The Arospatiale-BAC Concorde supersonic transport (SST) was one of only two models of supersonic passenger airliners to have

seen commercial service. Concorde had a cruise speed of Mach 2.04 and a cruise altitude of 60,000 feet (17,700 metres) with a delta wing configuration and an evolution of the afterburner-equipped engines originally developed for the Avro Vulcan strategic bomber. It is the first civil airliner to be equipped with an analogue fly-by-wire flight control system. Commercial flights, operated by British Airways and Air France, began on January 21, 1976 and ended on October 24, 2003, with the last "retirement" flight on November 26 that year. Technological features Many features common in the early 21st century airliners were first used in Concorde. For speed optimization: double-delta (ogive) shaped wings afterburning Roll-Royce/Snecma Olympus turbojets with supercruise capability thrust-by-wire engines, ancestor of today's FADEC controlled engines droop-nose section for good landing visibility For weight-saving and enhanced performance: Mach 2.04 'sweet spot' for optimum fuel consumption (supersonic drag minimum, whilst jet engines are more efficient at high speed) mostly aluminium construction for low weight and relatively conventional build full-regime autopilot and autothrottle allowing "hands off" control of the aircraft from climb out to landing fully electrically-controlled analog fly-by-wire flight controls systems multifunction flight control surfaces high-pressure hydraulic system of 28 MPa (4,000 lbf/in) for lighter hydraulic systems components fully electrically controlled analog brake-by-wire system pitch trim by shifting fuel around the fuselage for centre-of-gravity control parts milled from single alloy billet reducing the part number count

Concorde

Supersonic airliner BAC (now BAE Systems) Manufacturer Sud-Aviation, Aerospatiale (now EADS) 2 March 1969 First flight Introduction 21 January 1976 26 November 2003 Retired Retired from service Status British Airways France Primary users Air See Operators below for others 20 (including 6 non-airline Number built aircraft)[1][2] Program cost 1.3 billion[3] 23 million in 1977 (122m in Experience in making Concorde later became the Unit cost 2008[4]) Role
basis of the Airbus consortium, and many of these features are now standard equipment in Airbus airliners. Snecma Moteurs, for example, got its first entry into civil engines here. Experience with Concorde opened the way for it to establish the CFM International with GE producing the successful CFM International CFM56 series engines. The primary partners, BAC (later to become BAE Systems) and Aerospatiale (later to become EADS), are the joint owners of Concorde's type certificate. Responsibility for the Type Certificate transferred to Airbus with formation of Airbus SAS.

Scheduled flights Scheduled flights started on January 21, 1976 on the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes. The U.S. Congress had just banned Concorde landings in the US, mainly due to citizen protest over sonic booms, preventing launch on the coveted transatlantic routes. When the US ban was lifted in February for over-water supersonic flight, New York quickly followed by banning Concorde locally. Left with little choice on the destination, AF and BA started transatlantic services to Washington, D.C. on May 24. Finally, in late 1977, the noise concerns of New York residents gave way to the advantages of Concorde traffic, and scheduled service from Paris and London to New York's John F. Kennedy airport started on November 22, 1977. Flights operated by BA were coded 'Speedbird 1' through 'Speedbird 4'. The average flight time on the transatlantic routes was just under 3.5 hours. Up to 2003, both Air France and British Airways continued to operate the New York services daily. Additionally, Concorde flew to Barbados's Grantley Adams International Airport during the winter holiday season and, occasionally, to charter destinations such as Rovaniemi, Finland. On November 1, 1986, a chartered Concorde circumnavigated the world in 31 hours and 51 minutes. For a brief period in 1977, and again from 1979 to 1980, British Airways and Singapore Airlines used a shared Concorde for flights between Bahrain and Singapore Changi Airport. The aircraft, G-BOAD, was painted in Singapore Airways livery on the port side and British Airways livery on the starboard side. The service was discontinued after three months because of noise complaints from the Malaysian government: it could only be reinstated when a new route, bypassing Malaysian airspace, was designed. However, an ongoing dispute with India prevented the Concorde from reaching supersonic speeds in Indian airspace, so the route was eventually declared not viable. From late 1978 to November 1982 Air France flew the Concorde on a regular basis to Mexico City's Benito Jurez International Airport. From 1979 to 1980, Braniff International leased two Concordes, one from both British Airways and Air France. These were used on flights from Dallas-Fort Worth to JFK, feeding the routes of BA and AF to London and Paris. The aircraft were registered in both the United States and their home countries, for legal reasons: a sticker would cover up each aircraft's European registration while it was being operated by Braniff. On DFW-JFK flights, the Concordes had Braniff flight crews, although they maintained their native airline livery. However, the flights were not profitable for Braniff and were usually less than 25% booked, which forced Braniff to end its term as the only U.S. Concorde operator.