NOVA: What did a passenger feel on takeoff? Calvert: Even on the smoothest runway Concorde vibrated a lot on takeoff. If you sat in the way back of the cabin while the plane was taking off you could see that the entire 150-foot cabin was whipping up and down in the fishing-rod motion I described.

A Concorde takeoff was often described by passengers as a "double-kick" of pure power unlike any modern subsonic jet. The first sensation was the initial acceleration, but the defining moment occurred when the four Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus reheat (afterburner) engines were engaged. This felt like a "shove in the back" that pinned passengers into their seats, accompanied by a deafening roar and a distinct vibration throughout the cabin. Because the Concorde had a delta wing, it had to rotate at a much higher angle (about 18°) than normal planes, giving the sensation that you were climbing a steep, narrow staircase into the sky. Once the afterburners were turned off about 90 seconds later, there was a sudden "drop in power" sensation as the noise subsided. In 2026, as supersonic startups like Boom Supersonic enter testing, pilots still reference the Concorde's takeoff as the ultimate "raw" aviation experience where you could feel the transition from ground to high-speed flight viscerally.