Approaches were made to a number of countries, but only France showed real interest. 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. The British design was for a thin-winged delta shape (which owed much to work by Dietrich Kuchemann) for a transatlantic-ranged aircraft for about 100 people, while the French were intending to build a medium-range aircraft. Both were largely funded by their respective governments. Britain's Bristol Aeroplane Company and France's Sud Aviation were both working on designs, called the Type 233 and Super-Caravelle, respectively. In the late 1950s, the United Kingdom, France, United States and Soviet Union were considering developing supersonic transport. Responsibility for the Type Certificate transferred to Airbus with formation of Airbus SAS. The key partners, BAC (later to become BAE Systems) and Aerospatiale (later to become EADS), were the joint owners of Concorde's type certificate. 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. 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.Īlthough 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. The Concorde programme's primary legacy is in the experience gained in design and manufacture which later became the basis of the Airbus consortium. 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) Parts made using 'sculpture milling' from single alloy billet reducing the part-number count, while saving weight and adding strength Pitch trim by shifting fuel around the fuselage for centre-of-gravity control High-pressure hydraulic system of 28 MPa (4,000 lbf) for lighter hydraulic systems componentsįully electrically controlled analogue brake-by-wire system Mainly aluminium construction for low weight and relatively conventional manufacture (higher speeds would have ruled out aluminium)įull-regime autopilot and autothrottle allowing "hands off" control of the aircraft from climbout to landingįully electrically controlled analogue fly-by-wire flight controls systems Mach 2.04 (~2,200 km/h - 1350 mph) cruising speed for optimum fuel consumption (supersonic drag minimum, although turbojet engines are more efficient at high speed) Thrust-by-wire engines, predecessor of today's FADEC-controlled enginesĭroop-nose section for improved visibility in landingįor weight-saving and enhanced performance: The average landing speed was a relatively high 298 km/h (185 mph, 160 knots).Ĭoncorde pioneered a number of technologies:įor high speed and optimisation of flight: 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. It also employed a trademark droop snoot lowering nose section for visibility on approach. Concorde was the first civil airliner to have an analogue fly-by-wire flight control system. The engines were jointly built by Rolls-Royce and SNECMA. The Museum of Flight link above also contains 360º views of other aircraft, including the Jaguar Fighter Bomber, Avro Vulcan, and DeHavilland Comet.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. If you haven’t seen it, TIVO it or catch it on Tuesday (10/12) at 10:30a ET or two weeks from Sunday (10/24) at 3:00p ET. Not only did it discuss the technical side of the aircraft and critically examine the crash investigations, it also dwelled heavily on the political side of the program–a very appealing angle to a political junkie like myself. While we’re on the subject of the Concorde, I recently saw a well-crafted documentary about the Concorde program on the Smithsonian Channel. The Museum of Flight in Scotland has a nifty section on their website where you can peer into the cockpit and cabin of a Concorde using 360º imaging technology. For those in my boat, who never took a ride on the Concorde before its 2003 retirement, this website gives us a little better idea of what the aircraft would have been like inside, at least on British Airways.
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