The Concorde was the fastest commercial plane ever flown, but its speed came with a hefty price tag.
When the Concorde passenger jet flew from New York City to London in 2 hours, 52 minutes, and 59 seconds, it broke the previous record. More than double the speed of sound might be reached by the supersonic aircraft. However, what caused this aircraft to be so swift, and how quick was it?
With a takeoff speed of 250 mph (402 km/h) and an average cruise speed of 1,350 mph (2,173 km/h), the aircraft operated from 1976 until 2003. The Boeing 737-700, one of the most widely used aircraft models today, can take off at 173 mph (278 km/h) and cruise at 514 mph (828 km/h).
According to Tony Farina, an adjunct assistant professor of aviation engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, Concorde engineers had to create a craft that could manage both low-speed situations, like takeoff and landing, and supersonic cruising speeds in order to reach high speeds, he told Live Science in an email.
According to Farina, a wing intended for supersonically efficient performance is usually quite bad at producing the lift required for takeoff and landing at low speeds. In contrast to normal wings, which are broader to more readily create lift, supersonic wings are usually narrower and more swept back to decrease drag, according to Farina.
Because an airplane faces more drag force the faster it travels, providing lift was particularly crucial, according to aeronautics curator Bob van der Linden of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. In essence, there are more forces working against lift in faster planes.
According to Farina, one way Concorde developers addressed this issue was by creating a streamlined aircraft with an enlarged tail cone and a small passenger compartment. According to van der Linden, engineers also employed a delta wing, a wing profile normally only found on fighter planes.
He told Live Science that the delta wing has extremely fine low-speed characteristics and very good high-speed characteristics.
The aircraft’s drag was decreased by this triangle-shaped wing design, but it also added an intriguing design element. Concorde jets had to land with their noses inclined higher into the air than a typical commercial airliner due to the form of the aircraft’s body. According to van der Linden, this made it extremely difficult for pilots to see where they were heading.
He stated that they truly needed to come up with a method for the nose to descend [mechanically]. “We refer to this as a ‘droop snoot’ in the industry.
According to Farina, modern supersonic aircraft are avoiding this problem by utilizing technology that was unavailable to the Concorde during its 1960s design.
According to Farina, the Boom Supersonic XB-1 aircraft, which is currently in development, avoids the requirement for nose drooping by using an augmented vision system that consists of cameras and displays.
Apart from their elegant appearance, Concorde aircraft were propelled by four turbojet engines, each of which produced 18.7 tons of force and used around 7,000 gallons (26,000 liters) of jet fuel every hour. By contrast, 850 gallons (3,200 liters) of jet fuel are used every hour by the Boeing 737-800.
According to van der Linden, the Concorde also used a device known as an afterburner to boost the thrust produced by its engines.
“Fighter jets and very-high-speed bombers are actually equipped with afterburners, which merely dump raw fuel into the exhaust flame,” he explained. “The airplane moves forward even more quickly, but your fuel consumption skyrockets.
According to van der Linden, the Concorde’s fuel expense was ultimately what caused it to fail commercially. The situation was exacerbated by other events, such as the deadly 2000 accident of Air France Flight 4590.
“That airplane is really beautiful,” van der Linden said. But you need a lot of electricity to maintain it that quickly. A lot of gasoline is needed for power, and more fuel equals a higher cost.