| Concorde | | Air France Concorde Concorde may refer to: The supersonic Concorde aircraft Concorde, North Carolina (the place) The Place de la Concorde, a square in Paris, France the Concorde Agreement — a contract which dictates the terms by which the ten Formula One teams compete in Formula One grands prix and take their share of...
Image File history File links AirFranceConcorde. ...
Air France (formally Société Air France) is Europes largest airline company. ...
| | Type | Supersonic airliner | | Manufacturers | Sud Aviation (now EADS) -
BAC (now BAE Systems) | | Maiden flight | 2 March 1969 | | Introduction | 21 January 1976 | | Retired | 26 November 2003 | | Primary users | British Airways
Air France | | Number built | 20[1] | | Unit cost | £23 million (US$46 million) in 1977 | The Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde supersonic transport (SST) was the more successful of the only two supersonic passenger airliners to have ever operated commercially, the Tupolev Tu-144 being the other. An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, and/or spacecraft. ...
Sud Aviation was a French state-owned aircraft manufacturer, originating from the merger of SNCASE (Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud-Est) and SNCASO (Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud-Ouest) on March 1, 1957. ...
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V. (EADS) is a large European aerospace corporation, formed by the merger on July 10, 2000 of Aérospatiale-Matra of France, Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) of Spain, and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA) of Germany. ...
The British Aircraft Corporation, or BAC, was a British aircraft manufacturer, formed from the merger (under government pressure) of English Electric Aviation Ltd. ...
, BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British defence and aerospace company headquartered at Farnborough, UK, which has worldwide interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. ...
The Maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. ...
is the 61st day of the year (62nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Also: 1969 (number) 1969 (movie) 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ...
is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 330th day of the year (331st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
For the 1930s airline of similar name, see British Airways Ltd. ...
Air France (formally Société Air France) is Europes largest airline company. ...
The Aérospatiale Corvette first flew in 1970 and went into service in 1974. ...
The British Aircraft Corporation, or BAC, was a British aircraft manufacturer, formed from the merger (under government pressure) of English Electric Aviation Ltd. ...
The Concorde supersonic transport has a delta wing, a slender fuselage and four underslung Olympus engines. ...
A United States Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in transonic flight. ...
An Airbus A340 airliner operated by Air Jamaica An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft with the primary function of transporting paying passengers. ...
The Tupolev Tu-144 (NATO reporting name: Charger) was the first supersonic transport aircraft (SST), constructed under the direction of the Soviet Tupolev design bureau headed by Alexei Tupolev (1925–2001). ...
The development programme was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, with 20 aircraft built. The costly development phase thus represented a substantial economic loss. Air France and British Airways were subsidised by their governments to buy the aircraft. Air France (formally Société Air France) is Europes largest airline company. ...
For the 1930s airline of similar name, see British Airways Ltd. ...
First flown in 1969, piloted by Andre Turcat,[2] Concorde service commenced in 1976 and continued for 27 years. It flew regular transatlantic flights from London Heathrow (British Airways) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (Air France) to New York JFK and Washington Dulles, flying these routes at record speeds, in under half the time of other airliners. Concorde also set many other records, including the official FAI "Westbound Around The World" and "Eastbound Around the World" world air speed records. London Heathrow Airport (IATA:LHR, ICAO:EGLL), often referred to simply as Heathrow, is the United Kingdoms busiest and best-connected airport. ...
Charles de Gaulle International Airport (IATA: CDG, ICAO: LFPG) (French: ), also known as Roissy Airport (or just Roissy in French), in Paris, is one of worlds principal aviation centres, as well as Frances main international airport. ...
For the regional airport in Wisconsin, see John F. Kennedy Memorial Airport. ...
, FAA Airport Diagram Washington Dulles International Airport (IATA: IAD, ICAO: KIAD, FAA LID: IAD) is a public airport located 25 miles (40 km) west of the central business district of Washington, D.C., in Loudoun County and Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. ...
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) is a standard setting and record-keeping body for aeronautics and astronautics. ...
As a result of the type's only crash on 25 July 2000, world economic effects arising from the 9/11 attacks, and other factors, operations ceased on 24 October 2003. The last "retirement" flight occurred on 26 November that year.[3] This animation from Seconds From Disaster shows the fuel tank on fire Air France Flight 4590 was a Concorde flight from Charles de Gaulle International Airport near Paris, France to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, New York, and operated by Air France. ...
is the 206th day of the year (207th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ...
Major economic effects arose from September 11, 2001 attacks, with initial shock causing global stock markets to drop sharply. ...
is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 330th day of the year (331st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Concorde remains an icon of aviation history, and has acquired an unusual nomenclature for an aircraft. In common usage in the United Kingdom, the type is known as "Concorde" rather than "the Concorde" or "a Concorde".[4][5] An article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. ...
Development
 Concorde G-BOAB in storage at London Heathrow Airport following the end of all Concorde flying. This aircraft flew for 22,296 hours between its first flight in 1976 and its final flight in 2000. In the late 1950s, the United Kingdom, France, United States and Soviet Union were considering developing supersonic transport. Britain's Bristol Aeroplane Company and France's Sud Aviation were both working on designs, called the Type 233 and Super-Caravelle, respectively. Both were largely funded by their respective governments.[6] The British design was for a thin-winged delta shape (which owed much to work by Dietrich Küchemann) for a transatlantic-ranged aircraft for about 100 people, while the French were intending to build a medium-range aircraft. Image File history File links Concorde_on_Bristol. ...
Image File history File links Concorde_on_Bristol. ...
is the 330th day of the year (331st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Fineness ratio is a term used in aerospace engineering to describe the overall shape of a streamlined body. ...
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Image File history File linksMetadata ConcordePrototype. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata ConcordePrototype. ...
The Imperial War Museum is a museum in London featuring military vehicles, weapons, war memorabilia, a library, a photographic archive, and an art collection of 20th century and later conflicts, especially those involving Britain, and the British Empire. ...
Duxford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, some ten miles south of Cambridge. ...
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 539 pixelsFull resolution (2041 × 1375 pixel, file size: 1. ...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 539 pixelsFull resolution (2041 × 1375 pixel, file size: 1. ...
Heathrow redirects here. ...
Bristol Aeroplane Company logo The Bristol Aeroplane Company (formerly British and Colonial Aeroplane Company) was a major British aircraft company which, in 1959, merged with several major British aircraft companies, to become the British Aircraft Corporation and later still part of British Aerospace, now BAE Systems. ...
Sud Aviation was a French state-owned aircraft manufacturer, originating from the merger of SNCASE (Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud-Est) and SNCASO (Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud-Ouest) on March 1, 1957. ...
In the late 1950s and early 1960s the Bristol Aeroplane Company studied a number of supersonic transport models as part of a large British inter-company effort funded by the government. ...
The Super-Caravelle was a design for a supersonic transport from Sud Aviation in France. ...
Dr Dietrich Küchemann CBE FRS FRAeS (1911–1976) was a German aerodynamicist who made several important contributions to the advancement of high-speed flight. ...
The designs were both ready to start prototype construction in the early 1960s, but the cost was so great that the British government made it a requirement that BAC look for international co-operation.[6] Approaches were made to a number of countries, but only France showed real interest. The development project was negotiated as an international treaty between the two countries rather than a commercial agreement between companies and included a clause, originally asked for by Britain, imposing heavy penalties for cancellation. A draft treaty was signed on 28 November 1962. By this time, both companies had been merged into new ones; thus, the Concorde project was between the British Aircraft Corp. and Aerospatiale. The first two pages of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, in (left to right) German, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Ottoman Turkish and Russian A treaty is an agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely states and international organizations. ...
is the 332nd day of the year (333rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
British Aerospace (BAe) was a UK aircraft and defence systems manufacturer, now part of BAE Systems. ...
The Aerospatiale Corvette first flew in 1970 and went into service in 1974. ...
At first the new consortium intended to produce two versions of the aircraft, one long range and one short range. However, prospective customers showed no interest in the short-range version and it was dropped. The consortium secured orders for over 100 of the long-range version from the premier airlines of the day: Pan Am, BOAC and Air France were the launch customers, with six Concordes each. Other airlines in the order book included Panair do Brasil, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, American Airlines, United Airlines, Air Canada, Braniff, Singapore Airlines, Iran Air, Qantas, CAAC, Middle East Airlines and TWA.[citation needed] Pan Ams seaplane terminal at Dinner Key in Miami, Florida, was a hub of inter-American travel during the 1930s and 1940s. ...
BOAC Logo The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946. ...
Panair do Brasil was Brazils flag airline and Latin Americas largest carrier from the 1940s through the 1960s. ...
This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (ISIN: DE0008232125) (pronounced ) is the second largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried (after Air France - KLM). ...
American Airlines, Inc. ...
United Airlines is a major airline of the United States. ...
Air Canada is Canadas largest airline and flag carrier. ...
Braniff International Airways was an American airline that existed from 1928 until 1982. ...
Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 9V-SPA takes off from London Heathrow Airport bound for Singapore Changi Airport. ...
Iran Air(Persian: ) is the flag carrier airline of Iran, based in Tehran. ...
Qantas Airways Limited (IPA: ) is the national airline of Australia. ...
Known by the acronym CAAC, with the official name of General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (中国民用航空总局, pinyin Zhongguo Renyong Hangkong Zongju). ...
Middle East Airlines (MEA) (Arabic: طيران الشرق الأوسط), also known by its full name Middle East Airlines Air Liban (Arabic: طيران الشرق الأوسط الخطوط الجوية اللبنانية), is the national flag-carrier airline of Lebanon, based in Beirut. ...
Trans World Airlines (IATA: TW, ICAO: TWA, and Callsign: TWA), commonly known as TWA, was an American airline company that was acquired by American Airlines in April 2001. ...
The aircraft was initially referred to in Britain as "Concorde," with the French spelling, but was officially changed to "Concord" by Harold Macmillan in response to a perceived slight by Charles de Gaulle. In 1967, at the French roll-out in Toulouse the British Government Minister for Technology, Tony Benn announced that he would change the spelling back to "Concorde."[7] This created a nationalist uproar that 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 claiming: "you talk about 'E' for England, but part of it is made in Scotland." Given Scotland's contribution of providing the nose cone for the aircraft, Benn replied "it was also 'E' for 'Écosse' (the French name for Scotland) — and I might have added 'e' for extravagance and 'e' for escalation as well!"[8] Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. ...
For other uses, see Charles de Gaulle (disambiguation). ...
New city flag (Occitan cross) Traditional coat of arms Motto: (Occitan: For Toulouse, always more) Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country Region Midi-Pyrénées Department Haute-Garonne (31) Intercommunality Community of Agglomeration of Greater Toulouse Mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc (UMP) (since 2004) City Statistics Land...
The Minister of Technology was a position in the government of the United Kingdom, sometimes abbreviated as MinTech. The Ministry of Technology was established by the incoming government of Harold Wilson in October 1964 as part of Wilsons ambition to modernise the state for what he perceived to be...
Anthony Tony Neil Wedgwood Benn (born 3 April 1925), formerly 2nd Viscount Stansgate, is a British socialist politician. ...
The Entente Cordiale (cordial understanding) is a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom and France. ...
This article is about the country. ...
Construction of two prototypes began in February 1965: 001, built by Aerospatiale at Toulouse, and 002, by BAC at Filton, Bristol. Concorde 001 made its first test flight from Toulouse on 2 March 1969 and first went supersonic on 1 October. As the flight programme progressed, it embarked on a sales and demonstration tour on 4 September 1971. Concorde 002 followed suit on 2 June 1972 with a 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 Regional Airport to mark that airport's opening. Filton is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, on the northern outskirts of the city of Bristol, about 4. ...
This article is about the English city. ...
is the 61st day of the year (62nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Also: 1969 (number) 1969 (movie) 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ...
is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar, known as the year of cyclohexanol. ...
is the 153rd day of the year (154th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, located between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, is the busiest airport in Texas and third busiest airport in the world in terms of operations. ...
These trips led to orders for over 70 aircraft, but a combination of factors led to a sudden number of order cancellations: the 1973 oil crisis, acute financial difficulties of many airlines, a spectacular Paris Le Bourget air show crash of the competing Soviet Tupolev Tu-144, and environmental concerns such as the sonic boom, takeoff-noise and pollution. Only Air France and British Airways (the successor to BOAC) took up their orders, with the two governments taking a cut of any profits made. In the case of BA, 80% of the profit was kept by the government until 1984, while the cost of buying the aircraft was covered by a state loan.[9] The 1973 oil crisis began in earnest on October 17, 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC, consisting of the Arab members of OPEC plus Egypt and Syria) announced, as a result of the ongoing Yom Kippur War, that they would no longer ship petroleum...
The Tupolev Tu-144 (NATO reporting name: Charger) was the first supersonic transport aircraft (SST), constructed under the direction of the Soviet Tupolev design bureau headed by Alexei Tupolev (1925–2001). ...
For other uses, see Sonic boom (disambiguation). ...
An F/A-18 Hornet takes off from the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63). ...
After technical problems with the Comet, BOAC resumed jet service with imported Boeing 707s. ...
The United States had cancelled its supersonic transport (SST) programme in 1971. Two designs had been submitted; the Lockheed L-2000, looking like a scaled-up Concorde, lost out to the Boeing 2707, which was intended to be faster, to carry 300 passengers and feature a swing-wing design. Other countries, such as India and Malaysia, ruled out Concorde supersonic overflights due to noise concerns.[10] The Lockheed L-2000 was Lockheeds entry into the contest to build the United States first supersonic transport (SST). ...
The Boeing 2707 was developed as the first American supersonic transport (SST). ...
A swing-wing is a wing configuration that allows it to alter its planform for various flight conditions. ...
Both European airlines flew demonstration and test flights from 1974 onwards. The testing of Concorde set records that have not been surpassed; the prototype, pre-production and first production aircraft undertook 5,335 flight hours. A total of 2,000 test hours were at supersonic speeds. Unit costs were £23 million (US$46 million) in 1977. Development cost overrun was 500% [11](cost was six times higher than projected). Cost overrun is defined as excess of actual cost over budget. ...
Design Concorde was an ogival delta-winged ("OG delta wing") aircraft with four Olympus engines based on those originally developed for the Avro Vulcan strategic bomber. The engines were jointly built by Rolls-Royce and SNECMA. Concorde was the first civil airliner to have an analogue fly-by-wire flight control system. It also employed a trademark droop snoot lowering nose section for visibility on approach. An ogive is a curved shape, figure, or feature. ...
The delta wing is a wing planform in the form of a triangle, named after the Greek uppercase delta (letter) which is a triangle (Δ). Its use in the so called tailless delta, i. ...
Rolls-Royce Olympus 593 The Olympus is a high-powered axial-flow turbojet, originally developed at Bristol Aero Engines, later passed to Bristol Siddeley, and finally to Rolls-Royce. ...
The Avro Vulcan was a British delta wing subsonic bomber, operated by the Royal Air Force from 1953 until 1984. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
This article is about the aircraft engine company. ...
Snecma was one of the worlds leading aerospace corporations which merged with SAGEM to form SAFRAN. Snecma is now a subsidiary of the SAFRAN Group and previous Snecma subsidiaries have been reorganised within the wider group. ...
A flight control system consists of the flight control surfaces, the respective cockpit controls, connecting linkage, and necessary operating mechanisms to control aircraft in flight The basic fundamentals of aircraft controls has been explained in aeronautics. ...
These and other features permitted Concorde to have an average cruise speed of Mach 2.02 (about 2,140 km/h or 1,330 mph) with a maximum cruise altitude of 18,300 metres (60,000 feet), more than twice the speed of conventional aircraft. The average landing speed was a relatively high 298 km/h (185 mph, 160 knots). An F/A-18 Hornet breaking the sound barrier. ...
Kilometres per hour (American spelling: kilometers per hour) is a unit of both speed (scalar) and velocity (vector). ...
Miles per hour is a unit of speed, expressing the number of international miles covered per hour. ...
This article is about the unit of length. ...
A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ...
Concorde pioneered a number of technologies: Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x668, 295 KB) Summary This image was taken by Martin J.Galloway. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x668, 295 KB) Summary This image was taken by Martin J.Galloway. ...
For high speed and optimisation of flight: In mathematics, optimization is the discipline which is concerned with finding the maxima and minima of functions, possibly subject to constraints. ...
- Double-delta (ogee/ogival) shaped wings
- Variable inlet ramps
- Supercruise capability
- Thrust-by-wire engines, predecessor of today's FADEC-controlled engines
- Droop-nose section for improved visibility in landing
For weight-saving and enhanced performance: Ogee Arch Ogee is a shape consisting of a concave arc flowing into a convex arc, so forming an S-shaped curve with vertical ends. ...
An ogive is a curved shape, figure, or feature. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
FADEC is the acronym for Full Authority Digital Engine Control. ...
The Droop Nose is a recognisable feature of Concorde and the Tu-144. ...
- Mach 2.04[12] (~2,200 km/h - 1350 mph) cruising speed for optimum fuel consumption (supersonic drag minimum, although turbojet engines are more efficient at high speed)
- Mainly aluminium construction for low weight and relatively conventional manufacture (higher speeds would have ruled out aluminium)
- Full-regime autopilot and autothrottle allowing "hands off" control of the aircraft from climbout 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/in²) for lighter hydraulic systems components
- Fully electrically controlled analogue 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
- Lack of Auxiliary power unit (Relying on the fact that Concorde will be used for premium services to big airports, where a ground air start cart would be readily available)
The Concorde programme's primary legacy is in the experience gained in design and manufacture which later became the basis of the Airbus consortium.[citation needed] Snecma Moteurs' involvement with the Concorde programme prepared the company's entrance into civil engine design and manufacturing, opening the way for Snecma to establish CFM International with General Electric and produce the successful CFM International CFM56 series engines. An autopilot is a mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being. ...
An autothrottle (automatic throttle) allows a pilot to control the power setting of an aircrafts engines by specifying a desired flight characteristic, rather than directly controlling fuel flow. ...
A flight control system consists of the flight control surfaces, the respective cockpit controls, connecting linkage, and necessary operating mechanisms to control aircraft in flight. ...
Drive-by-wire technology in automotive industry replaces the traditional mechanical and hydraulic control systems with electronic control systems using electromechanical actuators and human-machine interfaces such as pedal and steering feel emulators. ...
The APU exhaust at the tail end of an Airbus A380 An auxiliary power unit (APU) is a device on a vehicle whose purpose is to provide energy for functions other than propulsion. ...
Airbus S.A.S. (pronounced in English, in French, and in German) is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace concern. ...
Snecma Moteurs of France is one of the worlds major aircraft engine suppliers. ...
“GE†redirects here. ...
CFM56-3 CFM56, front view CFM International CFM-56 series engines is a family of high-bypass turbofan engines made by CFM International and has a thrust range from 18,500 to 34,000 lbf (82 kN to 151 kN). ...
Although Concorde was a technological marvel when introduced into service in the 1970s, 30 years later its cockpit, cluttered with analogue dials and switches, looked dated. With no competition, there was no commercial pressure to upgrade Concorde with enhanced avionics or passenger comfort, as occurred in other airliners of the same vintage, for example the Boeing 747.[citation needed]
The key partners, BAC (later to become BAE Systems) and Aerospatiale (later to become EADS), were the joint owners of Concorde's type certificate. Responsibility for the Type Certificate transferred to Airbus with formation of Airbus SAS. , BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British defence and aerospace company headquartered at Farnborough, UK, which has worldwide interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. ...
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V. (EADS) is a large European aerospace corporation, formed by the merger on July 10, 2000 of Aérospatiale-Matra of France, Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) of Spain, and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA) of Germany. ...
A Type Certificate (sometimes called Airworthiness Certificate), is awarded by aviation regulating bodies (such as FAA in US and EASA in EU) to aerospace firms after it has been established that the particular design of aircraft, engines or propeller submitted has fulfilled the regulating bodies current prevailing airworthiness requirements for...
Main problems overcome during design
 G-AXDN, Duxford, close up of engines Many issues were overcome whilst researching and developing Concorde.[13] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1000x672, 111 KB) Summary Taken and donated by User:Guinnog Concorde wing and engine detail at Imperial War Museum, Duxford Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1000x672, 111 KB) Summary Taken and donated by User:Guinnog Concorde wing and engine detail at Imperial War Museum, Duxford Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed...
Movement of centre of pressure When any aircraft passes the critical mach of that particular airframe, the centre of pressure shifts rearwards. This causes a pitch down force on the aircraft, as the center of gravity remains where it was. The engineers designed the wings in a specific manner to reduce this shift. However, there was still a shift of about 2 metres. This could have been countered by the use of trim controls, but at such high speeds this would have caused a dramatic increase in the drag on the aircraft. Instead, the distribution of fuel along the aircraft was shifted during acceleration and deceleration to move the center of gravity, effectively acting as an auxiliary trim control. Critical mach is a aeronautics term that refers to the speed at which some of the airflow on a wing becomes supersonic. ...
The Center of Pressure (or CoP) is the point on a body where the sum of the total pressure acts. ...
For the kite, see foil kite. ...
Engines To be economically viable, Concorde needed to be able to fly reasonably long distances, and this required high efficiency. For optimum supersonic flight, the engines needed to have a small frontal cross-sectional area to minimise drag and a low bypass ratio to give a high, supersonic exhaust speed. Turbojets were thus the best choice of engines. The more efficient and quieter high bypass turbofan engines such as used on Boeing 747s could not be used. The engine chosen was the twin spool Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593, a version of the Olympus originally developed for the Vulcan bomber, developed into an afterburning supersonic engine for the BAC TSR-2 strike bomber and then adapted for Concorde. The Boeing 747, sometimes nicknamed the Jumbo Jet,[4][5] is a long-haul, widebody commercial airliner manufactured by Boeing in the United States. ...
Rolls-Royce Olympus 593 The Olympus is a high-powered axial-flow turbojet, originally developed at Bristol Aero Engines, later passed to Bristol Siddeley, and finally to Rolls-Royce. ...
The Avro Vulcan was a British delta wing subsonic bomber, operated by the Royal Air Force from 1953 until 1984. ...
The BAC TSR-2 was an ill-fated cold war project developed by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) in the early 1960s. ...
 Concorde's ramp system Schematic The inlet design for Concorde's engines was critical. All conventional jet engines can intake air at only around Mach 0.5; therefore the air needs to be slowed from the Mach 2.0 airspeed that enters the engine inlet. In particular, Concorde needed to control the shock waves that this reduction in speed generates to avoid damage to the engines. This was done by a pair of ramps and an auxiliary flap, whose position was moved during flight to slow the air down. The ramps were at the top of the engine compartment and moved down and the auxiliary flap moved both up and down allowing air to flow in or out. During takeoff, when the engine's air demand was high, the ramps were flat at the top and the auxiliary flap was in, allowing more air to enter the engine. As the aircraft approached Mach 0.7, the flap closed; at Mach 1.3, the ramps came into effect, removing air from the engines which was then used in the pressurisation of the cabin. At Mach 2.0, the ramps had covered half their total possible distance. They also helped reduce the work done by the compressors as they not only compressed the air but also increased the air temperature. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (938x592, 29 KB)Author:Burbank Source:Self Concorde intake operating modes File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (938x592, 29 KB)Author:Burbank Source:Self Concorde intake operating modes File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2592 × 1944 pixel, file size: 1. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2592 × 1944 pixel, file size: 1. ...
Engine failure causes large problems on conventional subsonic aircraft; not only does the aircraft lose thrust on that side but the engine is a large source of drag, causing the aircraft to yaw and bank in the direction of the failed engine. If this had happened to Concorde at supersonic speeds, it could theoretically have caused a catastrophic failure of the airframe. However, during an engine failure air intake needs are virtually zero, so in Concorde the immediate effects of the engine failure were countered by the opening of the auxiliary flap and the full extension of the ramps, which deflected the air downwards past the engine, gaining lift and streamlining the engine, minimising the drag effects of the failed engine. In tests, Concorde was able to shut down both engines on the same side of the aircraft at Mach 2 without any control problems.[14]
The aircraft used reheat (afterburners) at take-off and to pass through the transonic regime (i.e. "go supersonic") between Mach 0.95 and Mach 1.7, and were switched-off at all other times. The engines were just capable of reaching Mach 2 without reheat, but it was discovered operationally that it burnt more fuel that way, since the aircraft spent much longer flying in the high-drag transonic regime even though reheat is relatively inefficient. For other uses of afterburner, see Afterburner (disambiguation). ...
Transonic is an aeronautics term referring to a range of velocities just below and above the speed of sound. ...
An object moving through a gas or liquid experiences a force in direction opposite to its motion. ...
Due to jet engines being highly inefficient at low speeds, Concorde burned two tonnes of fuel taxiing to the runway.[15] To conserve fuel only the two outer engines were run after landing. The thrust from two engines was sufficient for taxiing to the ramp due to low aircraft weight upon landing at its destination. A Concorde once ran out of fuel taxiing to the terminal after a flight; the pilot was dismissed.[16]
Heating issues Beside engines, the hottest part of the structure of any supersonic aircraft is the nose. The engineers wanted to use (duralumin) aluminium throughout the aircraft, due to its familiarity, cost and ease of construction. The highest temperature that aluminium could sustain over the life of the aircraft was 127 °C, which limited the top speed to Mach 2.02. A nose cone that contained one of the Voyager spacecraft is seen here as it is mounted on top of a Titan III/Centaur launch vehicle. ...
Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium or dural) is the trade name of one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. ...
Concorde went through two cycles of heating and cooling during a flight, first cooling down as it gained altitude, then heating up after going supersonic. The reverse happened when descending and slowing down. This had to be factored into the metallurgical modelling. Owing to the heat generated by compression of the air as Concorde travelled supersonically, the fuselage would extend by as much as 300 mm (almost 1 ft), the most obvious manifestation of this being a gap that opened up on the flight deck between the flight engineer's console and the bulkhead. On all Concordes that had a supersonic retirement flight, the flight engineers placed their hats in this gap before it cooled, where the hats remain to this day. In the Seattle museum's Concorde a 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. In aviation, a flight engineer (also referred to as systems operator ) is a member of the aircrew of an aircraft who is responsible for checking the aircraft before and after each flight, and for monitoring aircraft systems during flight. ...
In order to keep the cabin cool, Concorde used the fuel as a heatsink for the heat from the air conditioning. The same method also cooled the hydraulics. During supersonic flight the windows in the cockpit became too hot to touch. A large copper heatsink. ...
Concorde also had restrictions on livery; the majority of the surface had to be white to avoid overheating the aluminium structure due to the supersonic heating effects of Mach 2.[17] In 1996, however, Air France briefly painted F-BTSD in a predominantly-blue livery (with the exception of the wings) as part of a promotional deal with Pepsi Cola. In this paint scheme, Air France were advised to remain at Mach 2 for no more than 20 minutes at a time, but there was no restriction at speeds under Mach 1.7. F-BTSD was chosen for the promotion because the aircraft was not then scheduled to operate any long flights that required extended Mach 2 operations.[18] Pepsi Cola is a non-alcoholic carbonated beverage produced and manufactured by PepsiCo. ...
Structural issues Due to the high speeds at which Concorde travelled, large forces were applied to the aircraft structure during banks and turns. This caused twisting and the distortion of the aircraft's structure. This was resolved by the neutralisation of the outboard elevons at high speeds. Only the innermost elevons, which are attached to the strongest area of the wings, are active at high speed. A glossary of terms used in relation to aircraft, in alphabetical order. ...
Additionally, the relatively narrow height of the fuselage meant that the aircraft flexed more, particularly during takeoff, and pilots were able to look back down the cabin and see this occurring, but it was less visible from most of the passengers' viewpoints.
Brakes Due to a relatively high average takeoff speed of 250 mph (400 km/h), Concorde needed good brakes. Concorde's brakes were one of the first major users of anti-lock braking systems, which stop the wheels from locking when fully applied, allowing greater deceleration and control during braking, particularly in wet conditions.[citation needed] An anti-lock braking system (ABS) (translated from German, Antiblockiersystem) is a system on motor vehicles which prevents the wheels from locking while braking. ...
The brakes were carbon-based and could bring Concorde, weighing up to 185 tons (188 tonnes) and travelling at 190 mph (305 km/h), to a stop from an aborted takeoff within one mile (1600 m). This braking manoeuvre brought the brakes to temperatures of 300 °C to 500 °C, requiring several hours for cooling.[citation needed] Look up ton in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
A tonne (also called metric ton) is a non-SI unit of mass, accepted for use with SI, defined as: 1 tonne = 103 kg (= 106 g). ...
Range Concorde needed to travel between London and New York or Washington nonstop, and to achieve this the designers gave Concorde the greatest range of any supersonic aircraft at the time (since beaten by the Tu-160). This was achieved by a combination of careful development of the engines to make them highly efficient at supersonic speeds, by very careful design of the wing shape to give a good lift to drag ratio, by having a relatively modest payload, a high fuel capacity, and by moving the fuel to trim the aircraft without introducing any additional drag. Tupolev Tu-160 The Tupolev Tu-160 (NATO reporting name Blackjack) is a supersonic, swing-wing heavy bomber designed in the Soviet Union. ...
In aerodynamics, the lift-to-drag ratio, or L/D ratio (ell-over-dee, as opposed to ell-dee), is the amount of lift generated by a wing, compared to the drag it creates by moving through the air. ...
Nevertheless, soon after Concorde began flying, a Concorde "B" model was designed, featuring more powerful engines without the fuel-hungry and noisy reheat, slightly larger fuel capacity and slightly larger wings with leading-edge slats to improve aerodynamic performance at all speeds. This would have given 500 km greater range even with greater payload. This was cancelled due to poor sales of Concorde.[19]
Increased radiation exposure The high altitude at which Concorde cruised meant passengers received almost twice the flux of extraterrestrial ionising radiation as those travelling on a conventional long-haul flight. Because of the proportionally reduced flight time, however, the overall equivalent dose was less than a conventional flight over the same distance.[20] Unusual solar activity led to an increase in incident radiation, so the flight deck had a radiometer and an instrument to measure the rate of decrease of radiation. If the level was too high, Concorde descended to below 47,000 ft (14,000 m). The rate of decrease indicator indicated whether the aircraft needed to descend further, decreasing the amount of time the aircraft was at an unsafe altitude. flux in science and mathematics. ...
Ionizing radiation is radiation in which an individual particle (for example, a photon, electron, or helium nucleus) carries enough energy to ionize an atom or molecule (that is, to completely remove an electron from its orbit). ...
The equivalent dose is a measure of the radiation dose to tissue where an attempt has been made to allow for the different relative biological effect of different types of radiation. ...
400 year history of sunspot numbers. ...
Cabin pressurisation Airliner cabins are usually pressurised to 6-8,000 ft (1,800-2,400 m) elevation while the aircraft flies much higher. Concorde's pressurisation was set to a lower altitude than most other commercial jets.[citation needed] Some passengers can have difficulty even with that pressurisation. A sudden reduction in cabin pressure is hazardous to all passengers and crew. Concorde's maximum cruising altitude was 60,000 ft (18,000 m) (though the typical altitude reached between London and New York was about 56,000 ft (17,000 m)); subsonic airliners typically cruise below 40,000 ft (12,000 m). Above 50,000 ft (15,000 m), the lack of oxygen would limit consciousness in even a conditioned athlete to no more than 10-15 seconds. A cabin breach could even reduce air pressure to below the ambient pressure outside the aircraft due to the Venturi effect, as the air is sucked out through an opening. At Concorde's altitude, the air density is very low; a breach of cabin integrity would result in a loss of pressure severe enough so that the plastic emergency oxygen masks installed on other passenger jets would not be effective, and passengers would quickly suffer from hypoxia despite quickly donning them. Concorde, therefore, was equipped with smaller windows to reduce the rate of loss in the event of a breach, a reserve air supply system to augment cabin air pressure, and a rapid descent procedure to bring the aircraft to a safe altitude. The FAA enforces minimum emergency descent rates for aircraft and made note of Concorde's higher operating altitude, concluding that the best response to a loss of pressure would be a rapid descent.[citation needed] Pilots had access to CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) which used masks that forced oxygen at higher pressure into the crew's lungs. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2272 × 1704 pixel, file size: 569 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Fuselage of the Air France Concorde F-BVFB at the Auto- und Technikmuseum Sinsheim / Germany. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2272 × 1704 pixel, file size: 569 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Fuselage of the Air France Concorde F-BVFB at the Auto- und Technikmuseum Sinsheim / Germany. ...
The fuselage can be short, and seemingly unaerodynamic, as in this Christen Eagle 2 The fuselage (from the French fuselé spindle-shaped) is an aircrafts main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. ...
A Venturi meter is shown in a diagram, the pressure in 1 conditions is higher than 2, and the relationship between the fluid speed in 2 and 1 respectively, is the same as for pressure. ...
Hypoxia is a pathological condition in which the body as a whole (generalised hypoxia) or region of the body (tissue hypoxia) is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. ...
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a method of respiratory ventilation used primarily in the treatment of sleep apnea and various lung diseases. ...
Droop nose Concorde's famous drooping nose was a compromise between the need for a streamlined design to reduce drag and increase aerodynamic efficiency in flight and the need for the pilot to see properly during taxi, takeoff, and landing operations. A delta-wing aircraft takes off and lands with a high angle of attack (a high nose angle) compared to subsonic aircraft, due to the way the delta wing generates lift. The pointed nose would obstruct the pilots' view of taxiways and runways, so Concorde's nose was designed to allow for different positioning for different operations. The droop nose was accompanied by a moving visor that was retracted into the nose prior to the nose being lowered. When the nose was raised back to horizontal, the visor was raised ahead of the front cockpit windscreen for aerodynamic streamlining in flight.[21]
A controller in the cockpit allowed the visor to be retracted and the nose to be lowered to 5° below the standard horizontal position for taxiing and takeoff. Following takeoff and after clearing the airport, the nose and visor were raised. Shortly before landing, the visor was again retracted and the nose lowered to 12.5° below horizontal for maximum visibility. Upon landing, the nose was quickly raised to the five-degree position to avoid the possibility of damage.[21] On rare occasions, the aircraft could take off with the nose fully down.[22] An F/A-18 Hornet takes off from the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63). ...
A final possible position had the visor retracted into the nose but the nose in the standard horizontal position. This setup was used for cleaning the windscreen and for short subsonic flights.[21]
The two prototype Concordes had two fixed "glass holes" on their retractable visors.[23]
Operational history Scheduled flights began on 21 January 1976 on the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio (via Dakar) routes. The U.S. Congress had just banned Concorde landings in the US, mainly due to citizen protest over sonic booms, preventing launch on the coveted transatlantic routes. However, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, William Coleman, gave special permission for Concorde service to Washington Dulles International Airport, and British Airways and Air France simultaneously began service to Dulles on 24 May 1976.[24] Download high resolution version (1500x1145, 188 KB) Concorde 216 (G-BOAF) passes over the A38 road on the final ever Concorde landing at Filton, Bristol, England. ...
Download high resolution version (1500x1145, 188 KB) Concorde 216 (G-BOAF) passes over the A38 road on the final ever Concorde landing at Filton, Bristol, England. ...
Bristol Filton Aerodrome (EGTG) lies on the A38 on the border between Filton and Patchway, within South Gloucestershire. ...
This article is about the English city. ...
is the 330th day of the year (331st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...
This article is about the capital of France. ...
This article is about the Brazilian city. ...
(City of Dakar, divided into 19 communes darrondissement) City proper (commune) Région Dakar Département Dakar Mayor Pape Diop (PDS) (since 2002) Area 82. ...
Congress in Joint Session. ...
A sonic boom is the audible component of a shock wave in air. ...
The Atlantic Ocean, not including Arctic and Antarctic regions. ...
The United States Secretary of Transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. ...
William Thaddeus Coleman, Jr. ...
, FAA Airport Diagram Washington Dulles International Airport (IATA: IAD, ICAO: KIAD, FAA LID: IAD) is a public airport located 25 miles (40 km) west of the central business district of Washington, D.C., in Loudoun County and Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. ...
is the 144th day of the year (145th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
When the US ban on JFK Concorde operations was lifted in February 1977, New York banned Concorde locally. The ban came to an end on 17 October 1977 when the Supreme Court of the United States declined to overturn a lower court's ruling rejecting the Port Authority's efforts to continue the ban (The noise report noted that Air Force One, at the time a Boeing 707, was louder than Concorde at subsonic speeds and during takeoff and landing.).[25] Scheduled service from Paris and London to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport began on 22 November 1977.[citation needed] Flights operated by BA were generally numbered "BA001" (London to New York), "BA002" (New York to London), "BA003" (London to New York) and "BA004" (New York to London). Air France flight numbers were generally "AF001" (New York to Paris) and "AF002" (Paris to New York). New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...
is the 290th day of the year (291st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ...
The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the acronym SCOTUS[1]) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. ...
Tolls collected at the Holland Tunnel and other crossings help fund the Port Authority. ...
For the current aircraft, see Boeing VC-25. ...
The Boeing 707 is an American four-engine commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. ...
An F/A-18 Hornet takes off from the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63). ...
John F. Kennedy International Airport (IATA Airport Code: JFK, ICAO Airport Code: KJFK) is the main international airport in New York City, and is one of the largest airports in the world. ...
is the 326th day of the year (327th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ...
By around 1981 in the UK, the future for Concorde looked bleak. The government had lost money operating Concorde every year, and moves were afoot to cancel the service entirely. A cost projection came back with greatly reduced metallurgical testing costs, but still, having lost money for so many years, the government was not keen to continue. In late 1983, the managing director of BA, Sir John King, managed to get the government to sell the aircraft outright to (the then state owned, later privatised) BA for £16.5 million plus the first year's profits.[26] John Leonard King, Baron King of Wartnaby (August 29, 1917-July 12, 2005) was a businessman famous for leading British Airways from inefficient, nationalised company to one of the most successful airlines of recent times. ...
After doing a market survey and discovering that their target customers thought that Concorde was more expensive than it actually was, BA progressively raised prices to match these perceptions. It is reported that BA then ran Concorde at a profit, unlike their French counterparts.[27] The plane was reckoned to make an operating profit for British Airways[28] after the British and French governments agreed to write off the development costs of the plane.[29] BA's profits have been reported to be up to £50 million in the most profitable year, with a total revenue of £1.75 billion, before costs of £1 billion.[27]
While commercial jets take seven hours to fly from New York to Paris, the average supersonic flight time on the transatlantic routes was just under 3.5 hours. In transatlantic flight, Concorde travelled more than twice as fast as other aircraft - other aircraft frequently appeared to be flying backwards. Up to 2003, Air France and British Airways continued to operate the New York services daily. Concorde also flew to Barbados's Grantley Adams International Airport during the winter holiday season. Until the AF Paris crash ended virtually all charter services by both AF and BA, several UK and French tour operators operated numerous charter flights to various European destinations on a regular basis. The Sir Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA), (IATA: BGI, ICAO: TBPB) is found in Seawell, Christ Church on the island of Barbados. ...
In 1985, British Airways had a Concorde land at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport for a special flight between Cleveland Hopkins and London Heathrow. When it made its Cleveland appearance it brought Cleveland international attention and it also paved the way for Hopkins Airport to become an international airport. In 2000, Concorde was scheduled to return to Cleveland for a special flight, but due to the crash of Concorde Flight 4590 in Paris, this flight was postponed. The 1985 flight was three hours and ten minutes from Cleveland to London. It had to fly subsonic from New York to Cleveland and this route added some time. There was talk of adding a Concorde flight to Cleveland, but due to Cleveland's airport being near a residential area, this plan was not carried out.[30] For the 1930s airline of similar name, see British Airways Ltd. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
On 12-13 October 1992, in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Columbus' first New World landing, Concorde Spirit Tours (USA) chartered Air France Concorde F-BTSD and circumnavigated the world in 32 hours 49 minutes and 3 seconds, from Lisbon, Portugal, including six refuelling stops at Santo Domingo, Acapulco, Honolulu, Guam, Bangkok and
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