Concorde

Aérospatiale/BAC **Concorde** is a British-French turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet airliner that was operated until 2003. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 km/h at cruise altitude), with seating for 92 to 128 passengers. First flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued flying for the next 27 years. It is one of only two supersonic transports to have been operated commercially; the other is the Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-144, which was operated for a much shorter period.

Concorde was jointly developed and manufactured by Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty. Twenty aircraft were built, including six prototypes and development aircraft. Air France (AF) and British Airways (BA) were the only airlines to purchase and fly Concorde. The aircraft was primarily used by wealthy passengers who could afford to pay a high price in exchange for Concorde's speed and luxury service. Among other destinations, Concorde flew regular transatlantic flights from London's Heathrow Airport and Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Washington Dulles International Airport and Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados; it flew these routes in less than half the time of other airliners.

Concorde's name, meaning "harmony" or "union", was chosen to reflect the co-operation on the project between the United Kingdom and France. In the UK, any or all of the type are known simply as *Concorde*, with no definite article *the*. Concorde won the 2006 Great British Design Quest organised by the BBC and the Design Museum, beating other well-known designs such as the BMC Mini, the miniskirt, the Jaguar E-Type, the London Tube map and the Supermarine Spitfire. The type was retired in 2003 after the crash of Air France Flight 4590, in which all passengers and crew were killed. The general downturn in the commercial aviation industry after the September 11 attacks in 2001, and the ceasing of maintenance support for Concorde by Aérospatiale and BAC's successor Airbus, also contributed.

## Specifications

**General characteristics**

* **Crew:** 3 (2 pilots and 1 flight engineer)
* **Capacity:** 92–120 passengers
(128 in high-density layout)
* **Length:** 202 ft 4 in (61.66 m)
* **Wingspan:** 84 ft 0 in (25.6 m)
* **Height:** 40 ft 0 in (12.2 m)
* **Fuselage internal length:** 129 ft 0 in (39.32 m)
* **Fuselage width:** maximum of 9 ft 5 in (2.87 m) external 8 ft 7 in (2.62 m) internal
* **Fuselage height:** maximum of 10 ft 10 in (3.30 m) external 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) internal)
* **Wing area:** 3,856 ft2 (358.25 m2)
* **Empty weight:** 173,500 lb (78,700 kg)
* **Useful load:** 245,000 lb (111,130 kg)
* vPowerplant: **4 × Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 Mk 610 Afterburning turbojets**
* **Dry thrust:** 32,000 lbf (140 kN) each
* **Thrust with afterburner:** 38,050 lbf (169 kN) each
* **Maximum fuel load:** 210,940 lb (95,680 kg)
* **Maximum taxiing weight:** 412,000 lb (187,000 kg)

**Performance**

* **Maximum speed:** Mach 2.04 (≈1,354 mph, 2,179 km/h, 1,176 knots) at cruise altitude
* **Cruise speed:** Mach 2.02 (≈1,340 mph, 2,158 km/h, 1,164 knots) at cruise altitude
* **Range:** 3,900 nmi (4,488.04 mi, 7,222.8 km)
* **Service ceiling:** 60,000 ft (18,300 m)
* **Rate of climb:** 10,000 ft/min[295] (50.80 m/s)
* **lift-to-drag:** Low speed– 3.94, Approach– 4.35, 250 kn, 10,000 ft– 9.27, Mach 0.94– 11.47, Mach 2.04– 7.14
* **Fuel consumption:** 46.85 lb/mi (13.2 kg/km) operating for maximum range
* **Thrust/weight:** 0.373
* **Maximum nose tip temperature:** 260 °F (130 °C)
* **Runway requirement** (with maximum load): 3,600 m (11,800 ft)

**Avionics**

* EKCO E390/564 weather radar

## External links

* British Airways Concorde page
* Design Museum (UK) Concorde page
* Heritage Concorde preservation group site
* Concorde Legacy site
* First Concorde Supersonic Transport Flies Concorde Enters Flight Test Phase by Donald Fink, Aviation Week & Space Technology
* End of an Era by Dave North, Aviation Week & Space Technology
* Video: Roll-out

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