Why did Concorde stop flying and how fast did it fly? – The US Sun
When it came to air travel, Concorde was the ultimate luxury.
After nearly 50,000 flights and carrying 2.5 million passengers, the supersonic wonder has finally been retired – here’s everything you need to know.
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When was Concorde retired?
On April 10, 2003, Air France and British Airways simultaneously announced that they would be decommissioning their fleet Concorde Airplane.
In October of the same year, the supersonic passenger aircraft was retired.
The Concorde served for 27 years and made its first commercial flight on January 21, 1976.
It was developed jointly by the British and French governments and was considered a significant achievement of the year aviation Technology.
Why was Concorde retired?
The decision to retire was due to several factors.
Air France and British Airways blamed low passenger numbers and rising maintenance costs.
Although the aircraft were advanced when released, after 30 years they had become obsolete and expensive to operate.
Passenger numbers fell after a The Air France Concorde crashed Minutes after taking off from Paris In July 2000, all 109 people on board and four on the ground died.
The plane ran over you Piece of metal A tire burst on the runway, causing the fuel tank to ignite during takeoff.
The 9/11 The attacks in 2001 also had a significant impact on the number of air travelers.
When the Concorde was retired, it was the only aircraft in the British Airways fleet that required a flight engineer.
How fast could it fly?
The plane could reach a maximum speed that was more than twice as fast as sound.
That’s about 1,354 miles per hour, meaning the jets could fly from there new York To London in about three and a half hours.
The fastest ever connection between the two cities took place on February 7, 1996, when British Airways flew the Concorde from New York JFK to New York London Heathrow in two hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds.
The aircraft traveled 6,035 km (3,750 miles) at an astonishing average speed of 2,010 km/h (1,250 mph).
When was the Concorde’s last flight?
Concorde took off on its last commercial flight on November 26, 2003.
The supersonic aircraft was making its final flight when it arrived Bristolas he tilts his wing on the way to the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
The flight, which lasted just one hour and thirty minutes, was the last of the Concorde fleet.
However, the last passenger transport service from New York JFK to London Heathrow took place on October 24, 2003, as crowds gathered to see what marked the end of an era.
A large crowd greeted the aircraft’s arrival in London, which coincided with two other final Concorde flights from Edinburgh and the Bay of Biscay.
Where are the decommissioned Concorde aircraft?
Several planes reportedly arrived Museums around the world, while others were dismantled and auctioned off in parts to collectors.
Twenty Concorde aircraft were installed France and the United Kingdom – six prototype and development aircraft and 14 service aircraft operated by Air France and British Airways.
The last Concorde built and flying was issued in October 2017 at the Aerospace Bristol Museum, a £19 million center in Filton.
Concorde number 216 was brought to its new home by engineers from British Airways and Airbus. They towed the iconic aircraft across Filton Airfield and up a ramp into the new purpose-built hangar.
Half of the Concordes were built in Filton, the others were built in Toulouse.
The six other retired BA service aircraft are on display at Heathrow Airport. Manchester Airport, Barbados Airport, the National Museum of Flight nearby Edinburghthe Museum of Flight in Seattle and New York’s Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum.
Air France also had seven service jets, but one crashed and another was dismantled for spare parts.
The five still intact examples are in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport in Washington DC, the Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum in Germany, the Airbus factory in Toulouse, the Air and Space Museum in Le Bourget and at Charles de Gaulle Airport exhibited near Paris.
The two original prototype aircraft, numbers 001 and 002, are on display at the French Air and Space Museum in Le Bourget and the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton.
Two pre-production aircraft, numbers 101 and 102, are now at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford and at Orly Airport in Paris.
Two test-built development aircraft, numbers 201 and 202, can be seen at the Airbus factory in Toulouse and the Brooklands Museum in Weybridge.
Were there attempts to save Concorde?
In 2003, Sir Richard Branson announced that Virgin Atlantic was interested in purchasing the fleet.
Branson later wrote that Virgin Atlantic wanted to continue operating the fleet for many years, but no agreement was reached.
What does the future of supersonic flight look like?
In August 2023, NASA has released new updates on its supersonic hydrogen aircraft The goal is to be twice as fast as Concorde.
The US space agency is studying the possibility of a Mach 4 passenger jet that would take just 1.5 hours from New York to London.
NASA said: “Flying from New York City to London up to four times faster than currently possible may sound like a distant dream, but NASA is studying whether the commercial market could support travel at such speeds.”
