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Concorde

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The Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde supersonic transport (SST) was one of only two supersonic passenger airliners that have ever seen commercial service.

Concorde reached a speed of Mach 2.04 and a cruise altitude of 60,000 feet (18,000 meters) with a delta wing configuration and an evolution of the afterburner-equipped engines originally developed for the Avro Vulcan strategic bomber. Commercial flights, operated by British Airways and Air France, began on January 21, 1976. Commercial flights ended on October 24, 2003.

Origins

In the late 1950s the British, French, Americans and Soviets were all interested in developing supersonic transport.

Britain's Bristol Aeroplane Company and France's Sud Aviation were both working on designs; the Type 233 and Super-Caravelle respectively. Both were largely funded by their respective governments as a way of gaining some foothold in the aircraft market that was then utterly dominated by the United States.

The designs were both ready to start into prototype construction in the early 1960s, but the cost was so great that the companies (and governments) decided to join forces. The Concorde development project was negotiated as an international treaty between Britain and France rather than a commercial agreement between companies. This made the project almost impossible to cancel even when the plane became commercially unviable. A draft treaty was signed on November 28 1962. By this time both companies had been merged into new ones, and the Concorde project was thus a part of the British Aircraft Corporation and Aerospatiale. The consortium secured orders for over 100 new airliners from the leading airlines of the era. Pan Am, BOAC and Air France were the launch customers with six Concordes each.

Concorde 001 took off for the first test flight from Toulouse on March 2, 1969 and the first supersonic flight followed on October 1. The flight program of the first development aircraft progressed as planned, but trouble was brewing on the commercial side of the project. A combination of factors, including the 1970s oil crisis, acute financial difficulties of the partner airlines, a spectacular crash of the competing Soviet Tupolev Tu-144, and environmental issues such as sonic boom noise and pollution caused a sudden cascade of order cancellations. Air France and British Airways ended up as the only buyers for the plane. All the unsold aircraft and parts were later sold to them for the nominal price of one British pound.

The US had cancelled its supersonic (SST) program in 1971. Two designs had originally been submitted; the Lockheed L-2000, looking like a scaled-up Concorde, lost out to the Boeing 2707, which had originally been intended to be faster, carry 300 passengers, and feature a swing-wing design.

Both European airlines operated demonstration and test flights to various destinations from 1974 onwards. The testing of Concorde set records which are still unsurpassed; it undertook 5,500 flight hours, 2,000 of which were supersonic. This equates to approximately four times as many as for similarly sized subsonic commercial aircraft.

Scheduled flights

Scheduled flights started on January 21, 1976 on the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes. The United States Congress had just banned Concorde landings in the US, mainly due to citizen protest over sonic booms, preventing launch on the coveted transatlantic routes.

Air France Concorde

Air France Concorde

When the US ban was lifted in February for over-water supersonic flight, New York quickly followed by banning Concorde locally. Left with little choice on the destination, AF and BA started transatlantic services to Washington D.C. on May 24. Finally, in late 1977, the noise concerns of New York residents gave way to the advantages of Concorde traffic, and scheduled service from Paris and London to New York's John F. Kennedy airport started on November 22, 1977.

The average flight time on either route was just under 3.5 hours. Up to 2003, both Air France and British Airways continued to operate the New York services daily. Additionally, Concorde flew to Barbados during the winter holiday season and, occasionally, to charter destinations such as Rovaniemi, Finland. On November 1, 1986, a chartered Concorde circumnavigated the world in 31 hours and 51 minutes.

Paris crash

Concorde was considered to be the safest airliner in the world, as measured by passenger-deaths per passenger-mile, until Air France's F-BTSC (ironically, the aircraft featured in the film "Airport'79 : The Concorde") crashed during take-off from Paris on July 25, 2000. A few days later, all Concordes were grounded, pending an investigation into the cause of the crash and possible remedies. (Air France F-BVFC was allowed to return home, empty but for a skeleton crew.)

The investigation into the crash determined that a strip of titanium metal that fell onto the runway from an earlier Continental Airlines DC-10 flight punctured one of Concorde's tyres in the latter stages of takeoff. Chunks of shredded tyre penetrated the skin of the aircraft's wing, rupturing a loaded fuel tank. A tremendous fire rapidly ensued, disabling the aircraft, which then stalled and crashed into a hotel just miles from the airport, killing all 109 crew and passengers and 4 people on the ground.

After safety updates on sufficient aircraft, including more secure electrical controls, Kevlar lining to the fuel tanks, and specially developed, burst-resistant tyres, both routes were re-opened on November 7, 2001.

The new style tyres would be yet another contribution from the Concorde programme to future aircraft development.

Withdrawal from service

On April 10, 2003 British Airways and Air France simultaneously announced that they would retire the Concorde later that year. They cited low passenger numbers following the July 25, 2000 crash and rising maintenance costs.

That same day Sir Richard Branson offered to buy British Airways' Concordes for £1 per plane for the use of his Virgin Atlantic Airways, but was refused. He later wrote to The Economist (23 October 2003) that his final offer was "over £5 million" and that he had intended to operate the fleet "for many years to come".

Air France

Air France made its final Concorde landing in the United States in New York City from Paris on May 30, 2003. Trucks sprayed arcs of water above the plane on the tarmac of John F. Kennedy airport. The plane made its final commercial flight back to Paris the following day. The end of Air France's Concorde services was also marked by a charter around the Bay of Biscay.

An auction of Concorde parts and memorabilia for Air France was held at Christie's in Paris, on November 15, 2003. 1,300 people attended, and several lots exceeded their predicted values by ten or more times.

British Airways

BA's last Concorde departure from Barbados was on August 30, 2003.

A final week of farewell flights saw Concorde visiting Birmingham on October 20, Belfast on October 21, Manchester on October 22, Cardiff on October 23, and Edinburgh on October 24. Each day the aircraft made a return flight out and back into Heathrow to the cities concerned, often overflying those cities at relatively low altitude. Over 650 competition winners and 350 special guests were carried.

On the evening of October 23, 2003, the Queen consented to the illumination of Windsor Castle, as the last ever Concorde commercial flight departed London, and flew overhead. This is an honour normally restricted to major state events and visiting dignitaries.

British Airways retired its aircraft the next day, October 24. One Concorde left New York to similar fanfare as its Air France predecessor, while two more made round-trips, one over the Bay of Biscay, carrying VIP guests incuding many former Concorde pilots, and one to Edinburgh. The three planes then circled over London, having received special permission to fly at low altitude, before landing in sequence at Heathrow. The two round-trip planes landed at 4:01 and 4:03 PM BST, followed at 4:05 by the one from New York. All three aircraft then spent 45 minutes taxiing around the airport before finally disembarking the last supersonic fare-paying passengers. The pilot of the New York to London flight was Mike Bannister, who flew the first British Concorde commercial flight in 1976.

Passengers on the final transatlantic flight included:

Bonhams will be holding an auction of British Airways' Concorde memorabilia on December 1, 2003 at Olympia Exhibition Centre, in Kensington, London. Items will include a machmeter, a nose cone, and Concorde pilot and passenger seats. Profits from the auction will go to charity, with a key beneficiary being 'Get Kids Going!', a charity which gives disabled children and young people the opportunity to participate in sport.

Aicraft Histories

Only 20 planes were built, six for development and 14 for commercial service.

These were:

  • two prototypes
  • two pre-production aircraft
  • 16 production aircraft
    • The first two of these did not enter commercial service
    • Of the 14 which flew commercialy, 12 were still in service in April 2003

All but two of these aircraft - a remarkably high percenatge for any commercial fleet - are preserved.

Prototypes

  • F-WTSS (production designation 001) was the first Concorde to fly, on March 2, 1969, and was retired on arrival at the French Air Museum at Le Bourget Airport on October 19, 1973, having made 397 flights covering 812 hours, of which 255 hours were at supersonic speeds.
  • G-BSST (002) was retired when it flew to the Fleet Air Arm Museum at the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton (England) on March 4, 1976. It had made 438 flights, of which 196 flights were supersonic.

Pre-Production Aircraft

  • Concorde G-AXDN (101) was retired to the Duxford Aviation Museum (England), where it landed on August 20, 1977, having made 269 flights, of which 168 flights were supersonic).
  • Concorde F-WTSA (102) made 314 flights (189 supersonic) and was then retired to Orly Airport in Paris on May 20, 1976, where it is on display to the public.

Non-commercial Production Aircraft

  • F-WTSB (201) retired in 1979, after flying 754 hours. It is still owned by Aerospatiale and is on display outside their headquarters at Toulouse.
  • G-BBDG (202) is owned by British Airways and stored in a hangar at Filton, Bristol. It last flew in December 1981 (having accrued 803 hours hours) and was occasionaly considered for refurbishment to flying condition, but this was deemed too costly. Used as a test bed for recent upgrades, and as a source of spare parts, it is incomplete. It is not on public display and discussions are on-going (as at November 2003) to determine its final home, which, it is reported, may be Brooklands museum at Weybridge.

French Production Aircraft

Air France had seven production aircraft in commercial service:

  • F-BTSC (203) was lost in the Paris crash (see above).
  • F-BVFA (205) made its final flight to the Smithsonian's new Air and Space Museum at Washington Dulles International Airport on June 12, 2003.
  • F-BVFB (207) was sold for €1 to the Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum in Germany. It flew to Karlsruhe-Baden–Baden Airpark, in South West Germany on June 24, 2003. After removal of its wings and tail fin, it traveled by barge and road, to join a Tupolev Tu-144 already on exhibit at Sinsheim.
  • F-BVFC (209) retired to the Airbus plant at Toulouse, where the French aircraft were constructed, on June 27, 2003, joining 201 and ending Air France's relationship with Concorde. The final flight was supersonic, and included a go around at Toulouse.
  • F-BVFD (211) was retired early, in 1982, having flown only 5,821 hours. Badly corroded after being stored outdoors, and damaged through use as a source of spare parts, it was broken up in 1994.
  • F-BTSD (213) retired to the Air and Space museum at Le Bourget (France) on June 14, 2003, joining 001. In 1996, this aircraft carried a promotional paint scheme for Pepsi.
  • F-BVFF (215) remains on display at Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris, being cosmetically reassembled, after the withdrawal of the type was announced mid-way through refurbishment.

British Production Aircraft

The BA fleet of seven production aircraft are being retired as below. Some of these movements will be by air, on dates shown below, or to be decided:

  • G-BOAA (206) is destined to go to the National Museum of Flight (run by the National Museums of Scotland), East Fortune, near Edinburgh by road or boat. It was mothballed in August 2000 and is unable to fly.
  • G-BOAB (208) remains at Heathrow Airport. It was never modified, and so never flew again after returning home following the Paris crash.
  • G-BOAC (204) The flagship of the fleet (because of its BOAC registration) made its final flight to Manchester Airport (England) viewing park, where special "glass hanger" will be built for its display, on October 31 2003. Its maiden flight was on February 27 1975.
  • G-BOAD (210) departed from Heathrow for the final time on November 10, and flew to JFK airport in New York, from where it will be transferred by barge to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, New York, down the Hudson River.
  • G-BOAE (212) flew to Grantley Adams Airport in Bridgetown, Barbados on November 17, with 70 memebrs of BA staff on board. The flight, lasting less than 4 hrs, reached the maximum certified height of 60,000ft. A new exhibition facility will be constructed to house the aircraft, east of the airport at the old Spencers Plantation.
  • G-BOAF (216), the last Concorde to be built, will go to the Bristol Aviation Heritage Museum (to open 2004) in Filton, England. Not originally part of BA's order, it was bought by them for 1 FFR in the 1980s. This will be the last ever flight by any Concorde, on 26 November 2003. Landing is scheduled for 1pm, after a pass over Bristol and Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge.
  • G-BOAG (214), the aircraft that flew the final Speedbird 2 service from New York on 24 October, left Heathrow for the final time on November 3 2003. It spent a day "resting" and refuelling in New York before making an unusual supersonic flight (which required special permission) over the uninhabited part of northern Canada, to Seattle, where it will be displayed at the Museum of Flight, alongside the very first Boeing 747 and a BOAC Comet. This Concorde was once used as a source of spares, before being restored using parts fom Air France's F-BVFD.

Cultural and political impacts

The aeroplane remained a powerful symbol of ultra-modern technology even when it was 34 years old, and many people appreciated its sculptural shape. It was a symbol of national pride to many in Britain and France - in France it was thought of as a French aircraft, in Britain as British.

The reaction of people to the prospect of severe overflying noise also represented a socially important change. Prior to Concorde's flight trials the developments made by the civil aviation industry were largely accepted by developed democratic governments and their electors. The popular backlash (particularly on the eastern seaboard of the USA) against the noise of Concorde represented a political turning point and thereafter scientists and technologists in many industries began to take environmental and societal impacts more seriously, accepting that scientists, powerful investors and governments could not always dictate the parameters of debate and allow their narrow economic or career interests to prevail.

From this perspective, Concorde's great technical leap forward can be viewed as triggering a cultural leap forward and a boost to the public's (and the media's) understanding of conflicts between technology and natural ecosystems that continues to reverberate around the world. Thus, the fact that many larger jetliners now produce fewer harmful emissions and smaller noise footprints than Concorde is, perhaps, part of the Concorde's legacy. In France the use of acoustic fencing alongside TGV tracks may be another outcome that might not have been achieved without the 1970's furore over aircraft noise. In Britain the CPRE have issued tranquility maps since 1990 and public agencies are starting to do likewise.

A regular ticket on Concorde was a privilege of the rich, but special circular (non-landing) or one-way (with return by coach or ship) charter flights were arranged to bring a trip within the means of moderately well-off enthusiasts. An over-flying example would usually be referred to by the British as simply "Concorde" and the French as "the Concorde" (rather than "a Concorde"), as if there was only one.

A plane from the BA fleet made occasional flypasts at selected Royal events, major airshows and other special occasions, sometmes in formation with the Red Arrows. On the final day of commercial service, grandstands were erected at London Heathrow for the public to watch the final arrivals, and there was extensive media coverage.

Dimensions and specifications

Of a typical production-type aircraft. There are some variations.

Possible replacement

In November 2003, European aviation company EADS (the company behind Airbus) announced that it was considering working with Japanese comapnies to develop a larger, faster replacemnt for Concorde [1].

See also

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