"No flying machine will ever fly from New York to Paris...because no known motor can run at the requisite speed for four days."
- Orville Wright, circa 1908
Here are photos of the Concorde on its final flight October 24, 2003. It first flew over 34 years ago, and was a design that was far ahead of its time. Jointly developed by the British and French, and flown by Air France and British Airways, it was the only supersonic commercial jetliner ever flown in regular service.
Its cruise speed was over 1,350 mph, twice the speed of sound, and it flew at an altitude of over 11 miles, enabling it to span the Atlantic in approximately 3 hours. Other airliners, in comparison, require about 8 hours to make the trip.
Round-trip fares between New York and London or Paris could cost up to $14,000, so you had to be pretty well-heeled, or know someone who was, to afford a ticket. Personally, I never accumulated enough frequent flyer miles to make the flight.
In my opinion, it was one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built. I saw it take off from Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport once and remember thinking it looked more like some type of mythological bird than an airplane. It's the end of an era and I'm saddened to see it taken out of service.
2 comments:
It seems they are taking the concorde to the Smithsonian, where it will be displayed in a new hanger they are building for all kinds of planes. -- Great entry for a beautiful plane!!
I've heard that we are going to have the concord here at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, I'm eager to get my chance to see it first hand. I had always dreamed of flying in that aircraft, sigh, never had that kind of $$.
Smilin Mon
Perfect Imperfection
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