What was the altitude of the Concorde?

Capable of speeds over two times the speed of sound and at altitudes up to 60,000 feet (18,290 m), Concorde could fly from London to New York and return in the time it took a conventional aircraft to go one way.



The Concorde's typical cruising altitude was between 50,000 and 60,000 feet (approx. 15,000 to 18,000 meters). At this height, the aircraft flew well above the "weather" and the subsonic traffic that cruises between 30,000 and 40,000 feet. From this altitude, passengers could clearly see the curvature of the Earth against the blackness of the space-edge sky. Cruising at Mach 2.04, the aircraft actually "grew" in length by about 6 to 10 inches during flight due to the intense kinetic heating of the airframe. Flying so high was not just for speed; the thin air at 60,000 feet was necessary to reduce drag, allowing the four Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus engines to maintain supersonic speeds efficiently while providing a remarkably smooth ride for the 100 passengers on board.

People Also Ask

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

Supercharged: Concorde was the first -- and still only -- passenger aircraft that had turbojet engines with afterburners. Raw fuel was introduced into the exhaust of the plane's four engines, immediately increasing the engines' thrust by almost 20%.

MORE DETAILS

Technical, financial, and regulatory hurdles make a return to the skies extremely unlikely. Concorde is an aircraft that captures the imagination and is instantly recognizable even to non-aviation fanatics.

MORE DETAILS

On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590 crashed shortly after take-off with all 109 occupants and four on the ground killed. This was the only fatal incident involving Concorde; commercial service was suspended until November 2001.

MORE DETAILS

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.

MORE DETAILS

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.

MORE DETAILS

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!

MORE DETAILS

Cruising at Mach 2 – or 1,350 mph – at 60,000 feet, Concorde flew five miles above and 800 mph faster than the subsonic 747s plodding across the Atlantic. The radio chatter between aircraft could get interesting, according to Tye.

MORE DETAILS

Flying at this altitude not only helped save on fuel but also helped the jet save significant amounts of time, as at 60,000 feet, there were almost no jets that air traffic control would route Concordes around. The only aircraft flying beside the supersonic transport were either military aircraft or other Concordes.

MORE DETAILS

The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recorded the last intelligible words in the cockpit (translated into English): Co-pilot: Le Bourget, Le Bourget, Le Bourget. Pilot: Too late (unclear). Control tower: Fire service leader, correction, the Concorde is returning to runway zero nine in the opposite direction.

MORE DETAILS

It was just one minute 17 seconds after its pilot was told the plane was on fire. According to a report by the Mirror, Captain Christian Marty's last words on July 25, 2000, were: Too late... no time. The co-pilot was then heard to say: Le Bourget, Le Bourget.

MORE DETAILS

As the aircraft tried to gain speed for an emergency landing, Mr Marty, in his last words, was heard to say: Too late... No time. Just after 2.44pm, the co-pilot exclaimed: Le Bourget, Le Bourget.

MORE DETAILS

Boom Supersonic's Overture plane is slated to roll out in 2025, fly in 2026 and expected to carry passengers by 2029. Capable of flying at speeds of Mach 1.7 – twice the speed of today's fastest airliners – Overture will be able to connect more than 500 destinations in nearly half the time.

MORE DETAILS

The main reason is that the Concorde had a different design, engine, and fuel system than most fighters. These features allowed it to overcome the challenges and limitations of supersonic flight, such as drag, heat, noise, and fuel consumption.

MORE DETAILS

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

Thunderously noisy 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

Despite the crew being trained and certified, no plan existed for the simultaneous failure of two engines on the runway, as it was considered highly unlikely. Aborting the takeoff would have led to a high-speed runway excursion and collapse of the landing gear, which also would have caused the aircraft to crash.

MORE DETAILS