Concorde set a record for the fastest transatlantic crossing in 1996, completing the flight in under 3 hours.
Concorde's speed allowed a significant time-saving of over 50% compared to subsonic jets on the same route.
Concorde's retirement marked the end of an era, but future supersonic aircraft like Boom's Overture aim to continue the tradition.
Concorde was known for its supersonic speed, which would reduce the long-haul journey by more than half compared to conventional jet aircraft. The iconic delta-winged airliner is still remembered for its relatively quick flight between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR). As one of the most popular routes to date flown by several different types of airliners, we look back at how quickly Concorde connected the two airports.
Of course, not every transatlantic Concorde flight could be as fast as the record-breaking crossing set in 1996. Nonetheless, the aircraft offered an immense time saving of more than 50% compared to its subsonic contemporaries. Flights could typically take around three-a-half to four hours, around half the time offered by its non-supersonic contemporaries.
In one notable instance in 1985, Genisis Drummer and musical legend Phil Collins performed at Live Aid in London's Wembley Stadium and the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia on the same day, a difficult feat even with today's aircraft.
Current services schedule the New York to London route at just seven hours, though times may vary due to differing jet stream speeds and certain North Atlantic Tracks (NATS).
How did Concorde travel so fast?
Concorde's performance specifications
Maximum speed: Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph, 2,179 km/h, 1,177 knots)
Cruise speed: 1,341 mph (2,158 km/h, 1,165 knots)
Range: 4,488.0 mi (7,222.8 km, 3,900 NM)
Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,300 m)
Rate of climb: 3,300–4,900 ft/min (17–25 m/s) at sea level
Fuel consumption: 47 lb/mi (13.2 kg/km)
Runway requirement (with maximum load): 3,600 m (11,800 ft)
The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde's meticulous design is responsible for its ability to cruise as fast as twice the speed of sound. It was streamlined from its body to its wings and extending nose and designed to reduce drag. Furthermore, because the Concorde could cruise at altitudes as high as some 60,000ft, the forces of nature worked with it. The higher it flew, the thinner the air that it encountered. This consequently led to less drag and fuel burn.
On top of this, Concorde had potent engines. Unlike traditional jet engines, the turbofans on Concorde were also fitted with afterburners. Such technology is sometimes seen on military jets. These afterburners are specifically designed to improve thrust and could give Concorde 50% more compared to not using them.
Creating a supersonic jet was, believe it or not, not in the interest of making it into the history books on the part of Aérospatiale and BAC. Instead, Concorde's speed was considered integral to advancing the aviation industry at the time.
The jet specifically caters to time-conscious passengers who have money to spend on traveling at speed and style. Therefore, Concorde needed to go fast to match the needs of its travelers, and it did so successfully for a while.
The aircraft's career ended in 2003 when Air France and British Airways retired their supersonic aircraft. The crash of Air France flight 5490, the post-9/11 industry downturn, and rising maintenance costs were all factors at the end of the Mach 2 era, with airlines shifting to more economical and environmental operations.
Post-sonic age
Given its iconic status, it is a welcome relief that, if nothing else, most of the 14 production and six test Concorde aircraft have survived in preservation at museums worldwide. Despite several initiatives to get at least one of the aircraft up and running again, returning the Concorde to airworthy status would require significant time and investment, and it remains improbable that the jet will ever return to the skies.
However, demand for supersonic travel hasn't waned in the 20 years since Concorde's retirement. The yet-to-launch Boom Overture is the most likely candidate to become Concorde's successor.
Photo: Boom Supersonic
The aircraft targets a cruise speed of around 1.7, slightly lower than Concorde's Mach 2.04. Initial projections put Boom Overture's transatlantic crossing for around three and a half hours, roughly in line with Concorde's.
New York to London in 1.5 hours? NASA launches plan for supersonic plane almost twice as fast as the Concorde
NASA's plots business case for passenger jets that go up to Mach 4 (3,300 mph)
The new passenger jet planning will be based on NASA's 'quiet' X-59 supersonic aircraft program, currently estimated to achieve speeds of Mach 1.4 (925 mph)
NASA wants to help commercial passengers get from New York to London in less time than it takes to watch the average in-flight movie.
America's space agency announced this week that it has been exploring 'the business case for supersonic passenger air travel.'
If these preliminary studies show promise, the craft will rocket across the Atlantic at blistering speeds between Mach 2 and Mach 4, or from roughly 1,535 to 3,045 miles per hour (mph) — over twice as fast as an F/A-18 fighter's top speed of Mach 1.8.
According to NASA, the next phase of its high-speed air travel research is now underway: two 12-month contracts granted to Boeing, Rolls-Royce and others to help conceptualize the new jet and build a 'technology roadmap.'
Earlier this summer, NASA completed its X-59 quiet supersonic test aircraft, which is designed to muffle its own sonic booms; the program that will serve as an inspiration for the new jet project.
The world's current fastest passenger jet, the French- and British-made Concorde (right) made its best flight between New York and London on February 7, 1996, crossing the Atlantic in just 2 hours 52 minutes and 59 seconds. NASA (top left) hopes to cut that flight time nearly in half
The return of supersonic: NASA shares video of X-59 research jet
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The X-59 (above), dubbed the 'son of Concorde,' is designed to travel at speeds of up to 925mph. The small test plane could allow fly from London to New York in under four hours
HOW WILL NASA ELIMINATE SONIC BOOMS?
In a conventional supersonic aircraft, shockwaves from the nose, cockpit, inlets, wings and other features come together as they move through the atmosphere into strong shocks emanating from the nose and tail.
These are known as bow and tail shocks, respectively.
As these shockwaves pass over the ground, air pressure rises sharply, declines, then rises rapidly again. It's this that produces the classic 'double-bang' sonic boom.
Reshaping the aircraft to produce a longer, more slender shape is the best way to generate shockwaves of lower, more equal strength that do not form into such strong bow and tail shocks.
NASA and other organisations are working on creating shapes to reduce sonic booms.
Stretching the nose to break the bow shock into a series of weaker shockwaves is particularly effective.
This lowers and spreads that initial pressure peak and softens the first bang of the sonic boom.
'NASA is just at the early, exploratory stages of research,' agency spokesperson Rob Margetta told the DailyMail.com, 'and is not developing such aircraft.' At least, not yet.
The world's current fastest passenger jet, the French- and British-made Concorde made its fasted flight between New York and London on February 7, 1996, crossing the Atlantic in just 2 hours 52 minutes and 59 seconds.
For comparison's sake, the standard large airliner today flies at a cruising speed of about 600 mph, under Mach 1 at roughly 80 percent of the speed of sound.
These jets can take 5 hours or more to make the 3461-mile trek from New York to London.
The Concorde, by contrast, enjoys a maximum cruising speed of 1,354 mph or Mach 2.04.
But Concorde jets were retired in 2003 following a downturn in the commercial aviation industry and the widely publicized first-ever and only crash of a Concorde in 2000.
NASA hopes to cut even the zippy Concorde's flight time nearly in half.
In its press statement, NASA said they hoped to see flights from New York City to London accelerate 'up to four times faster than what's currently possible.'
From their business analysis, the agency believes that there are potential passenger markets in as many as 50 established routes connecting various cities, focusing on ocean-crossing flights first to minimize regulatory hurdles.
According to the manager of NASA's Hypersonic Technology Project, Mary Jo Long-Davis, the two 12-month contracts exploring the feasibility of a supersonic passenger jet will likely focus on reducing noise during takeoff and landing at first, leaving any issues with mid-flight sonic booms until later.
Both the United States and many other nations prohibit over-land supersonic flights, citing noise pollution from sonic booms and other issues.
High-altitude emissions and other environmental factors, Long-Davis told tech site The Register, are the critical starting concerns for their new project.
'We are also collectively conscious of the need to account for safety, efficiency, economic, and societal considerations,' Long-Davis expanded further in her NASA statement.
'It's important to innovate responsibly so we return benefits to travelers and do no harm to the environment.'
NASA announced this week that it has been exploring 'the business case for supersonic passenger air travel' — promising blistering speeds between Mach 2 and Mach 4, or roughly 1,535 to 3,045 mph. Above, a mock-up of NASA's X-59, with its estimated top speed of Mach 1.4
A Concorde passenger jet (above) has a maximum cruising speed of 1,354 mph, or Mach 2.04
NASA's Advanced Air Vehicles Program (AAVP) will oversee the two new contracts which will produce tech roadmaps detailing supersonic air travel options, risks and challenges, as well as the innovations necessary to achieve 'Mach 2-plus travel.'
'The design concepts and technology roadmaps are really important to have in our hands when the companies are finished,' Long-Davis at NASA said.
Aerospace giant Boeing will lead the first team, managing partners including Exosonic, GE Aerospace, Georgia Tech Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory and Rolls-Royce North American Technologies.
Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems will lead the second contracted team, overseeing partners Blue Ridge Research and Consulting, Boom Supersonic and Rolls-Royce North American Technologies, who is participating on both teams.
Both teams will be tasked with designing concepts for the passenger jet's airframe, its power system, propulsion methods, heat exhaust and heat friction management, and the lightweight-but-tough composite materials employed.
These technology roadmaps will also create non-proprietary, meaning public domain, designs for hard-flying concept vehicles.
'We conducted similar concept studies over a decade ago at Mach 1.6-1.8, and those resulting roadmaps helped guide NASA research efforts since, including those leading to the X-59,' Lori Ozoroski, the project manager for NASA's Commercial Supersonic Technology Project, said in a press statement.
'These new studies will both refresh those looks at technology roadmaps and identify additional research needs for a broader high-speed range.'
The public-private collaboration will be reminiscent of NASA's QueSST mission, which led to the sonic boom-reducing X-59 test craft, made in partnership with defense contractor Lockheed Martin.
QueSST and the X-59 have an ongoing mandate to supply experimental data to federal regulators that would help change the rules barring overland supersonic flights, by proving that those flights can be quieter and meet other legal standards.
Once these contracts are concluded, according to NASA, the space agency and its partners in both industry and academia will then assess independently whether or not to continue the research with their own funding.
Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet that was operated until 2003.
It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 k per hour at cruise altitude) and could seat 92 to 128 passengers.
It was first flown in 1969, but needed further tests to establish it as viable as a commercial aircraft.
Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued flying for the next 27 years.
It is one of only two supersonic transports to have been operated commercially.
The other is the Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-144, which ran for a much shorter period of time before it was grounded and retired due to safety and budget issues.
Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet that was operated until 2003. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 k per hour at cruise altitude) and could seat 92 to 128 passengers
Concorde was jointly developed and manufactured by Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty.
Concorde's name, meaning harmony or union, reflects the cooperation on the project between the United Kingdom and France.
In the UK, any or all of the type are known simply as 'Concorde', without an article.
Twenty aircraft were built including six prototypes and development aircraft.
Air France (AF) and British Airways (BA) each received seven aircraft.
The research and development failed to make a profit and the two airlines bought the aircraft at a huge discount.
Among other destinations, Concorde flew regular transatlantic flights from London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to New York-JFK, Washington Dulles and Barbados.
It flew these routes in less than half the time of other airliners.
Over time, the aircraft became profitable when it found a customer base willing to pay for flights on what was for most of its career the fastest commercial airliner in the world.
The aircraft is regarded by many as an aviation icon and an engineering marvel, but it was also criticized for being uneconomical, lacking a credible market, and consuming more fuel to carry fewer passengers than a Boeing 747.
Concorde was retired in 2003 due to a general downturn in the commercial aviation industry after the type's only crash in 2000, the September 11 attacks in 2001, and a decision by Airbus, the successor to Aérospatiale and BAC, to discontinue maintenance support.
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Photo: John Selway | Shutterstock
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