Concorde completed its first supersonic flight on 1 October 1969. With space for 100 passengers and 2.5 tonnes of cargo, Concorde could fly from London to New York in under 3 hours. Concorde used the most powerful pure jet engines flying commercially. The Aircraft’s four engines took advantage of what is known as ‘reheat’ technology, which added fuel to the final stage of the engine. This produced the extra power required for take-off and the transition to supersonic flight.
Concorde’s fastest transatlantic crossing was on 7 February 1996 when it completed the New York to London flight in a record breaking 2 hours 52 minutes and 59 seconds. On 24 October 2003, British Airways withdrew Concorde, bringing to a close the world’s only supersonic passenger service. The final scheduled commercial flight was BA002 from JFK operated by G-BOAG.
30 Greatest Moments In Aviation – in association with Breitling, celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the timeless Chronomat., For more information visit breitling.com or follow them on Twitter
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