Concorde

The Concorde is a supersonic aircraft. It is an airliner designed jointly by Sud-Aviation (later became Aérospatiale then Airbus) and British Aircraft Corporation (later became British Aerospace). It was operated between 1976 and 2003 by Air France and British Airways. Its first flight took place in 1969.

Its cruising speed is Mach 2.04, or about 2,172 km/h, at an altitude ranging from 16,000 to 18,000 m. Equipped with a so-called “gothic” delta wing and post-combustion turbojets, initially developed for the British bomber Avro Vulcan, it was the first civilian aircraft to be equipped with analog electric flight controls.

Commercial flights began on January 21, 1976 and ended twenty-seven years later, between May and October 2003. The high fuel consumption had made Concorde’s operation loss-making. Its decline was precipitated by the accident of Air France flight 4590 in July 2000, the only major accident of a Concorde, which resulted in the death of 113 people.

Confined to connections mainly flying over the seas and oceans, because of the supersonic bang, little appreciated by the populations of cities and villages flown over, and operated by only two companies, the aircraft was produced in only twenty copies, including six non-commercial for testing and development. Some forecasts estimated the number of orders for the Concorde between 200 and 300 aircraft, with 200 being the break-even point for investments related to its development. However, it was one of the important drivers of European technological and strategic development and also had a strong cultural impact. With the Tupolev Tu-144 (which only transported passengers for a few months), it was the only supersonic passenger aircraft to have been operated for a fairly long time.

F-BVFA (205) made the last flight to the Smithsonian’s new Air and Space Museum from Washington Dulles International Airport on June 12, 2003, it was also the first serial aircraft delivered to Air France for the commercial service in 1976.