Missing Link: 50 Years Ago, Concorde Launched Regular Service
The sleek supersonic Concorde was the "Queen of the Skies." 50 years ago, Air France and British Airways launched scheduled service.
Starting Concorde
(Image: spaceaero2 / Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0))
With lobster and champagne at supersonic speed across the Atlantic: The supersonic passenger aircraft Concorde offered a fast and luxurious transfer to New York. 50 years ago, the sleek jet flew with passengers on board for the first time.
Two aircraft took off around noon on January 21, 1976, at the same time (11:40 AM London time), one from Paris and one from London – the Concorde was a British-French joint development. The Air France Concorde flew via the Senegalese capital Dakar to Rio de Janeiro. British Airways flew from London to the emirate of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. Seats for the inaugural flights were sometimes reserved years in advance. The flights were even broadcast on television.
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The Concorde was a prestige project of the British and French aviation industries. It flew at around 2,200 kilometers per hour and crossed the Atlantic in less than three and a half hours – which is less than half the flight time of a regular commercial aircraft. Sometimes even faster: On February 7, 1996, it flew from New York to London in 2 hours, 52 minutes, and 59 seconds. Inside, the 100 passengers enjoyed exquisite food and drinks: caviar, lobster, or goose liver with truffles. Champagne was served.
France and Great Britain began developing the first supersonic passenger aircraft at the end of 1962 and promoted it heavily. After six years of development, the first two prototypes were ready: Concorde 001 made its first flight on March 2, 1969, and prototype 002 on April 9. On October 1, a Concorde flew faster than Mach 1 for the first time. Just over a year later, on November 4, 1970, it reached Mach 2. This corresponds to approximately 1200 km/h and 2500 km/h, respectively.
The Concorde at the Jubilee
The two countries adorned themselves with the aircraft: The Air France crew, for example, was later invited to the Élysée Palace for breakfast by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. The heads of state of both countries enjoyed flying with it. A flypast was part of the festivities in 2002 to mark the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Concorde's speed enabled Air France to offer services like a double New Year's Eve: Passengers celebrated it first in Paris, then boarded the Concorde and celebrated it again in New York. On July 13, 1985, during the Live Aid concert, British musician Phil Collins first performed in London, then flew to the USA with the Concorde and performed again in Philadelphia. In 1999, two aircraft followed the total solar eclipse over the North Atlantic, thus extending the spectacle for the passengers.
It even made an appearance in the GDR: In March 1986, two Concordes, one French and one British, landed in Leipzig for the local trade fair. One was even allowed to fly a portion of the route at supersonic speed. Supersonic flights over mainland Europe were otherwise not permitted for the Concorde.
However, there was competition beyond the Iron Curtain – and it stole the show from the Concorde: Three weeks before the Concorde, on December 29, 1975, the Tupolev TU-144 launched its first commercial flight. Later, however, it became known that it carried only cargo and no passengers.
The Soviets Were Faster
In 1963, the Tupolev design bureau began its work, and on December 31, 1968, the TU-144 took off for the first time, three months before the Concorde. On May 25, 1970, it also became the first civilian aircraft to reach double the speed of sound.
In terms of design, the Soviet supersonic jet looked astonishingly similar to its Western counterpart, which is why the Soviets were suspected of espionage. The TU-144 was nicknamed "Konkordski."
However, technically, the TU-144 was less sophisticated than the Concorde. Both had delta wings. However, the Concorde's wings were aerodynamically shaped more favorably, offering advantages in slow flight. The TU-144's wings were simpler in shape. For slow flight, two canard wings extended from behind the cockpit. While they performed their task efficiently, they made the aircraft heavier. Furthermore, the Concorde had more modern, computer-controlled engines than the TU-144, achieving a greater range. They were also quieter than those of the TU-144.
The TU-144 was not a real competitor in the end: In 1973, the first production model, the TU-144S, crashed during a demonstration flight at the Paris Air Show. It differed from the prototype that made the first flight in some design features. The next iteration, the TU-144D, caught fire during a test flight on May 23, 1978, and had to make an emergency landing. As a result, the government ended the TU-144 project after only 102 flights, of which only 55 carried passengers.
