Many passengers also relished the chance to be unreachable by the outside world for a rare few hours. “Looking up it would be almost black, because at 55,000 to 60,000 feet, you’re almost on the edge of space,” Finn recalls. After that, he explains, special foil trays were used to keep items separate: one of many “service innovations” developed along the way.Įntertainment-wise, there were no cabin movies or back-of-seat screens-just the Mach display showing speed and altitude, and, of course, that astonishing view out the window. “They tried these new canapés that had a lot of stuff on each individual dish, and on takeoff it all tipped over and we couldn't use them,” Cuddy recalls. The inevitable hiccups happened, too, like the damage the aircraft’s steep rate of ascent could wreak on those exquisite meals. People ask me which was my favorite flight and I say, ‘All of them.’” ‘Eccentric’ passengers “It was so futuristic and so gorgeous, and still is. “It looked like something out of the next century,” Finn says. Other early routes included Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Caracas, and Bahrain (which all were eventually scrapped, leaving just London and Paris to New York).įred Finn, a retired business executive whose 718 flights on Concorde earned him a place in the Guiness Book of World Records, still remembers seeing Concorde for the first time from the passenger lounge before his flight from Washington, D.C., to London in May 1976. On March 2, 1969, Concorde 001 flew into history with its maiden flight, and the first supersonic transcontinental crossing came in 1976, from Paris to Washington, D.C. “It really was extremely clever.”Ī total of 20 aircraft were eventually produced, and 14 entered service with British Airways and Air France. “People always ask me what it was like to fly Concorde, and I’ve always equated it to being a bus driver given a Ferrari to go and play with,” says Richard Westray, a Concorde pilot from 1999 until its retirement in 2003. Four Rolls Royce engines equipped with afterburners on each aircraft propelled it through liftoff and the sound barrier, or Mach 1, a speed of 662 nautical miles per hour at sea level, to a maximum cruising speed of 1,354 miles per hour, at altitudes up to 60,000 feet, right at the edge of space. British and French engineers designed features for the unique challenges of traveling at supersonic speeds: the aircraft’s adjustable droop nose, revamped brake systems, delta-shaped wing and expandable fuselage. Indeed, Concorde’s technological innovations still awe aviation experts today. The British compromised and said we’ll put an 'e' on it, and we’ll have the ‘e’ stand for excellence.” Of course, “Concord” in English doesn’t have an ‘e’ on it, and it does in French. “They literally did 50 percent each,” van der Linden says.
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