The Aérospatiale/BAC (British Aircraft Corporation) Concorde is a British-French turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner that was operated from 1976 until 2003.
50 years ago, droop-nose, ogival delta winged, supersonic passenger jet powered by four Olympus engines, Concorde 001 took off from Toulouse at 15:40 on Sunday 2 March 1969.
The first flight with Capt. Andre Turcat on control started to roll on the runway of Toulouse Airport, and in 20sec, she raced to a speed of 150kt., then in 25 seconds the 240,000lb aircraft lifted off gently at 175kt.. She continue to climb straight ahead into the blue sky, at a speed of 3,500ft/min, to 10,000ft, with nose visor in the fully drooped position. She circled for 27 minutes and established a powered descent path at 170kt. Then 001 touched down firmly and a puff of smoke confirmed main bogies were in contact with the runway. Nose-wheel touched the ground, reverse thrust engaged, the breaking parachute was deployed and she came to halt smoothly.
The era of supersonic travel began, with Concorde flying at Mach 2.0, to fly from New York to London in just three hours and 15 minutes.
Some facts about Concorde:
1. Concorde used to fly at 60,000 ft, so passengers could see the curvature of the Earth.
2. Due to the intense heat of the airframe, an aircraft used to stretch anywhere from 6 to 10 inches during flight.
3. Concorde had a take-off speed of 220 knots, cruising speed of 2,158 km/h and the landing speed of 301km’h
4. Flights consisted of nine crew members: two pilots, one flight engineer and six flight attendants.
5. Concorde used to fly 100 passengers (40 in the front of cabin and 60 in the rear cabin).
6. The last commercial Concorde‘s flight was from New York to Heathrow on October 24, 2003.
7. During its lifespan, Concorde had over 50,000 flights. 2.5 million passengers flew supersonically with Concorde.
8. Concorde roughly burns 25,629 litres per hour.
9. Concorde‘s flight was the first round the world flight by a BA Concorde on November 8, 1986. An airliner flew 28,234 miles in 29 hours 59 minutes.
10. Operators :- Air France and British Airways
11. First flown : 1969 | Entered Service : 1976 | Last Flight : 2003
12. First transatlantic crossing of Concorde : September 26, 1973
Design :
Concorde is an ogival delta winged aircraft with four Olympus engines based on those employed in the RAF's Avro Vulcan strategic bomber. It is one of the few commercial aircraft to employ a tailless design (the Tupolev Tu-144 being another). Concorde was the first airliner to have a (analogue) fly-by-wire flight-control system; the avionics system Concorde used was unique because it was the first commercial aircraft to employ hybrid circuits.
The principal designer for the project was Pierre Satre, with Sir Archibald Russell as his deputy.
For high speed and optimization :
> Double delta (ogee/ogival) shaped wings
> Variable engine air intake ramp system controlled by digital computers
> Supercruise capability
> Thrust-by-wire engines, predecessor of today's FADEC( Full Authority Digital Engine Control)controlled engines
> Droop-nose section for better landing visibility
Performance and weight saving technology used in Concorde :
> Cruising speed : Mach 2.02
> Use of Aluminum for construction
> Full-regime autopilot and auto-throttle
( hands-off control)
> Analogue fly-by-wire flight controls systems
> Complex Air data computer (ADC) for the automated monitoring and transmission of aerodynamic measurements
> Fully electrically controlled analogue brake-by-wire system
> No auxiliary power unit (APU)
Major Accidents
On July 25, 2000, a Concorde en route from Paris to New York City suffered engine failure shortly after takeoff when debris from a burst tire caused a fuel tank to rupture and burst into flames.
The aircraft crashed into a small hotel and restaurant. All 109 persons on board, including 100 passengers and 9 crew members, died; 4 people on the ground were also killed.
Where can you find these Concorde planes?
> Museum of Air and Space, Le Bourget, France (F-WTSS)
> Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, England, UK (G-BSST)
> Imperial War Museum, Duxford, England, UK (G-AXDN)
> Musée Delta, Orly Airport, Paris, France (F-WTSA)
> Airbus Factory, Toulouse, France (F-WTSB)
> Brooklands Museum, Weybridge, Surrey, England, UK (G-BBDG)
> Manchester Airport, England, UK (G-BOAC)
> Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Chantilly, Virginia USA (F-BVFA)
> Museum of Flight, East Lothian, Scotland, UK (G-BOAA)
> Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum, Germany (F-BVFB)
> Heathrow Airport, London, England, UK (G-BOAB)
> Airbus Factory, Toulouse, France (F-BVFC)
> Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, New York, USA (G-BOAD)
> Grantley Adams International Airport, Barbados (G-BOAE)
> The Museum of Air and Space, Le Bourget, France (F-BTSD)
> Museum of Flight, Seattle, USA (G-BOAG)
> Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France (F-BVFF)
> Aerospace Bristol, Bristol, England, UK (G-BOAF)
Source and reference : Wikipedia, Britannica, News-in-Flight, DaftLogic, Museum of Flights
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