The ogee wing gives the plane supersonic performance with a reasonable efficiency during subsonic flight and decent slow-speed handling characteristics: requirements for any civilian transport. The afterburning turbojet engines provide both excellent thrust for takeoff and an efficient supercruise capability with a relatively small cross-section. Axel Rohde.Ĭapable of supercruise (i.e., sustaining supersonic flight with a useful load in a fuel-efficient manner) at twice the speed of sound, Concorde’s design was more about reduced drag and function than aesthetics, but the end result is dang sexy. Tu-144 at same museum, photo courtesy of Dr. One could even say the design was suspiciously similar.
The only other commercial supersonic transport, the Russian Tupolev Tu-144 “Charger”, was very similar to Concorde’s design. Concorde was so streamlined, she could practically break the sound barrier just sitting on the tarmac. Concorde is always simply “Concorde”: not “the” Concorde, not “a” Concorde, and-so the editors here at Mudspike tell me-most definitely never “an” Concorde.
The joint work of French aerospace manufacturer Aérospatiale and the needs-no-introduction British Aircraft Corporation, Concorde is one of only two supersonic transports to have ever entered service, and the only plane where one drops the article when referring to her. A luxurious supersonic supercruiser, this elegant bird could power from one side of the Atlantic to the other in a mere three and a half hours-half the time of a 747-and with a whole lot more style. Saying that Concorde was a marvel of technology of her time would be a bit misleading: she’d still be a marvel if she were flying today.
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