To whoever recorded this, thanks. In my late teens, I had a goal of one day flying on Concorde. As a meager peasant (ha) who grew up in a rural American farm town, I took it upon myself to create a “Concorde Fund” savings account, and diligently put any extra change I could into it for several years until I would be able to afford a flight on one. In 2002, I left school, and started a fairly low-paying job, but it let me put away much more. Eventually, I had enough to purchase a ticket, but waited too long… When they announced retirement in April of 2003, I rushed to get a seat, but all were taken. Opportunity missed, but happy someone recorded and posted the experience. Later on in life, I went to go see one in person. Amazing aircraft, and what a legacy.
At the Brooklands Museum, near London in the UK is both an actual Concorde and also the original British Airways Concorde simulator, which is operational and you can have a go in the sim, including 15 minutes at the controls for £300 booked in advance. Something to aim for?
@@hardyfamily396 I just looked. Very cool, and looks like they’ve upped the experience. 30 minutes with simulator, and about 6 hours of other experience. All simulator sessions are guided by an actual BA Concorde pilot. £700 for the entire experience that lasts for several hours. Thanks for suggesting! Now it’s just a matter of booking a euro vacation. Haha
@@unknownpasserby1431 no. and if you're interested in learning about what happened to that flight, there is an interview with john hutchinson, a concorde pilot for 15 years, explaining the terrible chain of bad decisions that caused that crash - it wasn't just a strip of metal on the runway, it was a series of really bad choices made by a large number of people.
I was posted near to Heathrow in 2002 and Concorde frequently flew straight over us and despite the amount of times you saw it, everything and everyone stopped to stare at it. The noise was unbelievable and if you were outdoors you couldn't have a proper conversation without shouting. Also the buildings would shake, especially the windows. When it flew in on its approach to land it was as quiet as any other aircraft. A sorely missed aircraft that always filled me with pride.
The British are sadly not patriotic anymore but watching this video makes me a very proud Englishman and I'm sure French people feel the same way. This was a huge achievment for both of our countries.
The window gets hot because the entire aircraft heats up with the considerable amount of friction caused by air resistance at high speed. The aerodynamic heating was so large that the airframe actually stretched by up to 10 inches at mach 2.0
+Alexander McAllister I was about to comment on the same thing, but now I have a different (probably less than half-educated) question myself: Considering that different materials stretch differently due to heat, how did the engineers compensate for such materials (for example, outer windows, perhaps door/cargo locks etc) stretching to different extends in comparison to the airframe? I mean 10 inches is a huge stretch, even if it means that the frame around a window is stretched by 1/5th or 1/10th of an inch, it's still a pretty big stretch for the material "attached" to the frame to be able to compensate.
+George G. That I am unfortunately unsure how to answer. My only guess would be that the windows were designed to somehow be able to withstand the changes in airframe size/shape. Bear in mind that the windows on Concorde are very small compared to a regular commercial airliner and would most likely be made of a much thicker layer of glass.
+Alexander McAllister True, and the nose really got HOT! The highest temperature that aluminium could sustain over the life of the aircraft was 127 °C (261 °F), which limited the top speed to Mach 2.02.[86]Concorde went through two cycles of heating and cooling during a flight, first cooling down as it gained altitude, then heating up after going supersonic. The reverse happened when descending and slowing down. This had to be factored into the metallurgical and fatigue modelling. A test rig was built that repeatedly heated up a full-size section of the wing, and then cooled it, and periodically samples of metal were taken for testing.[87][88] The Concorde airframe was designed for a life of 45,000 flying hours.[89]Owing to air compression in front of the plane as it travelled at supersonic speed, the fuselage heated up and expanded by as much as 300 mm (almost 1 ft).
+Alexander McAllister I also hear that this stretching caused a gap to open up in the cockpit, and on the last flight the captain and flight crew put some memorabilia in it. At least that's what James May mentions in his book.
+Mau506 It is possible, just not economical. Today, airline business is all about minimizing risk while hauling as many assess as cheaply as possible in a race to the bottom on ticket prices.
+Mau506 It was too ineficient, wasting 3 times the amount of fuel than a B-777 when the triple seven carries 3 times more pople and 4 to 6 times more cargo Besides it had dangerous take offs and landings, it´s delta wing required higer speeds due to less lift at low speeds
solountipomas It wasn't quite a grim on the fuel efficiency, but it was pretty grim nonetheless. It had about 3x the fuel consumption of a 757, not a 777.
+totoritko Yes, i´m sorry, that´s what happens when you trust something wroted in a fórum. Concord wasted 13 Litres per Kilometre and B-777 10L But any way the triple seven carries 440 passengers. That´s 4 times the capacity of the Concorde
solountipomas "But any way the triple seven carries 440 passengers." Depends on the model and seating layout. Most -300 models (the largest ones) rarely exceed 400 in seating and more typically seat about 300 to 360 passengers. 440 is the theoretical maximum in a high-density single-class layout (which nobody uses). But of course, this doesn't change the facts you mentioned. The Concorde was a gas guzzler, consuming on average 4-6x more fuel per seat than any subsonic jets. Now fuel cost alone isn't equivalent to total operating costs. There's also the expense associated with maintenance of the fleet. By being able to fly more missions and transport more passengers in the same amount of time, she was in theory cheaper on maintenance (assuming she had ever been run at capacity, as most airliners are), but I highly doubt these benefits ever materialized.
while the air temperature outside is at -53 C, the Concorde's windows get CONSIDERABLY hotter due to atmospheric compression. Basically, when you are travelling that fast, the air around you doesn't have enough time to move around you, causing it to get compressed and heated up. This is effectively a more mellow version of the heat from atmospheric re-entry.
JUST THINK ABOUT THIS You're sitting 57,000 feet up in the air inside a metal tube with sheet metal wings sticking out the sides that has four RollsRoyce engines bolted to it, that are propelling you across planet Earth faster than a rifle bullet.... And everyone just stays calm and has steak and wine.... Truly Amazing.
+John McMahon I think if people had a sense of their surroundings (like the roads and trees you see outside bullet trains) to compare how fast they were going, they would care less about the stability of their champagne glasses and would be jumping around like excited kindergarten kids.
we are in the future, you can hop across the pond on 787 for less than $300 a seat. That is much more exciting than a meme jet that was a complete failure financialy
I flew Concorde in 1989 from LHR to JKF. I missed my TWA 747 flight, couldn't wait for the next day flight. One of the best decisions I've ever made. Expensive but no one in the history of my family has ever flown so fast or high as I. They may have been stronger, smarter or richer than I but this honour was mine. The walls of the plane are heated. You look out the window and see no wing while it is a delta form. The moon is round but not smooth due to crater impacts so it is spikey looking above the atmosphere. I never lost the sight of the sun. The best for last is that although Concorde took off 3 hours later than the TWA 747, I was sitting and drinking a beer in my apartment 2 hours before the flight I missed was due to land.
Would you be able to see the sun and moon at the same time? Could you see the curvature of the earth? I think it was a better experience for you on that airplane than paying a million plus to go up in Branson's bottle rocket.
@@Wa3ypx Couldn't see the sun and the moon at the same time. We were chasing the sun and as we were flying the sun was rising as the moon was sinking. Saw the curvature of the Earth!
@@voicetube By the way, this particular one (G-BOAG) was built in 1977. The interior of the British fleet was modified starting in the early 1990s though, adding new seats and those dot-matrix displays, for instance.
It was his daily routine and it was one of his last flights with the plane. He knew he is never again flying supersonic. Its going back to regular, boring subsonic jets which never required any special skill to fly them. What I believe, hit every one of concorde pilots, is feeling of being demoted. Like being one of few 4 star generals and you are demoted to brigadier for the rest of your career.
Not exactly. I believe it used to leave nyc around 9 a.m. With a 3 1/2 hour flight to London + time difference - it would have arrived approx 5:30 p.m. London time.
I waited for over an hour with a bunch of other people to watch the Concorde take off from our airport. It was amazing and very fast, like a rocket. Then an ordinary plane took off after it, and everyone laughed - it looked like a lumbering elephant by comparison. It climbed so slowly, it seemed to be straining to stay aloft.
Turbulence is a lot of the issue with modern planes, but they're not even close to designed to run in the upper atmosphere where the low pressure would eliminate that. Would be neat to see some sort of hybrid between a Concord and your average passenger jet, something that sits above 30k but doesn't have the frankly silly engines that the Concord did. Don't think any of the plane companies care at this point though
@@Voltomessthere is literally a whole section on its wiki about negative environmental effects. Would you rather an increased chance of melanoma every time you walk outside for the rest of your life, or miss out on going on a really fast luxury ride? Use your brain
I was lucky to fly Concorde London to New York in 1979 at age 26. 3 hrs 23 mins. Left London at 11 am. Arrived New York at 9.30 - beating the rotation of the earth. There is a saying that flying Concorde if you left London after sunset, you could experience sunrise in the West!!. Total seating was 110 with 4 to a row. The cabin was fairly narrow. Our earlier Concorde only had a little blue digital Mach meter high on the bulkhead. Fastest speed we saw was Mach 2.02. Highest height was 60,000 feet. You could see the deep indigo of space and the curvature of the earth. It was much cheaper when I flew. In 1982 they doubled the price of Concorde tickets and it finally started to make a profit. Gee I was so lucky. My company paid half the fare and I paid the other half. My car by contrast was a rather slow Citroen 2CV6. 2 cylinders and a max speed of 115 kph. For the new cost of the 2CV in 1979 I could have Concorde 4 times. In 1982 London to New York return (2 flights) would have consumed the cost of my car... Yikes. Sure was a privilege. Hope it is a reality again for others by 2023 - two decades after the last Concorde.
I was lucky enough to fly on this incredible piece of engineering when I was 16. I think you had to be 15 years old to fly on it but my father worked for BOAC/BA for 25 years and he knew everyone and everyone knew him. I still have my menu from the flight that was autographed by the cockpit crew. God rest my father's soul, I will never forget this trip with him? RIP Dad 🙏🏴🇺🇲
@@MatthewJonAmison because it's using both Metric and Imperial measurements. Using Kilometers & Celsius and/or Feet & Fahrenheit makes sense but combining them just seems odd
I lived miles and miles away from Heathrow airport, in Greenwich, but every Sunday I would hear it's approach and run outside into the garden to look up and see this white swan of the skies glide over above. To hear the captains detailed commentary of the 'science, technology and it's airborne 'prowess' was just amazing, knowing that 'you' are about to experience that first hand!. (although sitting in front of a a display reading 55,000 feet above ground and, flying at M1, along with the outside air pressure would personally unnerve me!) But it was just an amazing sight to see and admire in awe.
We used to hear the sonic boom here on the island of Jersey as she went super sonic over the English Channel heading to the US. I miss hearing that, lol
It’s actually the opposite, because we continued to dream and create and innovate, things like the World Wide Web were globalized and video chat across continents became reality. After that the Concorde became obsolete....
+Lord Sandwich Ha ha yes I know. I read in the news that they plan to do airshows, charity work and the odd paying flight. I'd sell my own body parts to go supersonic in that beast
+Lord Sandwich The days are coming closer... If you see the effort put in the new planes from Airbus and Boeing, It's not going to take long until we can fly on Mach 2 again...
Literally, one of the best captain announcements ever made. He is literally explaining each and every stuff at every moment of the flight and all the cool facts related to the Concorde whilst flying that amazing bird! Hats off to that great flight crew!
Arjun Padmakumar They killed the bleeding 747? That’s a crying shame. I miss the Concorde as much as the next man who could afford luxurious flights at Mach 2, but killing off the world’s greatest jumbo jet is real disappointing.
Considering there were only 23 Concorde pilots, yes, this would be extremely exciting for the pilots, and an experience that many extremely experienced pilots could only dream of.
Every plane should have these Mach no. And alt. Numbers for the passengers. Even in the boring old 737 cruise can still be fun flying on the edge of performance, catching a jetstream and giving her some gas!!
Had British Airways sold them to Virgin as requested, you would still be able to. It's such a shame that the petty feud between the two airlines lead to them rotting in hangars.
There was still the issue of safety of the planes, most planes can fly for 20-30 years of service as life is based on time flown and miles, not years. The SST leaked like sloppy mess on the ground and required constant maintenance. Only once the plane was airborne and cruising at M1 would the seals stop leaking. Virgin Airways is working on a replacement but it's still years away.
1310 Mph= 2100km/hr at 53,000 ft that's just unimaginable!!! No words. Those are the lucky ones who could have that unmatched lifetime experience. Insane Engineering!!! Masterpiece of Engineering
The pilot's speech in the end brings tears to my eyes, you can tell that he had a passion for flying this aircraft and was sad and maybe a little mad that it was going to be retired.
Every captain should be like this captain. It's wonderful to hear him and in many ways, it helps ease the more nervous passengers slightly I'm sure. Beautiful aircraft. Thank you for this look back.
James Knowles although I personally like the flight crew announcements I have to disagree with you there. Most travellers would be annoyed with the captain on the PA this much as in today's planes he'd be interrupting their IFE.
pretty sure that was the second officer talking the whole time, there is no chance the captain nor the first officer would have time for so much chatting
The coolest thing about the Concorde was when flying east to west like London to NYC, you were pretty much flying back in time. You would arrive in NYC before you left London, due to crossing 6 time zones in 3 hours.
My flat was under the Concorde flight path into Heathrow and every day at 4.15 she would fly towards us an then bank to the left to continue its approach. Never failed to watch it without a smile on my face every single time. Amazing aircraft
I went to do a vacation/study period in London for a couple of summers, in my teens (it was the mid '80s) and both times I stayed around Twickenham and Hounslow, so right under the approach corridor for one of Heathrow's runways. Being that the first Concorde of the day passed a bit before seven in the morning, or something like that, I always joked that I had a Concorde for an alarm clock. 😅
It could actually fly even faster and higher if not for those engines. The air was simply too thin. Scramble is too expensive, so I think Electric turbofans is the way to go. We just need better batteries, or more efficient fuel cells.
+George Rellas It was too ineficient, wasting 3 times the amount of fuel than a B-777 when the triple seven carries 3 times more pople and 4 to 6 times more cargo
This is kind of the life i would dream for. It's late 90s, the world has very little care, people are happy and life is good. You're flying London to New York for a business meeting. You depart London at 10am, arriving in New York at 8am local time because you have beaten the time zones. You arrive at JFK looking out the window at the Manhattan skyline seeing the twin towers in all their glory. You make very important business decisions while making good money. Concorde returns you home that day in time to sit down for dinner with your wife and children back in London conversing your wonderful day travelling a combined 8000 miles and seeing the other side of the world.
Flew it in 1982 JFK to London. A wedding gift from my father. Amazed how small the cabin was and how short a flight to London was. Fanciest meal I’ve ever had on a plane.
Amazing aircraft. Very noisy at takeoff. I worked in Feltham and twice a day it took off from Heathrow and the vibrations used to set off the car alarms in the carpark! It was an amazing noise. I suppose no different from a military jet. Im sure local residents are glad its gone.I dont but i didnt live there!
You probably would spend the entire flight gripping tightly your chair and praying for it to be over as soon as possible. It must be such a horrifying experience.
20 years ago, today was the Concorde's final flight. A short trip from London to Filton (Aerospace Bristol Museum) where it remains on display, along with the 17 other remaining aircraft around the world. You truly don't comprehend how large and how beautiful it is until you see it up close, which I did at the Smithsonian Museum in Chantilly, VA. It was so large that the Smithsonian could only park it diagonally in the hangar, they literally had to re-arrange everything else around it to make it fit. What...a...monster.
Colin Wolf It would be sweet, but in this age, it would never be cost effective. Book the 3 room apartment on Etihad and I think you could get over it....It will take longer but you'll be so spoiled by your butler and so comfy you wouldn't notice...
Purrplehaze surely with the technology and materials that we have today we can design a more economical supersonic aircraft for the masses. Concorde was 50/60s technology.
The reason they discontinued the Concorde because it uses supersonic jet engines, which is not economical, heck, it probably goes 1 mile to the gallon, plus, the engines were WAY too loud, and last, it requires high maintenance.
It’s kind of terrifying that all those wires and parts that make this Concorde fly has to work every second. How was this machine even achieved?! I can’t even describe in words what I’m trying to explain. This aircraft has to be perfect and nothing fail for many flights and with 90 miles of wiring, this is mind blowing to think about how much of a adrenaline rush it would be to be brave enough to ride on this bullet!!🤯🥵
It's an amazing feat of engineering, but towards the end of its life the Concorde fleet suffered quite a few technical failures. None of these incidents were fatal* - some were minor, and for others the skill of the pilots pulled the plane through without major concern. That was part of the reason Concorde was withdrawn from service. *The Air France Concorde crash of 2000 was caused by the aircraft running over debris on the runway, not unforced technical failures.
I can explain the windows getting hot, friction! When Concorde flew supersonic, the skin of the aircraft got very hot. So even though the outside air temperature was in the -50's, the skin was anywhere around 110 - 125C (that's plus!). If you could walk out onto the wing you could easily fry an egg or cook some bacon on the wing. This heating also caused the aircraft to expand in length by almost a foot. You could see this expansion on the flight deck near the Flight Engineer's panel. Concorde could not exceed a temperature of 127C and this in turn limited it's supersonic speed to Mach 2.02. The heating was also the reason why Concorde was white in colour. The special paint helped to reduce the temperature.
I always found the expansion due to the heat fascinating. Apparently on one of the last Concorde flight the pilots put their caps in the gap between the panel and the bulkhead, so when the flight landed the caps were permanently wedged against the flight engineer's panel.
Tuneman1984 Yeah that's true. A lot of the pilots did that on their last supersonic flights. If you visit Concorde G-BOAC at Manchester I think you can see a cap still stuck in the gap. G-BOAG went to Seattle and there was also a stuck cap there until a sightseer stole it. Concorde was way ahead of it's time and it's sad seeing them rot away in museums.
+DarkLight753 I hope they go ahead with plans to make a Concorde two it was ahead of its time but unfortunately it lacked the fuel efficiency 😞 and i don't know what it was like for safety either honestly
'We hope to fly you again soon, even if it's on a Jumbo' And now thanks to the pandemic, even the Jumbo is going. so sad. I grew up near Heathrow, and I still miss standing in the street watching Concorde roar over head, leaving a trail of car alarms in her wake!
You are lucky to ever have experienced this! Last week, I went to Düsseldorf airport by bicycle and I was quite happy to have a plain normal A320 fly over (Turkish Airways it was).
What an experience. Made me teary watching this. My beloved mum and dad have since passed but I could imagine them sitting there together as they loved flying on the Concord; especially when their dear friend captain John one of the then captains of this amazing aircraft was flying. Praying they made it to heaven ❤
They made it, and they're travelling around the skies in their own Concorde, being treated to steak, champagne, and are together for eternity. They saved a seat for every one of their family members, and they will greet you with a 'cheers' and a hug when you get on board ❤
Thank you for this video, I was on this flight and the aircraft is now in the Boeing Museum in Seattle, close to where I live. You were seated just a few seats behind me, I am the tall guy seated on the left window in front of the screen.
Emilioh888 Built by a French and British company that would eventually merge (along with other companies) to become Airbus, so Airbus supported it. No idea why it is in the Boeing museum.
@@Shaun81000 $13000 in today's money, and hell yes. Taking off in France at 12 and getting to NY at 10, decent legroom, champagne meal and seeing the curvature of the earth and craters on the moon vs sitting in a pod, bored to death, passing time watching movies for 7 hours. Hell yes.
@@drew388 Not sure if you are talking about dollars or pounds. If we take an example from 1997, the cost was $7,996 for a return ticket, at a time when the $/£ rate was about $1.70 to £1, so it cost around £4,700, which in 2020 would have been around £8,750, or around $12, 250 at today's ER.
Damn, it hit hard when he said next time they'll see it will be in a museum, sad to see such a marvel of aviation being retired like that even though it made such a big impact on the industry, it was inevitable though and I understand it was extremely costly and hard to operate, but still it was an amazing project made by two countries and it'll forever leave it's mark in the general culture of the world population, R.I.P Concorde, I really mean it
It were the selfish British Airways bosses that did not want concorde to fly anymore. Richard Branson Virgin Airlines offered to buy concorde and keep it flying but they refused to sell it 😡
I recently talked to my grandmother who is a former flight attendant on Concorde. She told me she always felt being in the guts of a beast onboard because of the narrowness and such power.
I saw it in a museum and you were able to get into the entrance and take a a look. It looked cramped as hell, no way current obese people would be able to board the Concorde, they might not even fit through the corridor ( i am obese and there's no way i would have had a comfortable flight in there). Still an amazing piece of engineering.
Roughly 3500 miles between NYC & London traveled at Mach 2, 1310mph means you could do the flight in 3ish hours including slowdown for takeoff and landing - that is absolutely insane.
Yes they can, because they are inside a pressurised cabin and not actually moving at all. The environment inside the cabin is not much different from your living room.
Great video- thanks! I've indeed seen this in a museum and just remember how tight it all felt. I would have peed my pants with all the sharp turns-and-afterburners-talk!!
adam s See the Concorde? Yea I definitely feel lucky I got to see it. But I sure was feeling even luckier that I had never flown it when I walked through the cabin. It feels much more claustrophobic than it looks in the video. Crashing in it must have been completely awful
+MilliVanilli Yes it was a smallish aircraft but I never felt claustrophobic in it, the legroom was generous and I am 6' 5" (1.98meters) tall, the interior reminded me of a DC8's layout.
+MilliVanilli Also another couple of things to remember is that as a passenger you were shown to your seat and any carry on bags were taken from you as you boarded the aircraft and stowed for you in the overhead lockers which were not shared with anyone else's bags. Another nice thing was that any coats were hung in the forward closets and were held up for you as you left the aircraft. The thing was that there was no pushing or shoving as there is now in big airliners, and the Concorde flew very smoothly and quietly which may seem surprising considering how fast it was traveling. I do miss the age of 'civilised' flight :-/)
Nikolay Nenov No that is wrong, the Concorde retired because it make much money and it was too expensive to maintain. Also, there was no interest for governments to get new tech and equipment for the planes. It was also was only allowed to fly supersonic over water which kinda restricted its use. fyi there was only 1 crash.
I was lucky enough to fly the NY London route on Concorde on four occasions. This video of the inside of the cabin is incredibly evocative of those flights which were amazing. The afterburner moment always made me a little nervous! I remember really well the crew and how well you were looked after and the quality of the food and wine. Amazing aircraft and very sad that option is no longer available.
Man it must of been awesome being a Concorde flight attendant. Imagine being able to ride in a supersonic jet several times a week and getting paid for it.
+funnyquacker I pitched a loaf at 59,000 - rumbley in the tumbley after champagne -caviar and lobster fish cakes- !!! tiny little bathrooms... that needed to be refitted if you catch my drift-..
Premium and packed in like a tin of sardines and at 5:32 you call that guck "premium food". Just look at all the mess around the edge of the dinner plate as well (I would not even serve that shit to a pig)!
Supersonic flight is more damaging to the environment than regular planes. There's also several other reasons why supersonic isn't the best option. If it was truly the answer to everything it wouldn't have been phased out.
Thank you for not adding music. Too many RU-vid vids are ruined by the addition of background music. The natual ambient sounds are always more interesting.
I really wish the Concorde had remained economically viable. 20 years since its retirement and we’ve yet to match its grace/speed/elegance…not even close.
This is a great video and brought back wonderful memories! I, too, flew on Concorde, in the opposite direction (London Heathrow to New York JFK) on September 14, 2003, a little more than a month before it was to be taken out of service. I remember that long takeoff roll, the nose wheel pitching up long before the main gear left the ground, the sharp right turn right after takeoff over dense London neighborhoods, and the feeling of afterburners kicking in once we got past the Bristol Channel. I didn't own a video camera, but I got still pictures on film. I remember the windows and the ceiling being hot due to air friction along the skin of the aircraft. The food was great and everyone's attitude was upbeat. I just found my still pics! We, too were at Mach 2.0/1310 mph at 55,000 ft., and -69 degrees Celsius (-92 deg. farenheit). Here is a piece of information that could not be confirmed. While talking to a British Airways employee at LHR before boarding (it might have been the pilot, I don't exactly remember), I learned the half of BA's Concorde customer base died in the World Trade Center on 9/11, thus making it economically impossible to keep flying Concorde. I am a private pilot, so this experience was super-exciting for me. Thanks, again, for the memories!
I flew it 4 times, once JFK-LHR, twice LHR-JFK and once CDG-JFK. Of all the "marvels" -- the high-end service, the absolute speed, getting to NY "before you left Europe" and the windows hot from friction when it was -50 degrees outside -- the one that made the greatest impression on me was flying high enough to perceive the curvature of the earth out at the horizon because that was an unmistakable confirmation of something that of course I knew was correct but could not have verified personally.
I had the great pleasure and privlage of flying the British Concorde four times. The ultimate altitude depends on atmospheric conditions. On one flight I could very clearly see the curvature of the Earth. The sky was deep purple. On one other flight, I could sort of see said curvature. BTW, the terrible crash at the French airport is/was due to that airport violating one of the vital rules for Concorde flights. Namely, the takeoff runway must be vacuumed prior to its use by Concorde. This is because there is always debris on runways; and, because with the four engines under the delta wings, the plane, itself, is a vacuum cleaner. Needless tragedy and lose of live. May those killed rest in peace.
5:45 the windows are hot because of the air compressability and friction during those speeds. The skin heated up to about 120+C (248+ F) and the limit temp for the structure was 127+ C. When flying in warmer climate the autopilot controlled speed by the aircraft skin temp and not by the mach number! Also, beacause of the heat concorde actually stretched about 23cm (9inch) during the flight so joints had to be installed throughout aircrafts structure. The cabin floor was sitting on rollers so the airframe around it could expand but not the cabin itself!
Let's suppose the pressure inside the cabin was same as outside, you had oxygen mask and somehow the low pressure didn't affect. Then what would happen if the windows were opened xD
It's unfortunate that the days of glamorous air travel are gone, now it's nothing more than people in cut off shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops. Now it's all about the dollar and cramming as many people as they can into a plane. No leg room, no meal service in most of the cabin, tired has-been FA's who are there for nothing more than a paycheck and flight benefits. The only flights where you get some pampering is if you are flying 1st class in UAE, Air China, Singapore and a few other foreign carriers. US airlines for the most part are terrible in customer service and they don't care once they have your money.
Mark W. The main problem is operating costs. A lot of fuel were needed for the afterburning turbojets of the Concorde and at Mach 2 you're burning up a serious amount of fuel every minute. There are two ways of solving this: 1) You invent some revolutionary new fuel that is cheap. Right now even regular jet airliners struggle with ever higher fuel costs, let alone a hypothetical new Concorde. 2) You invent some revolutionary new engine which uses little fuel at Mach 2 or more. If it uses as much as subsonic jets then supersonic airtravel will become commonplace. Neither 1 nor 2 will happen anytime soon I'm afraid. Technological revolutions don't happen very often. Right now there's also little impetus designing another supersonic airliner.
Sometimes you need to take a step backwards before going forward again. They haven't been on the Moon since 1972 either. Eventually they'll be back, as will another supersonic airliner.
Thank You so much for taking the Music off. Now it's like if one was on it & makes it a real treasure Video. Just like if You were actually on it right from Take off, Supersonic part & Landing hearing the actual sound of the reverse thrusts taking in. Truly one of the greatest aircraft's ever made.Thank You once again.
"Sobering thought next time you see it will be in a museum" I'm 58 years old and just missed having the resources to experience this amazing machine. Now we are going backwards fast. As a kid I really believed between Concorde and space flight we would be travelling at least to the outer reaches of our solar system during my lifetime. Instead we are to busy fighting and destroying our planet. My parents truly lived through the golden years and our children have little to look forward to.
