Origin: Concorde was jointly developed and produced by Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty. The origins of the of the Concorde project date back to 1950s, when Morien Morgan developed a committee to study supersonic transport (SST). First flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued commercial flights for 27 years. A total of 20 aircrafts were built; seven each delivered to Air France and British Airways, and 6 prototypes. Purpose: The purpose of the Concorde was to provide fast transportation from place to place. For the people during that period, time was a major concern. Concorde was invented because, at the time, the jet engine airliners were still relatively new. The general feeling was that since we'd already shrunk the world by a factor of two with the advent of the jet airliner, it only stood to reason that we should do it again with an SST. At the time, it seemed like the next logical step.
Value: Concorde is by far the most symbolic aircraft in the world; her shape is one of gracefulness and pure beauty. The Concorde was a huge step in aviation because for the first time, there were airliners that carried passengers that could go faster than the speed of sound. Flight durations were now cut into half and made air travel faster than ever. Many people were attracted to it for its fast speeds and revolutionary technology.
Limitations: The Concorde got discontinued in 2003 for many reason such as the general downturn in aviation, the 9/11 attacks, a major crash, mechanical problems, the high maintenance cost, and low economic gains. Both British Airways and Air France cited that after the 9/11 attacks, there was slump in air travel and not enough money to maintain the aircrafts. Another factor that played a part in its retirement was the crash (video above), which was caused by mechanical problems. After the investigation on this crash, it was revealed that most all of the Concordes had the same problem, and were bound to have similar crash. Sources: 1. http://www.concordelegacy.org.uk/en/concorde/?legacy=rtf
2.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/131246/Concorde
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