org/stargaze/Srotfram1.htm]

Possible replacement
In November 2003, European aviation company EADS (the company behind Airbus) announced that it was considering working with Japanese companies to develop a larger, faster replacement for Concorde [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3231354.stm]. However, recent news reports suggest only $1m is being invested every year into research, much less than the $1bn needed for the development of a viable airliner. In October 2005, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA, the Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency, undertook aerodynamic testing of a scale model of a plane designed to carry 300 passengers at Mach 2. If pursued to commercial deployment, it would be expected to be in service around 2020 - 2025. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4325634.stm]

Films and television
The Concorde has been featured or mentioned in: *''The Concorde: Airport '79'': The Concorde used for the live-action aerial filming was the same Air France Concorde that crashed 21 years later on 25 July, 2000. * ''The Concorde Affair'' (''Concorde Affaire'' in orig.) Italy 1979. Director: Ruggero Deodato *''Doctor Who'': Featured in the 1983 story 'Time-Flight' *''Coming to America'': Prince Akeem and Semmi arrive in New York on a British Airways Concorde. *''Snatch (film) Snatch'': The character Cousin Avy flew from New York City to London to see Doug the Head and flew back in the closing scene of the film. *''The Bonfire of the Vanities'': Maria Ruskin (Melanie Griffith) arrives in New York on an Air France Concorde. The film's Second Unit Director, Eric Schwab, went to considerable effort to calculate the exact time and day when a runway at JFK would line up exactly with the setting sun, to serve as a spectacular backdrop for the landing Concorde. *''The Parent Trap'' 1998 version: Hallie and Her father take the concorde so that they can beat the twins' mother and Annie to london.

External links
{{commons|Concorde}}
- "Concorde SST" fan site
- "Concorde Jet" fan site
- Auto & Technik Museum Sinsheim (in German; has streaming video)
- "Farewell to Concorde" (BBC)
- Guided tour of Concorde in Toulouse
- NYC Intrepid Museum webcam
- ''Airport 79: The Concorde'' (Internet Movie Database entry)
- ''Concorde Affaire '' (Internet Movie Database entry)
- Aircraft-Info.net - Concorde
- Concorde on display at Manchester Airport - UK
- National Museums of Scotland: Concorde at the Museum of Flight
- Concorde SST Tribute
- Concorde Tribute Page
- Detailed Passenger Experience w/photos
- BA001 Trip Report & Concorde fan page
- Take off and landing video clips from the final flights (BA)
- Concorde appreciation web site
- Concorde Profile
- Concorde Gifts and Memorabilia. Original Concorde Aircraft Parts
- 2003 Video stream of amateur footage (requires Java) features an unscheduled stop at Gander, Canada due to unusually hot weather enroute to New York August 2003 - read more [http://www.jetthrust.com/news/news.php?topicid=93 here]

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