Aérospatiale/Bae Concorde................ .....................................................................Specifications

Concorde G-BOAD of British Airways. The registration number reflects the fact that the aircraft was originally ordered by B.O.A.C in 1963, the first delivered aircraft being G-BOAC in 1976. The aircraft is shown here as seen departing London Heathrow in January 1977 for New York JFK. She ended her career on the 10th of November 2003, going to the "USS Intrepid" museum in New York.

The world's only fully operational supersonic airliner, the Anglo-French Concorde could carry 144 passengers at a speed of Mach 2 for 6,300km. lt first went into service with British Airways and Air France in 1976. The external layout was unusual: the engines were boxed under the wing in two pairs, while the wing was ogive-shaped in planform and steeply cambered at the leading edge. Concorde's service ceiling was 18,300m, higher than that of any other airliner in service. Concorde commercial services were inaugurated on January 21, 1976, when the fifth and sixth production aircraft (Air France F-BVFA and British Airways G-BOAA) flew Paris-Dakar-Rio de Janeiro and London-Bahrain respectively. Concorde was taken out of service by Air France and later British Airways in the last quarter of 2004.

A total of 20 aircraft were built in France and the United Kingdom; six of these were prototypes and development aircraft. Seven each were delivered to Air France and British Airways. Concorde's name reflects the development agreement between the United Kingdom and France. The aircraft is regarded by many people as an aviation icon and an engineering marvel.

The Anglo-French consortium of SUD Aviation and BAC intended to produce one long-range and one short-range version. However, prospective customers showed no interest in the short-range version and it was dropped. There were secured orders (i.e., non-binding options) for over 100 of the long-range version from the major airlines of the day: Pan Am, BOAC, and Air France were the launch customers, with six Concordes each. Other airlines in the order book included Panair do Brasil (3), Continental Airlines (3), Japan Airlines(3) , Lufthansa (3), American Airlines (4), United Airlines (6), Air India (2), Air Canada (4), Braniff (3), Qantas (6), Middle East Airlines (2), Sabena (2), and TWA(4). At the time of the first flight the options list contained 74 options from 16 airlines. Pan American pulled out of the project in 1965 and the oil crisis of 1972 meant all of the other airlines appart from BOAC and Air France canceled  orders as well. The final airline to cancel was Air India in 1975.