The supersonic airliner that changed the game of long distance travel by reaching extreme speeds and using a drooping nose for takeoff will be celebrated today on the 50th anniversary of its maiden flight.
Thousands of aviation enthusiasts will flock to museums and airfields where Concorde is on display, including UK Runway Visitor Park, Manchester, the Museum of Flight near Edinburgh and Aerospace Bristol, where they will have the opportunity to meet Concorde pilots, step on board the aircraft and view footage of the first flight.
On March 2 1969 Concorde made its maiden flight from Toulouse Airport where it was flown for 27 minutes by test pilot Andre Turcat.
A graphic made to celebrate the anniversary of the flight shows how the plane stretched between six and 10 inches due to heat during supersonic flight.
Today marks 50 years since Concorde took its maiden flight from Toulouse Airport where it was flown for 27 minutes
Concordes pointed nose drooped during take-off to allow better pilot visibility. In 1999, a BA Concorde hosted a special flight to view the solar eclipse at 55,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean. Pictured are the passengers boarding at Heathrow Airport
The planes drooping nose also saw the visor go down by 12 degrees during landing and taxiing and staying at 0 degrees during supersonic cruise.
The supersonic jet also had four Rolls-Royce Olympus engines that burned 6,771 gallons (25,629 litres) of fuel every hour, meaning that it could reach a cruising velocity of twice the speed of sound, or 1,350mph.
British Airways captain John Tye watched the maiden flight on TV and flew the 100-seater aircraft between 1998 and 2000. Mr Tye, now a training captain on the Boeing 777, said Concorde was a 'masterpiece of engineering.'
The planes were one of the most advanced aircraft ever to fly passengers around the world with just 20 built over a 15-year period.
However in July 2000 an Air France Concorde en route from Paris to New York crashed shortly after take-off due to an engine fire, killing all 109 people on board as well as four people on the ground.
The Concorde fleets of British Airways and Air France are grounded pending an inquiry and although transatlantic flights resume from London and Paris following a safety upgrade in November 2001 it wasn't to last.
In April 2003 it is announced that Concorde would be taken out of service due to a sharp dip in passenger numbers amid global economic problems and the aftermath of September 11.
The last Concorde touched down in October 2003 after a special flight from London Heathrow to Airbus UK's Filton airfield in Bristol.
Now the 17 remaining Concorde jets which once hosted celebrities and royalty are dotted about the world in museums or storage.
The first ever Concorde flight takes off from Toulouse Airport exactly 50 years ago today on March 2, 1969
Pictured are the crew of the first ever Concorde flight. They were Michel Retif, flight engineer, Andre Turcat, captain, mechanical engineer Henri Perrier, and Jacques Guignard, co-pilot
Six British Airways Concorde aircraft stand nose to nose at Heathrow. Among Concorde's most distinctive features was its pointed nose, which drooped downwards during take-off to allow for better pilot visibility
It was until several months later on October 1, 1969 that Concorde first went supersonic during a test flight in Toulouse
Two British Airways Concordes are now on display in the US, at Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, New York, and The Museum of Flight in Seattle.
Another Concorde was on display at a museum in Barbados but the attraction has been closed since July last year.
British Airways has a Concorde at its engineering base at Heathrow Airport. The area is not open for visitors, but some passengers are able to see it when they land at the west London hub.
The interior of the Concorde was recently given a three-month refurbishment and a plan to put the aircraft on public display is expected to be revealed later this year.
There is also a fleet of three British development Concordes, which are at Fleet Air Arm Museum in Somerset, Imperial War Museum Duxford in Cambridgeshire and Brooklands Museum in Surrey.
This interactive map shows the locations of each of the planes, with seven still found in Britain including one each at London Heathrow and Manchester Airports.
How to use the interative map: Zoom in and out using the toolbar at the left of the map, or your mouse-wheel. Move around the map by dragging the cursor across. Click on the icon to reveal more details about each Concorde's final resting place.
An interactive map has revealed the locations of the last 17 remaining Concordes around the world, including this one, pictured bottom, at London Heathrow Airport
Two of the supersonic jets are also based in museums including one at the Aerospace Bristol Museum, left, and another at the Brooklands Museum in Surrey, right. Both are expected to attract thousands of visitors tomorrow to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the aircraft's first flight
Elsewhere there are five Concordes currently in France, with two at the Airbus Factory in Toulouse, one at the Museum of Air and Space in Le Bourget, another at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and the other at the Musée Delta in Athis-Mons.
An Air France Concorde is also at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, with the final remaining aircraft at the Auto & Technik Museum in Sinsheim, Germany.
A little more than a month after Concordes first flight in Toulouse in March 1969, a UK-built Concorde prototype, piloted by test pilot Brian Trubshaw took off from the British Aircraft Corporation’s (BAC) site in Filton near Bristol.
On April 9 1969 the prototype made a short trip to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. The jets would later cross the Atlantic and be able to reach New York in a little over three and a half hours.
British Airways captain John Tye described being 'glued to the TV' when the maiden flight happened.
The 61-year-old, from Walton on Thames, Surrey, went on to fly the 100-seater aircraft between 1998 and 2000.
He explained how it required 'absolute precision' and would push through the sound barrier while causing 'nothing more than a ripple on 100 glasses of champagne'.
Mr Tye, now a training captain on the Boeing 777, said Concorde was a 'masterpiece of engineering' and 'one of the world's most beautiful creations'.
Concordes are also on display around the world, including aircraft at the Auto & Technik Museum in Sinsheim, Germany, pictured left, and another at the Intrepid Sea-Air Space Museum in New York, right
In 1976, the first British Airways Concorde flight took off from London's Heathrow Airport bound for Bahrain
Prior to the maiden flight, the coalition of two governments and two aircraft makers - British Aircraft Corporation (now BAE Systems) and Sud-Aviation, a precursor to Airbus - had encountered a series of hurdles and differences.
Even the aircraft's name, which means 'agreement' in both languages, was a sticking point: English-style 'Concord' or 'Concorde' in French?
Britain's technology minister Tony Benn settled the dispute in 1967, keeping the 'e' for 'excellence', 'England', 'Europe' and 'Entente cordiale', as he said.
Among Concorde's most distinctive features was its pointed nose, which drooped downwards during take-off to allow for better pilot visibility.
Its triangular 'delta' wings were also instantly recognisable and offered stability and efficiency.
Innovations born with Concorde advanced aeronautics, including the weight-saving aluminium for the body and the first ever use of electronic controls to replace manual ones.
According to BAE Systems, the estimated final overall cost of developing the Concorde was around 1.6 billion dollars.
Its inaugural scheduled passenger flights were on January 21, 1976: the Paris-Rio route operated by Air France and London-Bahrain by British Airways.
Jock Lowe, who was the longest serving Concorde pilot, said flying the aircraft was 'like driving a sports car compared with a normal car'.
Concorde pilots say flying the plane would require precision so that when they broke the sound barrier, it caused 'nothing more than a ripple on 100 glasses of champagne'
Concorde has welcomed the Queen on several ocassions. She is pictured left reading newspapers during her flight home from Bridgetown, Barbados after her Silver Jubilee tour of Canada and the West Indies. Pictured right is Her Majesty and Princess Anne touring a Concorde cockpit
The Duchess of York, who became the first female Royal to gain a private pilot's licence, went on the flight deck of a Concorde supersonic jet during a visit to Heathrow Airport in 1987
For her 80th birthday, the Queen Mother was treated to a flight on a British Airways Concorde in 1980
On board Concorde, passengers were treated to fine wines and five-star cuisine assuring it a large, well-heeled fan base
Daily Mail Editor-at-Large Piers Morgan is served a glass of champagne by the singer Sting on a Concorde flight
He continued: 'The most exhilarating part was the power you had on take-off. The acceleration was really quite special.'
Concorde quickly established itself as the way to travel for the discerning tycoon and Hollywood star.
Its fine wines and five-star cuisine assured it a large, well-heeled fan base, with regular passengers including the likes of Joan Collins, Sir Paul McCartney and Diana, Princess of Wales.
But shorter travel times came at a price: a return London-New York ticket in 2003 cost around £8,300 pounds ($11,960).
In 1996 to mark the 50th anniversary of London's Heathrow Airport a British Airways Concorde took part in a fly past with the RAF's Red Arrows
However, travelling on Concorde became an experience in itself, with passengers speaking of the 'kick in the back' as the aircraft took off.
Julie Reynolds, 59, of Cheadle, Cheshire, worked as a cabin crew member on Concorde from 1987 to 1995, describing it as the 'gold standard of aviation'.
Television host Sir David Frost was one of her favourite passengers as he was 'such a gentleman', she said.
'He was very supportive of crew and was always appreciative of what we did.
'There were so many wonderful people who travelled with us but they didn't have to be celebrities to be a favourite of ours.'
The only fatal accident involving Concorde happened on 25 July 2000 when Air France Flight 4590 crashed while en route from Paris to New York due to an engine fire.
All 109 people on board were killed, as well as four people on the ground. Most of the passengers were German tourists. The Concorde fleets of British Airways and Air France were grounded pending an inquiry after.
Concorde was retired from service in October 2003, with British Airways and Air France blaming a downturn in passenger numbers and rising maintenance costs.
Barbara Harmer, from Bognor Regis, flew into the record books when she became the first woman to operate a Concorde in 1993
John Tye said flying Concorde was 'a real privilege'. Mr Tye, pictured, now a training captain on the Boeing 777, said Concorde was a 'masterpiece of engineering' and 'one of the world's most beautiful creations'
Recent refurbishment means the distinctive nose of Concorde will be moved at exhibition sites at Manchester Airport, Imperial War Museum Duxford in Cambridgeshire and Brooklands Museum in Surrey for the 50th anniversary tomorrow.
Events are also taking place at Fleet Air Arm Museum in Somerset, Aerospace Bristol in Filton, near Bristol, and locations in France and Germany.
No government or manufacturer has since been able to build a commercial plane which can travel faster than the speed of sound.
Many of the reasons for the demise of Concorde, high fuel costs, concern over its noise, a preference for lower fares over speed, are still applicable today, but that is not stopping a number of firms developing a supersonic airliner.
Among the firms trying to overcome these issues is Boom Supersonic.
The US start up is developing a 55-seater aircraft named Overture with an aim to fly at Mach 2.2, which is more than twice the speed of sound.
The last Concorde flight took place in October 2003. Pictured are the flight crew from the last flight leaning out of the windows of the cockpit
Concorde was retired from service in October 2003, with British Airways and Air France blaming a downturn in passenger numbers and rising maintenance costs
The company pledges that passengers will 'arrive in half the time for about the same fare as today's business class'.
Test flights on a single-seater version called XB-1 are due to take place this year.
Boom says it has received pre-orders for 30 Overture planes, with customers including Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Japan Airlines. It plans to launch flights in the mid-2020s.
Boeing-backed Aerion Supersonic is working on a 12-seater business jet with a top speed of Mach 1.4. Its first flight is due in 2023.
Nasa and aerospace company Lockheed Martin are also developing a prototype for a supersonic plane named QueSST.
They claim it will be much quieter than Concorde as it will be designed to 'reduce a sonic boom to a gentle thump'.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/03/02/concorde-at-50-how-supersonic-jet-with-1350mph-top-speed-made-the-world-smaller-place/
Main photo article The supersonic airliner that changed the game of long distance travel by reaching extreme speeds and using a drooping nose for takeoff will be celebrated today on the 50th anniversary of its maiden flight.
Thousands of aviation enthusiasts will flock to museums and airfields where Concorde is ...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/03/02/10/10486042-0-image-m-3_1551522502519.jpg
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