The World's most beautiful and, for it's time, most advanced Airliner, now sadly only a memory !
Concorde Statistics
"My" Concorde, September 9th, 1991. New York to London, 3hrs, 24 minutes !
Concorde was a long, slim, streamlined aircraft with a length of 204 feet - however it stretched almost ten inches in supersonic flight due to heating of the air frame.
The slim delta wing was only 84 feet across, while the top of the tail soared 38 feet above the ground. The characteristic droop nose was lowered to improve the pilots’ visibility on landing. Concorde, like 747’s and other jets in British Airways' fleet, had automatic approach and landing capability.
The four engines - specially modified Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593s – gave over 38,000 pounds of thrust each, with reheat. Reheat adds fuel to the final stage of the engine to produce the extra power required for take-off, and the transition to supersonic flight
Cruise speed was Mach Two, 1,350 mph* or twice the speed of sound. Range with full payload and fuel reserves was more than 4,000 miles. Concorde's cruise altitude of 50,000 to 60,000 feet was up to 20,000 feet higher than subsonic jets, and invariably above the weather.
Concorde took off at 220 knots, compared with 165 knots for most subsonic aircraft. Landing speeds were also higher. In other respects it performed in much the same way, for example with approach and holding patterns, diversions and runway requirements, despite the absence of flaps and wing slats.
British Airways scheduled or chartered Concordes visited over 150 destinations around the world. Business travellers were the primary market. A 7.00 pm departure gave the business man or woman the opportunity of a full day's work in London, and still arriving in New York in time for dinner. Eastbound, a morning departure got the business traveller to London in the early evening in time for dinner. A lunchtime departure allowed time for a morning business meeting while still arriving home in time for bed.
* Aviation Writer travelled from New York to London on business in 1991. Total time for the long flight, 3 hours and 24 minutes ! At one time a speed of 1460 mph was displayed in the cabin !
A demand for luxury leisure travel was also developed. This helped the aircraft to attract more passengers each year, including Movie and Music Celebrities !
Concorde First Day Cover Photo signed by Chief Pilot Mike Bannister
Concorde Cockpit with distinctive Control Columns
Concorde (rather cramped - no Overhead Lockers) Interior
Air France Concorde about to land at the old Kai Tek Airport, Hong Kong
The very last flight of Singapore Airlines Concorde about to depart from Heathrow
BA Concorde on Parade !
Concorde (briefly) in Braniff Airways livery.
The Pepsi Concorde
As its market shares were eroding on the soft drinks market, the US company Pepsi Cola undertook a major re-branding project of $500 million US which would be unveiled in 1996 after about two years of work. Pepsi therefore started to look around for a spectacular and efficient manner to advertise its new brand style and enhance its sales. It was eventually decided to have an advertisement operation involving the Concorde.
Pepsi started requesting proposals from both Air France (AF) and British Airways (BA), the sole two Sud Aviation/BAC Concorde operators. Eventually, the French carrier was awarded the contract (of which terms were not disclosed).
It was advised to remain at M2.02 for about 20 minutes at most, but there was no restriction under M1.70. This was not a concern for Air France as the aircraft was not due to operate any scheduled flight to New York ‚ John F. Kennedy (JFK) or any such long sector.
The show took place on 02 April 1996, with the presence of Claudia Schiffer, Andre Agassi, Cindy Crawford, and hundreds of journalists invited by Pepsi for the event. People were really astonished to see the Concorde with the blue livery. Flight attendants each had a special pin on their uniform designed for the occasion.
Afterwards, "Sierra Delta" started a promotion campaign in Europe and the Middle East. For the Pepsi commercial operation, there were a total of 16 flights (including the ferry flights from ORY) and 10 cities visited. Each flight, except the first and last ones, would have been occasions to go supersonic.
British Airways Concorde flying over the White Cliffs of Dover, escorted by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire.
Concorde Lineup
Concorde in flight from above
BA Concorde leading the RAF Red Arrows
The very distinctive Concorde Hinged Nose
A "Fan" of Concordes
The final landing of British Airways Concorde at Filton, Bristol on the 26th of November, 2003. A very sad day for the world of aviation !!!
A British Airways Concorde Travel Poster