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Did the Concorde ever fly to Brazil?

DALLAS — Today in Aviation, Anglo-French Concorde made its first-ever trans-Atlantic crossing in 1971 to Brazil. Concorde 001 (F-WTSS) left Toulouse as part of a two-week tour of South America, bound for Rio de Janeiro.



Yes, the Concorde had a long and storied relationship with Brazil. In fact, Rio de Janeiro was one of the destinations for the world's first-ever commercial supersonic flights on January 21, 1976. Air France operated a route from Paris to Rio (with a technical stop in Dakar, Senegal) that took only about 6 to 7 hours, roughly half the time of a conventional jet. Before these commercial services began, the prototype Concorde 001 conducted a two-week promotional tour of South America in 1971, visiting both Rio and São Paulo. While the route was prestigious, Air France eventually suspended the supersonic service to Rio in 1982 due to its high operating costs and lower-than-expected passenger demand compared to the North Atlantic routes. Today, memories of the "white bird" landing at Galeão Airport remain a significant part of Brazil's aviation history, and philatelists still trade stamps commemorating those historic 1976 flights.

People Also Ask

Concorde Destinations
  • Africa. Abidjan. Agadir. Antanarivo. Aswan. Bamako. ...
  • The Americas. Abbotsford. Acapulco. Albany. Andrews AFB. ...
  • Australasia. Auckland. Brisbane. Christchurch. Darwin. ...
  • Europe & Middle East. Aarhus. Aalborg. Abu Dhabi. Albacete. ...
  • Far East. Bali. Bangkok. Bangui. Beijing. ...
  • United Kingdom. Aberdeen. Belfast. Birmingham. Boscombe Down.


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British Airways and Air France were the only two airlines who operated the aircraft. It's said that during the aircraft's 27 years of service, there were more qualified American astronauts than there were British Airways Concorde pilots.

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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.

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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.

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The aircraft quickly proved itself unquestionably as it reached speeds of up to 1,354 mph. To put that into context, that is around 800 mph faster than a Boeing 747 and over 350 mph faster than the earth spins on its axis!

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Overtures toward commercial supersonic flight Overture will be a successor to the last commercial supersonic aircraft, the Concorde, which operated between 1969 and 2003.

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Concorde is sadly no longer flying, but it is still possible to visit some of the remaining 18 airframes, there are others not open to the public but you can still see them.

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Elsewhere, the frames at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington and another in Barbados have been preserved to a high standard. Despite the ongoing preservation, none of these Concordes are anywhere close to being airworthy.

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Concorde was also popular with the Queen and celebrities. Joan Collins travelled with the aircraft so frequently that she became something of an ambassador for the service. Other notable passengers included Elton John, Mick Jagger, Elizabeth Taylor and Sean Connery.

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Of its final, celeb-studded passenger flight, CNN's Quest says: It didn't matter how famous you were, the star was the plane. Faster than a speeding bullet: 20 years after it last flew, Concorde remains unsurpassed in terms of speed in the world of commercial flight.

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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.

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But Concorde's long, pointed nose had a hinge. As the plane took off, landed, and taxied, the pilots tilted its nose forward so that they could see the runway. For supersonic flight, the nose was hydraulically lifted, streamlining the plane's shape and allowing it to efficiently pierce the air.

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BA never suffered a serious accident with its seven strong fleet. Concorde service was profitable by the late 1980s and if not for the economic downturn and Air France Concorde crash of 2000, may have survived to this day.

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In real life, Diana took several trips aboard the Concorde, both with Prince Charles and solo.

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