Concorde

Concorde

Concorde: Turbojet-Powered Supersonic Passenger Jet Airliner

The British Airways Concorde was only able to fly just less than 50,000 trips and accommodated over 2.5 million passengers supersonically. With a launch speed of 250 mph or 220 knots and a flying speed of 1350 mph – which is over twice the speed of sound – a normal flight from London to New York would take more or less 3 hours and 30 minutes as compared to the 8 hours of a subsonic flight.A British Airways Concorde flew around the world in November 1986, which covered 28,238 miles and it took only 29 hours and 59 minutes to finish the trip.

Concorde was formerly considered as the most dominant pure jet engines that flew commercially. The four engines of the aircraft that gained the advantage of what’s identified as the “reheat” technology, which added fuel during the final stage which provided the extra power needed for takeoff and shift to supersonic flight. The recorded fastest intercontinental crossing of Concorde was during February 7, 1996 when it flew from New York to London in only 2 hours 52 minutes and 59 seconds.

Concorde measures roughly 204 feet in length and stretches from 6 to 10 inches during flight because of the air frame heating. The aircraft is specially painted to accommodate the changes and to help in dispersing the heat created by supersonic flight. A team of 250 engineers from British Airways worked vigorously along with appropriate authorities to make sure safety on board, and the aircraft was exposed to over 5,000 hours of testing before it is certified safe for passenger flight which makes it the most tested aircraft in history.

British Airways pulled out Concorde on October 24, 2003, closing the only supersonic passenger aircraft in the world. The last scheduled commercial flight of Concorde was BA002 taking off from JFK airport operated by G-BOAG.

General features

Concorde is among the limited commercial airplanes to use the tailless design. Concorde was the first airliner to fly using the fly-by-wire flight control system; the avionics system used by Concorde was one-of-a-kind since it was the first airliner to use the hybrid circuits. The main designer for the said project was Pierre Satre along with Sir Archibald Russell acting as his deputy.

Concorde founded the following technologies:

For optimizing high-speed flight:

• Super cruise capability
• Double delta (ogee/ogival) shaped wings
• Thrust-by-wire engines, predecessor of today’s FADEC-controlled engines
• Droop-nose section for better landing visibility
• Variable engine air intake ramp system controlled by digital computers

For weight-saving and better performance:

• Mach 2.04 (~2,179 km/h or 1,354 mph) cruising speed for optimum fuel consumption
• Mainly aluminum construction for low weight and conventional manufacture
• Full-regime autopilot and autothrottle allowing” hands off” control of the aircraft from climb out to landing
• Fully electrically controlled analogue fly-by-wire flight controls systems
• High-pressure hydraulic system of 28 MPa (4,000 lbf/in²) for lighter hydraulic components, tripled independent systems (“Blue”, “Green”, and “Yellow”) for redundancy, with an emergency ram air turbine (RAT) stored in the portinner elevon jack fairing supplying “Green” and “Yellow” as backup.
• Complex Air data computer (ADC) for the automated monitoring and transmission of aerodynamic measurements
• Fully electrically controlled analogue brake-by-wire system
• Pitch-trim by shifting fuel around the fuselage for centre-of-gravity (CofG) control at the approach to Mach 1 and above with no drag penalty
• Parts made using “sculpture milling”, reducing the part count while saving weight and adding strength

If Concorde is still operating until today, perhaps flying with it will give you a fantastic experience; however, a charter private jet can also provide this experience and can even go beyond. A charter private jet offers a cozy vibe and total relaxation while you’re on board, which might seem difficult to attain in commercial flights due to the several passengers.

So, prior to booking your next flight, it is wise to compare if which is more apt for you: a charter private jet flight or a commercial one.