2011-01-14
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Fly the future. Fly the flag. Concorde poster at G.W. Railwayana Auctions.
2011-01-04
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On June 30, 1973, Concorde 001 intercepted the path of a solar eclipse over North Africa, Flying at Mach 2.05 the aircraft provided seven observers from France, Britain and the United States with 74 min of totality bounded by extended second (7 min) and third (12 min) contacts. The former permitted searches for time variations of much longer period than previously possible and the latter provided an opportunity for chromospheric observations of improved height resolution. The altitude, which varied between 16,200 and 17,700 m, freed the observations from the usual weather problems and greatly reduced atmospheric absorption and sky noise in regions of the infrared.
2010-02-06
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In pictures: Concorde through the years at BBC News. “A model of the planned airliner went on show at Farnborough in 1962.”
The gallery also features the Queen on a Concorde in 1977.
2009-04-10
Concorde at 40
A couple of months ago, I posted a note on the 40th anniversary of the 747, and it seemed appropriate to do the same for Concorde.
However, the 9th of April, 1969, wasn’t Concorde’s first flight. That was on the 2nd of March, when the Andre Turcat flew the French prototype for 27 minutes. (Here’s the Times archive’s report of that day.)
Nonetheless, having missed that, I thought I’d still post on the anniversary of Brian Trubshaw’s first flight of the British prototype, from Filton in Bristol. Of course, Concorde still has an amazing power of this strange technological nostalgia over the British public (as shown by the deservedly negative reaction to the news that the last of the British Airways Concordes may be sold to Dubai), and I’m far from immune. (For example, Fast Company posted a piece on why Concorde still matters. Don’t miss the nosecone schematic.)
Better news on the 40th anniversary was that a simulator has been rebuilt at Brooklands Musuem, home to G-BBDG, the evaluation testing airframe. One to visit.
2009-02-06
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supersonic transports (via smallritual)
Thanks to Adam Greenfield and Steve Collins for the SST nostalgia.
