Concorde 102: The "Supersonic Legacy"

45 years since it came to our world, Concorde was indeed a very special aircraft of its own class. Even after its retirement in 2003, many had admired this plane for so long. Over the last 27 years of its service, Concorde has captured the imagination of people from all over the world, an extraordinary feat of power, grace and beauty. And in the eyes of many, including myself requoting this famous quote: "she's brought Cities together, brought people closer together, and reminded us all that we can do extraordinary things." British Airways Concorde G-BOAD, flying together with the RAF Red Arrows  on  a celebratory flypast over the Buckingham Palace during the Golden Jubilee of 2002 . And whenever Concorde showed up, there were always spectators waiting for her arrival, looking out for the " White Swan"  with its long neck and trying to get as close as possible to her on departure to hear and feel the roar of the four Rolls Royce Olympus engines. The fans and su...

After a series of unprecedented events that tarnished Concorde's reputation and its viability to remain in service by the beginning of the 21st century, it was decided to finally retire it...for good.  On 10 April 2003, Air France and British Airways simultaneously announced they would retire Concorde later that year.  They cited low passenger numbers following the Air France 4590 crash, the slump in air travel following the September 11 attacks, and with rising maintenance costs skyrocketing,  Airbus (the company that acquired Aerospatiale in 2000) had made a decision in 2003 to no longer supply replacement parts for the aircraft.  Although Concorde was technologically advanced when introduced in the 1970s, 30 years later, its analogue cockpit was outdated. There had been little commercial pressure to upgrade Concorde due to a lack of competing aircraft, unlike other airliners of the same era such as the Boeing 747. By its retirement, it was the last aircraft in t...

For over 30 years in its time, Concorde as a symbol of pride for the British and French, a centerpiece for celebration of a unity of both countries that made supersonic air travel a reality. It gained popularity from all over the world, and for those who are living near the airports in Paris and London were always so fond about Concorde whenever it departs and arrives from their homebases. And with only a handful of aircraft in service, public concern over the environment and noise faded since the end of the 1970s. But much like its development, Concorde's final years would prove difficult. Concorde's impeccable safety record that had once claimed "the safest aircraft in the world" would eventually be tarnished, along its reputation.  And on July 25, 2000 at 4:44PM Paris local time...it all happened.      Air France Flight 4590 , operated with the Concorde, on fire during take-off at Charles de Gaulle International Airport. The image was taken by a passenger in an ai...

After 14 years of development, Concorde was ready to enter service, and on January 21, 1976, two Concordes from British Airways and  Air France   simultaneously lifted off from their home airports, carrying their first passengers respectively on the London–Bahrain and Paris–Rio de Janeiro (via Dakar ) routes, with BA flights using the "Speedbird Concorde" call sign to notify air traffic control of the aircraft's unique abilities and restrictions, but the French used their normal "Air France" call sign. The Paris-Caracas route (via Azores ) began on 10th of April that same year. It was a huge milestone for the program, but hardly the bold new era of mass supersonic travel that many had once predicted. Because British Airways and Air France were the only airlines to put Concorde into service. Both nationally-owned airlines were more or less forced to integrate the Concordes in their fleet. Taking delivery of just 7 planes each. British Airways Concorde G-BOAC...

Concorde no.001 performing its maiden flight on March 2, 1969 from Toulouse, France After four years of patience and hard work, Aerospatiale's  Concorde Prototype no.001 performed its maiden flight in front of thousands of spectators at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in Toulouse, France on the 2nd of March 1969. The world will soon witness the magnificence of this aircraft after its first flight. On the other hand, the first UK-built BAC Concorde Protoype no.002 flew its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford on 9th of April 1969. And these videos here will show it all: "Concorde prototype 001 - maiden flight" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMCLIyJXvxg ) "Concorde 002 - 1st Flight April 9, 1969" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReizxjUuoE4 ) Both prototypes were presented to the public for the first time on 7–8 June 1969 at the Paris Air Show. As the flight programme progressed, 001 embarked on a sales and demonstration tour on 4th of September 1971, which was...

At the beginning of Concorde's development stage, thousands of the brightest French and British engineers were put to work in making supersonic air travel a reality. Aside from the NASA Apollo Moon Landings , Concorde was the most technically ambitious project of the century.  Built by both the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) and Sud Aviation France (Later as Aerospatiale ), Concorde can fly and cruise at twice the speed of sound, with enough range to fly across the Atlantic. Although it would burn more fuel, Concorde will have to make two flights in the same time compared to a regular passenger jet making only one flight. Offsetting higher fuel costs by reducing the number of each Concorde needed for each route. And over 16 airlines placed orders for 74 Concordes , a number expected to grow at 200 in the 1970s. By 1965, Aerospatiale started building the French-made Concorde Prototype no.001 (F-WTSS) in Toulouse, France and simultaneously the BAC building the British-made Co...