NOTE:
RADIO CONTROL AIRPLANES ARE ON THE BOTTOM HALF OF THE
PAGE.
Overview:
Sixteen Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde SST aircraft were built. They were the mainstay supersonic passenger transport from 1976 until 2003.
While not as well known, the Russian Tupolev Tu-144 airliner flew faster than the Concorde.
The first regularly scheduled commercial supersonic transport (SST) flights begin on January 21, 1976 when Air France and British Airways began service.
Air France flew between Paris and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. British Airways flew between London, England and the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf.
On May 24, 1976 both airlines began Concorde service from their respective countries to Washington, D. C.
Flying the Concorde
Pilots described the Concorde as well built and strong. They appreciated the tremendous excess of power produced by the four Rolls Royce Olympus engines.
Flying the Concorde was never dull due to the grace, beauty, and speed of the aircraft. However, flight characteristics for such a high flying, high speed aircraft were extremely predictable. Some pilots even described the Concorde as fun to fly.
The take off of the Concorde was always made at full power. That is unlike many departures of today's aircraft where power must be reduced due to noise restrictions.
When the aircraft was less than fully loaded, the roll out and climb was especially powerful.
With a rotation speed of around 191 kts. and a climb out at 260 kts., things moved along quickly.
Once over water, the afterburners were once again engaged to bring the aircraft up to supersonic speeds. The passengers felt a slight bump as the aircraft shot forward. However, were it not for the air speed indicator, exceeding Mach 1 in the Concorde wouldn't even be noticed.
The Concorde landed with an extremely nose high angle. The flight crew had to drop the nose of the aircraft about 12 degrees so that they could see the runway. The angle of the aircraft was so extreme that the Concorde was equipped with a wheel just under the tail to avoid ground strikes.
While the Concorde flew at supersonic speeds, it landed at about the same speeds as other high performance jet aircraft. It used the same runways as any jumbo jets.
Recent Developments:
French officials announced that charges were being filed against Continental Airlines and the head of the Concorde program for their involvement in the July 25, 2000 airliner crash.
It is alleged that mechanics of Continental airlines failed to use proper procedures in the repair of a DC-10 airliner that took off prior to the departure of the Concorde. This caused a piece of metal to fall from the airliner which was responsible for puncturing the tire of the Concorde. Pieces from the wheel and tire pierced the wing of the Concorde.
Henri Perrier, director of the Concorde program, is being charged with negligence. It is alleged that Concorde had knowledge of over seventy times in which tires of its aircraft blew out and the debris struck the wing of the Concorde. These incidents occurred between 1979 and 2000, yet nothing was done to protect the wing or correct the design of the aircraft to prevent such incidents from recurring.
Peter Michel and his RC Airplane