This led to the use of short-span, thin trapezoidal wings such as those seen on the control surfaces of many missiles, or in aircraft such as the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter or the Avro 730 that the team studied. Īt the time it was known that the drag at supersonic speeds was strongly related to the span of the wing.

The group met for the first time in February 1954 and delivered their first report in April 1955.

The origins of the Concorde project date to the early 1950s, when Arnold Hall, director of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), asked Morien Morgan to form a committee to study the supersonic transport (SST) concept. 3.4 British Airways buys its Concordes outrightĭevelopment Early studies.1.3 Supersonic Transport Aircraft Committee.Most aircraft are on display in Europe and America. On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590 crashed shortly after take-off with all 109 occupants and four on ground killed the only fatal incident involving Concorde.Ĭommercial service was suspended until November 2001, and Concorde aircraft were retired in 2003 after 27 years of commercial operations. Its only competitor was the Tupolev Tu-144, carrying passengers from November 1977 until a May 1978 crash, while the larger and faster Boeing 2707 was cancelled in 1971. Supersonic flight more than halved travel times, but sonic booms over the ground limited it to transoceanic flights only. Transatlantic flights was the main market, to Washington Dulles from 24 May, and to New York JFK from 17 October 1977.Īir France and British Airways remained the sole customers with seven airframes each, for a total production of twenty. The airliner could maintain a supercruise up to Mach 2.04 (2,167 km/h 1,170 kn) at an altitude of 60,000 ft (18.3 km).ĭelays and cost overruns increased the programme cost to £1.5–2.1 billion in 1976, (£9.44 billion–13.2 billion in 2021).Ĭoncorde entered service on 21 January of that year with Air France from Paris-Roissy and British Airways from London Heathrow.

It is powered by four Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 turbojets with variable engine intake ramps, and reheat for take-off and acceleration to supersonic speed.Ĭonstructed out of aluminium, it was the first airliner to have analogue fly-by-wire flight controls. Ĭoncorde is a tailless aircraft design with a narrow fuselage permitting a 4-abreast seating for 92 to 128 passengers, an ogival delta wing and a droop nose for landing visibility. On 9 October 1975, it received its French Certificate of Airworthiness, and from the UK CAA on 5 December. The market was predicted for 350 aircraft, and the manufacturers received up to 100 option orders from many major airlines. Studies started in 1954, and France and the UK signed a treaty establishing the development project on 29 November 1962, as the programme cost was estimated at £70 million (£1.39 billion in 2021).Ĭonstruction of the six prototypes began in February 1965, and the first flight took off from Toulouse on 2 March 1969. The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde ( / ˈ k ɒ ŋ k ɔːr d/) is a Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Ģ0 (including 6 non-commercial aircraft) Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale and Airbus)Ģ4 October 2003 / Final flight worldwide 26 November 2003, Filton, Bristol, UK.British Aircraft Corporation (later British Aerospace and BAE Systems).

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