The Concorde airliner

On March 2nd, the supersonic passenger airliner Concorde celebrated its 55th anniversary, created by the French company Aérospatiale and the British BAC. On that day in 1969, the first prototype of the aircraft took off from the factory airfield in Toulouse. The creation of such a machine was a highly complex and costly endeavor. It took almost 8 years from the beginning of the program to the first flight, and then more than 5 years for testing, refinement, and full-scale production deployment. In total, 20 units were built including prototypes and pre-production aircraft. Concorde became a true symbol of national prestige for France and the United Kingdom, so it's not surprising that the program received significant government support and subsidies.

The production Concorde was equipped with four Rolls-Royce/SNECMA "Olympus" 593 engines with afterburners, each producing over 17 tons of thrust. It had a length of 61.7 meters, a wingspan of 25.6 meters, a maximum takeoff weight of 187.7 tons, could reach speeds of up to 2,500 km/h, and with a commercial payload of nearly 9 tons, it could cover 6470 km. The design envisaged accommodation for up to 128 passengers, although the aircraft were operated in more spacious configurations with 92 or 100 seats.

Initially, 16 airlines ordered 74 Concordes. However, the final price of the airliner turned out to be high, and in the mid-1970s, aviation fuel prices skyrocketed, of which the supersonic liner consumed significantly more than conventional aircraft. As a result, only 14 aircraft were put into service, with 7 each operated by Air France and British Airways. The main routes for them were Paris-New York and London-New York, with up to 7 flights per week. Regular flights were also conducted on several other routes, including to Barbados, Bahrain, Washington, Caracas, Rio de Janeiro, and Singapore (with one intermediate stop). Additionally, Concordes operated numerous charter flights. Their operation lasted until November 2003, and in total, the aircraft transported over 3 million passengers.

On July 5th, 2000, during takeoff from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, the only crash in Concorde's history occurred. All 109 people on board perished. The cause of the tragedy was the aircraft's landing gear hitting a foreign object on the runway.

Formally, Concorde became the second supersonic passenger aircraft in the world after the Soviet Tu-144, the prototype of which made its first flight on December 30th, 1968. However, the production version of the Tupolev aircraft was so different from the initial prototype that it could be considered the creation of a new aircraft. Moreover, the Tu-144 was in operation for only half a year: two aircraft flew on the Moscow-Alma-Ata route.