Concorde
 Concorde after takeoff in 1986. Photo: Eduard Marmet, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
| |
| Make | Aérospatiale-BAC |
|---|---|
| Model | Concorde |
| Type | Supersonic airliner |
| Country |   France and United Kingdom
|
| First flight | 2 March 1969 |
| Built | 1965–1979 |
| Status | Retired |
| Number built | 20 |
| Seats | 3 (2 pilots and 1 flight engineer), 92–120 passengers , (128 in high-density layout) |
| Engine | 4 × Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 Mk 610, 31,000 lbf thrust |
| Cruise speed | 2,158 km/h
|
| More aircraft · For sale | |
Concorde is the retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner, built jointly by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation.[1] It cruised at twice the speed of sound across the Atlantic, more than halving travel times, and only 20 were built.[1] None are on the U.S. civil register.[2]
History
Studies began in 1954, and Britain and France signed a treaty in 1962.[1] Construction of six prototypes began in February 1965, and the first flight was from Toulouse on March 2, 1969.[1] Airlines took up to 100 options, but in the end only Air France and British Airways bought it, seven airframes each.[1] Sonic booms over land limited it to flights over the ocean.[1]
Concorde entered service on January 21, 1976, from Paris and London. Flights to Washington Dulles began on May 24, 1976, and to New York JFK on October 17, 1977.[1] Its only competitor was the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144.[1]
Design
The narrow fuselage seated 92 to 128 passengers four abreast under an ogival delta wing. The nose drooped for a better view on landing.[1] Four Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 turbojets with afterburners pushed it past the speed of sound, and it was the first airliner with analogue fly-by-wire controls.[1]
The end
On July 25, 2000, Air France Flight 4590 crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 109 people on board and four on the ground, the only fatal Concorde accident.[1] Service resumed in November 2001, but Concorde made its last commercial flight on October 24, 2003. Eighteen are preserved in museums.[1]
Specifications
| Item | Concorde |
|---|---|
| Crew | 3 (2 pilots and 1 flight engineer) |
| Passengers / capacity | 92–120 passengers , (128 in high-density layout) |
| Length | 61.66 m |
| Wingspan | 25.6 m |
| Height | 12.2 m |
| Fuel | 210940 lb; 119600 L |
| Engine | 4 × Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 Mk 610, 31,000 lbf thrust (turbojets with reheat) |
| Maximum speed | 2,179 km/h |
| Cruise speed | 2,158 km/h |
| Range | 7,222 km |
Figures as given in the Wikipedia article and its sources.[1]
Photos
-
Concorde formation flight with the Red Arrows at the Queen's Golden Jubilee. Photo: Bleiglass, CC BY-SA 3.0 -
Cockpit of Concorde. Photo: Christian Kath, CC BY-SA 3.0 -
Fuselage of the Air France Concorde F-BVFB at the Auto- und Technikmuseum Sinsheim, Germany. Photo: Christian Kath, CC BY-SA 3.0 -
The last ever flight of any Concorde, 26th November 2003. Photo: User Arpingstone on en.wikipedia, Public domain -
Concorde. Photo: The original uploader was Dockurt2k at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.5 -
profile drawing of BA Concorde G-BOAC in Speedmarque / Chatham livery. Photo: Emoscopes, CC BY 3.0 -
![British Airways Concorde G-BOAC, Heathrow, London, England - [photo by P.B.Toman]. Photo: Plismo, CC BY-SA 3.0](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/British_Concorde.jpg/500px-British_Concorde.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
British Airways Concorde G-BOAC, Heathrow, London, England - [photo by P.B.Toman]. Photo: Plismo, CC BY-SA 3.0 -
Concorde. Photo: Marcin Wichary, CC BY 2.0
![British Airways Concorde G-BOAC, Heathrow, London, England - [photo by P.B.Toman]. Photo: Plismo, CC BY-SA 3.0](/File:British_Concorde.jpg)
All photos are from Wikimedia Commons; click a photo for its full credit and license.
Buying a Concorde
Sources
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 Wikipedia, "Concorde", read November 1, 2026. Airplane Wiki's text is written in its own words; facts are checked against this article and its sources.
- ↑ Federal Aviation Administration, Releasable Aircraft Database, file dated October 30, 2026. Valid registrations of fixed-wing airplanes whose FAA maker and model names belong to this family. Airplane Wiki uses only counts from this file, never owner names or addresses.