The Legacy of the Supersonic Concorde in Aviation History

There have been two commercially operated supersonic passenger aircrafts: The Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144. The Concorde, the most famous of the two, allowed passengers to cross the Atlantic in about three and a half hours. Although the Concorde was plagued by problems including a crash and high operational costs which ultimately led to its retirement, it remains one of the most impressive aircrafts in aviation history.

The development of the Concorde was the result of an agreement between the British and French Governments. The work of developing the first two prototypes was begun by Aerospatiale in Toulouse and British Aircraft Corporation at Filton, Bristol in February 1965. The Concorde was ready for sales by 1972. Concorde 002 first landed in Dallas to coincide with the inauguration of the Fort Worth Airport in 1973

At first, there were orders from many airlines for the purchase of the aircraft from the companies. However, these orders were eventually cancelled owing to many reasons. Chief among these was the Oil Crisis of 1973, which was already affecting airlines all over the world and would have added to their financial problems if they were to buy the fuel guzzling Concorde. However, other reasons too such as the air crash of Tupolev Tu-144 at an air show in Paris and the criticism faced from environmentalists for the high decibel noise the aircraft made as it took off and when it broke the sound barrier worked against its success. In the end, only British Airways and Air France bought the aircraft thanks to the loan assistance they received from their respective governments.

The Concorde could carry around 100 passengers and at Mach 2 speed, they could comfortably cross the Atlantic in 3 hours when the same would mean a flight of 7 hours in a traditional 747 or similar aircraft. The most amazing thing about the Concorde was its design. In designing the supersonic aircraft, the engineers encountered many problems. As the aircraft flew at Mach 2 speed, a lot of heat was generated because of the air compression inside the aircraft. The temperature could even reach the boiling point for water, but for the sophisticated air-conditioning system. This allowed the cabin and fuel to remain more or less unaffected by the rise in external temperature.

Another special feature of the aircraft is that it used an extra 20% fuel, which combined with the exhaust gas to propel the plane. The plane could withstand the supersonic shock and cope with the need to balance the centre of gravity with help of its 33 fuel tanks. The fuel was pumped to the rear end when the plane gathered speed and towards the front side as it slowed down at the end of the flight.

In 2003, after 27 years the Concorde was withdrawn operation. A Concorde crash had occurred in July 2000 which had made the public distrustful of them. During that time, the airlines realized that they could make more money by transporting their Concorde passengers first class on their traditional aircraft than they could in the Concorde. Thus, the Concorde did not remain in service long after the companies resumed operation following the crash which had killed all 100 passengers. Given the extra security in the post 9-11 world and the rising cost of fuel, this decision was permanent. There were limited attempts by a few parties to buy the airlines, but they never came to fruition. Today, most of the remaining Concordes sit in museums.