Ride along as Concorde accelerates to 1.7 mach

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX9Wf87ShIE
Awesome.

[Unisaw]

Very nice!  Thanks for sharing that.

[ramis]

Was that copilot named Rodger?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNRXJEE3Nz8

[Cromlech]

Concorde Captain talks about Barrel Roll

Concorde breaking the sound barrier

Concorde Fly-Past with the 'Red Arrows'

ETERNAL MOMENT - Tribute to Concorde






I love the Concorde. It's birthplace is just down the road from me, I see Filton Airfield from the bus window fairly often.

[Manedwolf]

I've wandered around in one while it was at the gate, but didn't get to fly on it.

Wow, was it low inside.

[Bogie]

I thunk they were all grounded?
 

[Gewehr98]

They have indeed been retired from service, Bogie.

The video clips and stills in this thread were all taken prior to the end dates. 

[Unisaw]

There is a Concorde on static display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.  It is amazingly cramped inside.

[MillCreek]

There is a Concorde on static display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.  It is amazingly cramped inside.

+1 to that.  I toured it about three months after it arrived in Seattle.  A surprisingly small-diameter perfect tube of a passenger cabin.

[Cromlech]

The video clips and stills in this thread were all taken prior to the end dates. 

Yup. The two pics I posted were from 26 November 2003, the last ever Concorde flight. The Clifton Suspension Bridge was chosen as a partner for Concorde, as they are both a part of Bristol's history of engineering.

[Bogie]

Yeah - I've been inside "corporate" jets, and they are NOT 747s... But they get the boss from Point A to Point B pretty darn fast, and he's got enough leg room.

[Perd Hapley]

They have indeed been retired from service, Bogie. 

Why?

[Gewehr98]

After the fatal Paris crash in 2000, the Concorde required major cash injections for safety modifications and upgrades, to the tune of several millions of Pounds Sterling.  That was before putting any money into life extension programs as required for an airframe first flown in 1975.

It was decided to retire the aircraft, vs. spending the additional funds.

[Perd Hapley]

Dood, thanks. 

Are there other supersonic airliners?  If not, why? 

[Gewehr98]

The Soviets/Russians had their Tupolev Tu-144, with a shorter commercial career than the Anglo/French Concorde.

The U.S. Boeing Model 2707 SST project never went far, and was cancelled in 1971 before prototypes were finished.

[DustinD]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersonic_travel has some information. I have seen some pretty good write ups on the history of super sonic flight and potential SST (super sonic transport) concepts, but I do not have any of my old links on this computer.

[MillCreek]

I thought that one of the primary reasons as to the lack of supersonic transports is that they generally lost money unless government subsidized.

[Perd Hapley]

The Soviets/Russians had their Tupolev Tu-144, with a shorter commercial career than the Anglo/French Concorde.

The U.S. Boeing Model 2707 SST project never went far, and was cancelled in 1971 before prototypes were finished.

Wow, I actually knew that twenty years ago.  Not something I keep up with anymore.  Thanks for the nostalgia, man.