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Concorde is remembered as being a marvel of modern engineering and the most iconic aircraft ever built.
The legendary airliner was developed and manufactured jointly, at a cost of around £2.1 billion, by the British Aircraft Corporation and the French company Sud Aviation.
Transporting up to 108 passengers at more than twice the speed of sound, it was in operation between 1976 and 2003.
Its use as a commercial aircraft that could fly from New York to Europe in only three hours was an unprecedented achievement and subsequently, the rich and famous jet setters of the era flocked to fly on Concorde – which had a take-off speed of 250mph and cruised at 1,350mph.
Reducing the flight time between the UK and the USA by an incredible five hours, it flew round the world (28,238 miles) in just 29 hours and 59 minutes.
Sadly, Concorde’s demise in the 21st century came largely due to rising maintenance and operational costs and falling passenger numbers.
Launch of a legend
Research into the development of a supersonic aircraft began in 1954. Eight years later, the UK and France signed a treaty to jointly launch the ambitious project in November 1962. The estimated cost was £70 million at that time.
Six prototypes were constructed, starting in February 1965, with the maiden flight taking off on 2nd March 1969 from Toulouse in France.
Concorde’s specifications were mind-boggling, as it was one of only a handful of commercial aircraft to be tailless. It had four Olympus engines, designed in a similar way to those used for the RAF Avro Vulcan Strategic Bomber.
Constructed mainly of aluminium, using a high temperature alloy; the plane had a fully electrical fly-by-wire analogue flight control system and a high-pressure hydraulics system that permitted lighter components.
The high-tech air data computer enabled automated monitoring and automated transmission of measurements such as static pressure, total pressure, side slip and angle of attack. Concorde also had a fully electronically controlled analogue brake-by-wire system.
The original circuit boards were highly sought after when Concorde was decommissioned as a passenger plane. Some were auctioned and came with a certificate of authenticity, signed by leading test pilot Brian Trubshaw CBE – the first British pilot who flew Concorde in 1969.
The cost of the project had gone way over budget by the time Concorde entered commercial service on 21st January 1976.
How many Concordes were built?
In total, the Concorde fleet consisted of 20 aircraft, which were built from 1966 onwards. Ten were built in France and ten in Britain before the French and British governments cancelled the development programme. These included prototypes that had been manufactured only for development purposes. They never entered the airline’s service.
The manufacturers had aimed to take the Concorde design further and had plans for new versions. The next proposed Concorde was the B Series 300 with a new aircraft frame, as the design was considered the most promising of several that were being considered. However, none of them ever went into production after the project was cancelled.
When did Concorde crash?
In its heyday, Concorde was the choice of wealthy celebrities, the royal family and government ministers. The supersonic aircraft was sometimes used to fly the Prime Minister to international conferences overseas. Even Queen Elizabeth II took a high-speed flight on Concorde during her silver jubilee year on 2nd November 1977.
However, the aircraft’s reputation as a commercial passenger vehicle was tarnished after a tragedy occurred on 25th July 2000, when Air France Flight 4590 crashed just after take-off.
The Concorde crash led to the deaths of all 109 passengers and crew members and also four people on the ground. As a result, the commercial service was suspended until November 2001. It was the only fatal crash involving Concorde.
Accident investigators found that the aircraft had run over debris on the runway as it took off. It had punctured one of Concorde’s tyres, causing it to blow out. Fragments had been hurled into the wing’s underside and damaged the fuel tank. The debris was later revealed to be a titanium strip that had fallen off a previous flight.
Why was Concorde retired?
In 2003, the Concorde aircraft were retired 27 years after the launch of commercial operations. A decline in demand and an increase in costs were cited as the reasons. There had been low passenger numbers since the fatal crash in 2000.
Virgin supremo Richard Branson reportedly put in an offer to buy the fleet to continue operating the service, but it was turned down.
The supersonic jet made its final flight on 26th November 2003, when it flew from London Heathrow airport to Filton, in Bristol. It remains there today as part of the Aerospace Bristol visitor attraction, winner of the School Travel Awards’ Best Museum Visit Award.
Most of the other Concorde aircraft also remain on display in Europe and America.
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