Concorde: The rise and fall of a supersonic icon

The ambition to travel at supersonic speeds was present among the governments of the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and the Soviet Union as early as the 1950s. At the time, the idea of creating a machine capable of carrying passengers at a speed previously unimaginable was considered.

Of these four countries, only France and the United Kingdom had sufficiently advanced projects to sign a cooperation agreement in 1962. Thus began the history of the aircraft, which was to be not only a means of transportation but also a kind of idea. However, a name for the machine was lacking. To emphasise the agreement between London and Paris, the decision was made to use the French word concorde, which has its English equivalent – concord – and in both languages means agreement or union. This is how the multiyear history of the Concorde began.

The construction of the Concorde commenced in February 1965. Two prototypes were built: the first (Concorde 001) was completed in Toulouse by the French company Aérospatiale, while Concorde 002 was constructed in Filton, UK, by British Aircraft Corporation engineers.

The aircraft took to the air for the first time on 2 March 1969, with the successful attempt to break the sound barrier a few months later, on 1 October. For the initial two years, the Concorde did not fly across the Atlantic. The first to do so was the aircraft marked as 001 (built by the French) in September 1971. The "British" Concorde 002 embarked on long-distance travel in June 1972, venturing to the Middle and Far East.

The French-British alliance did not have an easy path from the very start of the Concorde's development. The manufacturer had expected an order for 70 aircraft in 1973, but the fuel crisis at the time, financial issues of airlines, and the crash of the Soviet Tu-144 meant that only the United Kingdom and France remained interested in the Concorde. China and Iran also considered the supersonic passenger plane, but ultimately both countries withdrew from purchase plans.

The manufacturers were prepared to produce 90 aircraft. Ultimately, however, only 20 Concordes were built. Economic factors primarily influenced this decision. The aforementioned fuel crisis was one of several aspects that "killed" the project.

A single Concorde flight consumed nearly 100 metric tonnes of fuel, and with this reserve, it could cover just over 3,900 miles. Other factors were the extraordinarily high production and operational costs. All construction work consumed up to £1.3 billion, and a single aircraft cost about £23 million in the late 1970s. Today, that's equivalent to £121 million (about $147 million).

When the Concorde appeared in aviation, "ordinary" planes needed about eight hours to cover the distance between Paris and New York. Today, that time remains almost the same. Passengers flying from France to the USA can expect the journey to take a similar period - eight hours.

However, the Concorde was far quicker. The aforementioned flight (Paris - New York) took a staggering 3.5 hours, with the record time being just 2 hours and 52 minutes. The Concorde also completed a round-the-world flight – including stopovers, it took just over 31 hours.

To what exact speed did the Concorde accelerate? The French-British masterpiece could reach a maximum speed of over Mach 2 (over 1,200 mph) at cruising altitude and reach an altitude of 18,000 metres. These phenomenal performances were thanks to four Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 Mk 610 turbojet engines (considered the most thermodynamically efficient units in the world) with afterburners. At sea level, they generated 31,473 pounds-force of thrust and 37,989 pounds-force with afterburning.

What else made the Concorde one of the most exceptional planes in history? While certainly its performance and top speed were significant factors, we should also highlight its unique airframe design.

The Concorde does not look like a regular aircraft – it has a drooping nose. This was not designed with aesthetics in mind, but out of the need for precise runway observation during takeoff or landing. Engineers installed a mechanism based on hydraulic actuators, allowing pilots to lower the Concorde's nose by up to 12 degrees.

An important feature of the supersonic aircraft was also the noise it generated. The turbojet engines were so loud that New York authorities decided to launch a noise reduction programme at New York's international airport (JFK). Concordes landing and taking off were a nightmare for residents living even several miles away from the airport.

From an engineering point of view, the Concorde was also exceptional due to the presence of carbon brakes. The use of carbon allowed the machine's weight to be reduced by nearly 5.5 metric tonnes compared to standard solutions. Besides being lightweight, the system developed by Dunlop was incredibly efficient. The special brakes stopped the nearly 190,000 kg plane travelling at 300 km/h to 0 km/h within a distance of 1.6 km.

It is worth mentioning that the Concorde was a very prestigious means of transport due to its high ticket price. The ticket was so expensive that the plane often flew with only half of the seats filled (out of 128). In the past, it hosted passengers such as Mick Jagger, Phil Collins, and even Pope John Paul II.

Although built decades ago, the supersonic Concorde remains an unmatched engineering marvel. However, it is no longer seen in the sky, as the last scheduled flight occurred on 24 October 2003. This occurred shortly after British Airways and Air France announced the aircraft's retirement from service by the end of 2003.

This decision came primarily after the Concorde crash in 2000 and the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Both events, combined with enormous operational costs, resulted in fewer and fewer people boarding the Concorde. Today, these machines can be viewed in museums, with the nearest ones located in Paris and London.