Quantcast
ZME Science
  • CoronavirusNEW
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

The resurrection of Concorde and supersonic flight might happen in this decade

The Concorde was created by Britain's British Aircraft Corporation and France's Aérospatiale in the early 1960s. But it wasn't until 1976 and billions of dollars later that the supersonic plane took its maiden voyage. Because it was very expensive to maintain, only long distance flights made sense and boy did the Concorde deliver - New York to London in just three hours! Today, 12 years after the aircraft was retired, it takes 7 hours. Rightfully so, the Concorde episode is one of the few in human history where society has had to downgrade. Yes, today's sub-sonic aircraft are more advanced than the Concorde, but still arduously sluggish. Now, a group of Concorde enthusiasts - its fan club if you will - plans to buy up two old units of this vintage wonder. One will be turned into a museum in London, and the other will be refurbished, upgraded and put to good use flying the wealthy faster than the speed of sound.

Tibi Puiu by Tibi Puiu
October 22, 2015
in Science
ADVERTISEMENT
concorde flight
For almost 30 years, Concorde traversed the globe at twice the speed of sound.

The Concorde was created by Britain’s British Aircraft Corporation and France’s Aérospatiale in the early 1960s. But it wasn’t until 1976 and billions of dollars later that the supersonic plane took its maiden voyage. Because it was very expensive to maintain, only long distance flights made sense and boy did the Concorde deliver – New York to London in just three hours! Today, 12 years after the aircraft was retired, it takes 7 hours. Rightfully so, the Concorde episode is one of the few in human history where society has had to downgrade. Yes, today’s sub-sonic aircraft are more advanced than the Concorde, but still arduously sluggish. Now, a group of Concorde enthusiasts – its fan club if you will – plans to buy up two old units of this vintage wonder. One will be turned into a museum in London, and the other will be refurbished, upgraded and put to good use flying the wealthy faster than the speed of sound.

Club Concorde says it has  £160 million to spend on the two aircraft it has eyed gathering dust in a Paris airport. The first plane would be turned into a tourist attraction where tickets sell for £16 a pop, near the London Eye ferris wheel. The second, Concorde Club president Paul James says, will be “resurrected” by 2019 resuming its charter flights.

Get more science news like this...

Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

Only 20 Concorde planes – capable of flying at top speeds of 1,350mph (commercial planes today cruise under 600mph) – were ever made, and one of them unfortunately crashed in 2000 killing 113. Before the crash, the Concorde was largely thought of as the safest plane in the world. The tragedy was the last drop that convinced France’s Aérospatiale to retire the aircraft, sick and tired of the steep maintenance cost. Yes it was fast, but it sucked fuel like a spaceship.

ADVERTISEMENT
Artist rendering of l of a concept supersonic aircraft built by The Boeing Company.  Image: Boeing
Artist rendering of l of a concept supersonic aircraft built by The Boeing Company. Image: Boeing

This news begs the question, though: do we really have to wait for some posh business club to bring back supersonic flight? You’d expect hearing from companies “hey, we’ve tried that, didn’t work so well”.  Instead, Airbus is actually considering releasing the Concorde 2 – an ever faster model which would supposedly  fly from London to New York in an hour. That’s 2500mph. NASA is also testing out a supersonic passenger plane. Aviation manufacturers such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Aerion are working on supersonic technology — with the latter predicting it could have a supersonic business jet in service as early as 2020. In the coming decade, the world might finally have access to supersonic flights again: this time even faster, safer and, hopefully, cheaper.

Proposed supersonic passanger jet by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Proposed supersonic passenger jet by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Tags: concorde
Tibi Puiu

Tibi Puiu

Tibi is a science journalist and co-founder of ZME Science. He writes mainly about emerging tech, physics, climate, and space. In his spare time, Tibi likes to make weird music on his computer and groom felines.

Follow ZME on social media

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.