User Guide

Flight Simulator
20002000
20002000
2000
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Microsoft
Concorde History
Concorde was not built by one company; in fact, it
was not even built by one country. Great Britain
had decided by 1961 that it was both desirable
and technologically feasible to build a supersonic
transport (SST) with transatlantic range. The
enormous cost and risk required that the project
be undertaken with a partner. American compa-
nies were also looking at SST development, but
their ideas did not mesh well with the design and
technological parameters that the British had
already decided on. Turning to the only European
nation in the 1960s with the ability to undertake
such a program, Great Britain chose France to join
in what was at that time a unique
(and very complicated) collabora-
tion to build Concorde.
The agreement, signed at The
Hague in 1962 divided responsibili-
ties, risk, cost, and rewards equally
between the two nations. The target
date for the prototype’s first flight
was 1966, with the first production
flight in 1968. These targets were
missed, and the flights were made
in 1969 and 1975 respectively. The
original cost projections of between
150 and 170 million pounds sterling
were widely short of the mark as
well.
The challenges were as extreme as the high
altitude environment the aircraft would be flying
in, and compromises had to be found all along the
way. Making the aircraft too strong would render
it too heavy. Making it too efficient at one speed
might make it impossible to fly at another. The
builders had to gamble on achieving a high
number of Atlantic crossings by this craft to offset
its predicted low payload capacity (only 128
seats). Even the air safety regulations were
inadequate to cover all the contingencies of
operating a supersonic passenger transport.
Just under six years of testing presented a
number of political, environmental, technical, and
economic obstacles that—though difficult—were
ultimately overcome by the Concorde team,
producing one of the world’s great aircraft. New
technology was developed that had an impact in
other industries. You can thank Concorde for such
innovations as the anti-lock braking system on
your car (which is also used on many other
aircraft).
With a few very short-lived exceptions, Concorde
has flown only in British Airways and Air France
livery, and all 13 to come off the assembly line still
serve those two airlines. A recent study by Britain
and France concluded that no market currently
exists that would justify the expense of developing
a new version of the supersonic airliner. Another
study in the United States involving Boeing and
NASA concluded virtually the same thing.
Concorde was clearly an idea well ahead of its
time.