Can Concorde fly subsonic?

Concorde were allowed to fly over land, but subsonically only. The Concorde was terribly inefficient, relatively speaking, at subsonic velocity in general. At supersonic speeds, the shockwave could cause real damage on the ground. Concorde was capable of Mach 2.04, 1,354 mph and cruised at altitude at 1,340 mph.



People Also Ask

The Concorde carried out supersonic flights until 2003, when it was retired. Also, because the plane flew faster than the speed of sound, it created a sonic boom, an explosive noise caused by shock waves that were a nuisance to people on the ground.

MORE DETAILS

Concorde used the most powerful pure jet engines flying commercially. The Aircraft's four engines took advantage of what is known as 'reheat' technology, adding fuel to the final stage of the engine, which produced the extra power required for take-off and the transition to supersonic flight.

MORE DETAILS

Afterburning was added to Concorde for take-off to cope with weight increases that came after the initial design. It was also used to accelerate through the high-drag transonic speed range, not because the extra thrust was required, but because it was available and improved the operating economics.

MORE DETAILS

No - a sonic boom is a cone-shaped compression wave that spreads out and backwards from the nose and other forward-facing surfaces of a supersonic plane. People inside the plane didn't hear a thing.

MORE DETAILS

Over the Irish sea and rapidly running out of fuel the Tornado had a hard time catching up with the mighty Concorde. Over more than a hundred miles or so, 5–10 minutes the Concord could outrun every fighter.

MORE DETAILS

Did Concorde ever perform a barrel roll – well yes and the video below will tell you all about it. It was performed by one of British Airways' most celebrated pilots Brian Walpole.

MORE DETAILS

Concorde has an Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS), which in the 1970s, at the time when it was installed within the aircraft, was state of the art. There are in fact two mains parts to the AFCS, the Autothrottles and the Autopilot, but there are also a number of other associated systems.

MORE DETAILS

Fifty years ago, the federal government banned all civilian supersonic flights over land. The rule prohibits non-military aircraft from flying faster than sound so their resulting sonic booms won't startle the public below or concern them about potential property damage.

MORE DETAILS

The Concorde was famously loud: a take-off at Washington airport in 1977 measured 119.4 decibels. By comparison, a clap of thunder hits 120 decibels while the pain threshold for the human ear is around 110.

MORE DETAILS

Such speed didn't come cheap, though: A transatlantic flight required the high-maintenance aircraft to gulp jet fuel at the rate of one ton per seat, and the average round-trip price was $12,000.

MORE DETAILS

It had no flaps or slats (high-lift devices on the wing) and always used full power with reheat for takeoff,” explains former British Airways Concorde captain John Tye.

MORE DETAILS