The BAC-Aérospatiale Concorde is a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner that was in service from 1976 to 2003. It is one of only two supersonic transports to have entered commercial service - The other was the Tupolev Tu-144. Concorde had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04, with seating for 92 to 128 passengers.

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Concorde measured nearly 204ft in length and

stretched between 6 and 10 inches in flight due

to heating of the airframe.

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It was painted in a specially developed white paint to accommodate these changes and to dissipate the heat generated by supersonic flight. A team of about 250 British Airways' engineers worked tirelessly, together with the relevant authorities, to ensure safety on board and Concorde was subjected to 5,000 hours of testing before it was first certified for passenger flight, making it the most tested aircraft ever.

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British Airways Concorde made just under 50,000 flights and flew more than 2.5m passengers supersonically. With a take off speed of 220 knots (250mph) and a cruising speed of 1350mph – more than twice the speed of sound - a typical London to New York crossing would take a little less than three and a half hours as opposed to about eight hours for a subsonic flight. In November 1986 a British Airways Concorde flew around the world, covering 28,238 miles in 29 hours, 59 minutes.

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Concorde used the most powerful pure jet engines flying commercially. The Aircraft's four engines took advantage of what is known as ‘reheat’ technology, adding fuel to the final stage of the engine, which produced the extra power required for take-off and the transition to supersonic flight.

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Concorde had an excellent safety record but on July 25th 2000 an Air France Concorde crashed soon after take off from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris killing all on board. Although the cause was debris on the runway which led a fuel leak, the resulting enquiry recommended expensive modifications to the remaining aircraft. They were already unprofitable so their future was uncertain. On 24 October 2003, British Airways withdrew Concorde, bringing to a close the world’s only supersonic passenger service. The final scheduled commercial flight was BA002 from New York.

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BA’s fleet of seven aircraft were subsequently dispersed for preservation at Barbados, Edinburgh, Filton, Bristol, Manchester, New York and Seattle with one remaining at Heathrow.

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Concorde’s fastest transatlantic crossing was on 7th February 1996 when it completed the New York to London flight in 2 hours 52 minutes and 59 seconds.

Over 3½ times faster than a normal flight!