The first post of the series of our trip to the Brookland's last Sunday is ought to start from the truly unique experience! The visit of the aircraft - the one which raised eyebrows of ones, and made other pay thousands to enjoy the luxury and unforgettable flight on a supersonic jet - Concorde!
A little history lesson purely for keeping all I learnt in one place...British supersonic research began in 1943 with the Miles Aircraft research project but was cancelled three years later when the first prototype was virtually complete. The technical lead was then lost to America when USAF test pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier on 14 October 1947.
Britain managed to take the lead only in March 1956 when the Fairey Delta 2 set an air speed record of 1,132mph. Lightnings and Mirage IIIs managed to achieve the sustained speed of of 2Mach by the late 1950s.
On 1 October 1969 Concorde 001 reached Mach 1 for the first time and both prototypes reached Mach 2 in November 1970. In late 1975 Concorde was given French and British Certificates of Airworthiness, and the passenger service started in early 1976.
The crash of Air France Flight 4590 on 25 July 2000 became the beginning of the end of Concorde career, despite the fact that it was he safest working passenger airliner in the world according to the number of passengers deaths per distance travelled.
On 24 October 2003 Concorde completed its last commercial passenger flight after three decades of supersonic travel.
Supersonic facts (copyright of http://www.concordeproject.com/)
"Getting Concorde into service was long, elaborative and expensive exercise, so France and Britain agreed to share the cost of the programme" (c)
"Concorde was the first aircraft which could sustain supersonic flight without the use of engine reheat (afterburners)" (c)
"Concorde nose would droop down for take-off and landing to allow the pilots good forward visibility: otherwise they would not see the runway" (c)
"More than half of the maximum take-off weight of a Concorde was fuel; in cruise Concorde was more fuel efficient than a Boeing 747" (c)
"Concorde's cruising speed of Mach 2 (1,340mph or 600m/sec) was faster than a rifle bullet" (c)
"Concorde got so hot from the skin friction of airflow at supersonic speeds that it stretched by 15-18cm (6''-8'')" (c)
You can find all details about exhibition here. Highly recommended!
vasha Tasha
