Concorde is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the UK signed a treaty establishing the development project on 29 November 1962, as the programme cost was estimated at £70 million . Construction of the six prototypes began in February 1965, and the first flight took off from Toulouse on 2 March 1969. The market was predicted for 350 aircraft, and the manufacturers received up to 100 option orders from many major airlines. On 9 October 1975, it received its French Certificate of Airworthiness, and from the UK CAA on 5 December.
The Tupolev Tu-144 is a Soviet supersonic passenger airliner designed by Tupolev in operation from 1968 to 1999.
A supersonic transport (SST) or a supersonic airliner is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. To date, the only SSTs to see regular service have been Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144. The last passenger flight of the Tu-144 was in June 1978 and it was last flown in 1999 by NASA. Concorde's last commercial flight was in October 2003, with a November 26, 2003 ferry flight being its last airborne operation. Following the permanent cessation of flying by Concorde, there are no remaining SSTs in commercial service. Several companies have each proposed a supersonic business jet, which may bring supersonic transport back again.
Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that flew air carrier operations from 1928 until 1982 and continues today as a retailer, hotelier, travel service and branding and licensing company, administering the former airline's employee pass program and other airline administrative duties. Braniff's routes were primarily in the midwestern and southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. In the late 1970s it expanded to Asia and Europe. The airline ceased air carrier operations in May 1982 because of high fuel prices, credit card interest rates and extreme competition from the large trunk carriers and the new airline startups created by the Airline Deregulation Act of December 1978. Two later airlines used the Braniff name: the Hyatt Hotels-backed Braniff, Inc. in 1983–89, and Braniff International Airlines, Inc. in 1991–92.
On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde passenger jet on an international charter flight from Paris to New York, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 109 people on board and four on the ground. It was the only fatal Concorde accident during its 27-year operational history.
Filton Airport or Filton Aerodrome was a private airport in Filton and Patchway, within South Gloucestershire, 4 NM north of Bristol, England.
Major André Édouard Turcat was a French Air Force pilot and test pilot celebrated for flying the first prototype of Concorde for its maiden flight.
G-BBDG, known as "Delta Golf", was the British development Concorde built for evaluation testing. Along with the French Concorde F-WTSB, the aircraft was used to enable sufficient testing to allow for the Concorde fleet to receive certification. She was stored at Filton airfield from the mid-1980s until 2003, when she was transported by road to the Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, Surrey.
A supersonic aircraft is an aircraft capable of supersonic flight, that is, flying faster than the speed of sound. Supersonic aircraft were developed in the second half of the twentieth century. Supersonic aircraft have been used for research and military purposes, but only two supersonic aircraft, the Tupolev Tu-144 and the Concorde, ever entered service for civil use as airliners. Fighter jets are the most common example of supersonic aircraft.
Bristol is a city in south west England. Its economy has long connections with the sea and its ports. In the 20th century aeronautics played an important role in the economy, and the city still plays a role in the manufacture of aircraft. Bristol is also a tourist destination, and has significant media, information technology and financial services sectors. Reports released in 2018 showed that the city is growing exponentially with a projected 2.3 percent annual growth rate until 2020.
Air transport of the British royal family and government is provided, depending on the circumstances and availability, by a variety of military and civilian operators. This includes an Airbus Voyager of the Royal Air Force (RAF), No. 10 Squadron, and the King's Helicopter Flight, which forms part of the royal household. Civil aircraft and scheduled commercial flights are also utilised. Historically, the aircraft for the British royalty became known as the Queen's Flight, and upon her passing the King's Flight in 2022.
Royal Air Force Filton or more simply RAF Filton is a former Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Air Force (RAF) station located 5 miles (8 km) north of the city centre of Bristol, England.
Air France, stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance. As of 2013, Air France serves 29 destinations in France and operates worldwide scheduled passenger and cargo services to 201 destinations in 78 countries and also carried 46,803,000 passengers in 2019. The airline's global hub is at Charles de Gaulle Airport with Orly Airport as the primary domestic hub. Air France's corporate headquarters, previously in Montparnasse, Paris, are located at the Roissypôle complex on the grounds of Charles de Gaulle Airport, north of Paris.
The Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 was an Anglo-French turbojet with reheat, which powered the supersonic airliner Concorde. It was initially a joint project between Bristol Siddeley Engines Limited (BSEL) and Snecma, derived from the Bristol Siddeley Olympus 22R engine. Rolls-Royce Limited acquired BSEL in 1966 during development of the engine, making BSEL the Bristol Engine Division of Rolls-Royce.
William John Strang, CBE, FRS, FREng, FRAeS was a British aerospace engineer, known for his contributions to the design of a number of British aircraft, including Concorde.
The Anti-Concorde Project, founded by environmental activist Richard Wiggs, challenged the idea of supersonic passenger transport, and curtailed Concorde's commercial prospects. When Concorde entered service in 1976, of the 74 options held at the time of the first flight, only those for the state airlines of Britain (BOAC) and France were taken up, so that only 20 were built, although flights were also flown for Braniff International and Singapore Airlines. It triggered research into the factors affecting the creation of sonic booms, which led to the Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration which achieved their goal of reducing the intensity of sonic booms, and echoed public concern about aircraft noise that resulted in more restrictive noise limits for aircraft and airport operations, as well as changes in both operating procedures and aircraft design to further reduce noise levels.
John Cochrane was a British test pilot for the Anglo-French supersonic airliner, Concorde.
Aerospace Bristol is an aerospace museum at Filton, to the north of Bristol, England. The project is run by the Bristol Aero Collection Trust and houses a varied collection of exhibits, including Concorde Alpha Foxtrot, the final Concorde to be built and the last to fly.
This is the history of Braniff International Airways.
The London to New York Air Route is an air route between London, UK, and New York, US. These two cities are connected by a heavily utilised 2,999-nautical-mile air route which has been historically important to transatlantic aviation and is today served by several major airlines. The airports of Heathrow and JFK are the main international airports for the London metropolitan area and New York metropolitan area respectively, the world's two most important global cities. The route sustains the highest number of passenger seat kilometers per annum of any route globally. In 2018 British Airways achieved a revenue of $1.16 billion on this route alone, making their operation the highest value airline route globally. The route saw a total traffic figure in 2018 of 3,034,155, the busiest of any transatlantic air route.
