NASA wants to build the next Concorde, bringing in a new age of supersonic jets that hopefully won’t rupture your eardrum. But in order to do that safely, there needs to be research and lots of it.
NASA’s new series of bullet-shaped “X-planes” are the first step towards trying to resurrect the dream of supersonic air travel.
In addition to wowing us with a heartbreaking 120,000-piece model of the Titanic breaking in two, Ryan McNaught also spent the month of December building an incredibly-detailed model of an Air France Concorde that reveals all of the supersonic plane’s inner workings and details.
We were promised supersonic flights. Today, we stay well below the speed of sound. We were promised transatlantic flights from New York to London in 3 and a half hours. Today, that flight takes us 7 hours. We were promised the future of flying. That future hasn't existed for 10 years. The last flight of the Concorde …
Lunch break? Like planes? Watch this old documentary on the story of the Concorde, the first and only turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner in history. It was created by the French and the British. The 20 planes flew for 27 years, mainly between London Heathrow and Paris-Charles de Gaulle to New York JFK.
When you think of super sonic flight, you probably first think of the Concorde. But that wasn't the first super sonic transporter and it certainly wasn't the first commercial plane break the sound barrier. Those honors belong to the Tupolev TU-144, the USSR's only super sonic transport.
There's a reason why the Concorde only few over the Atlantic Ocean: Sonic booms. If every airplane were supersonic, it'd be extremely noisy and annoying. Fortunately, NASA is working in a solution.
The Concorde was birthed as a symbol. It was a symbol of diplomacy (the result of a treaty between France and England) and a symbol of progress (the first commercial supersonic airliner). But it died a symbol of failure.
While it was an abject financial, engineering, and public relations nightmare, the Concorde was certainly a beautiful, beautiful machine. And up until the 1988 gathering at Heathrow Airport, pictured here, they had never been photographed together in such great numbers.
He says he's not obsessive—we'll leave that for you to decide. But Nathan Shedroff certainly has an obsessive eye for good design, prompting him to amass an multi-year collection of stuff you would have found aboard the jet.
Ever wondered what it was like to fly in a Concorde? Ever wondered what it was like to fly a Concorde? Then dive into these pannable, zoomable panoramas of the aircraft (as well as some less peaceful supersonic birds).
Thanks to Scotland's Museum of Flight, you can look at high resolution photos of every inch of the cockpits of bombers, fighter jets, and the Concorde. Dials, toggles and gauges cover every surface in these tiny rooms.
Many of our Gizmodo '79 posts have illustrated just how far we've come in the past three decades, but in one important tech example, 1979 kicks 2009's ass: The Concorde Jet.
The Concorde fleet was grounded a long time ago but, if you want to pilot one, now you can thanks to the full simulator just restored at the Brooklands Museum in Surrey, UK. For free:
It's like those sci-fi rich guys who collect everything including somebody's frozen head, only it's real: Dubai collectors—possibly the same ones turning the QE2 ocean liner into a hotel—are trying to buy BA's last Concorde.
Damn, we missed the Concorde's 40th Anniversary yesterday. I love this amazing view of its cockpit. Looks like the cockpit in a military plane or spaceship rather than one in a passenger airliner. [Fast Company]
This weekend marked the fifth anniversary of the last commercial flight of the Concorde. Capable of flying at a cruise speed of Mach 2.02 thanks to its four Olympus 593 Mk 610 afterburning turbojets, the Concorde bridged London to New York in just 3.5 hours. Still today, this supersonic jet remains one of the most…
This Lego Concorde may not be as big as the Lego Airbus A380, the biggest Lego airplane in the world, but it's still huge. It's not only pretty, but this huge plane can maintain its structural integrity while being swooshed around by Ed Diment. It also allowed me to easily make bad headline puns, which is always a…
As the auction of Concorde gear in Toulouse enters its last day, let's see what's been snapped up, shall we? Well, you could have had a supersonic toilet seat (which goes even faster than this one) for just $3,674. But the two most interesting pieces, a machometer, and a set of the supersonic plane's landing gear,…
The iconic embodiment of the commercial airline supersonic era is being sold off piece by piece in France. Scheduled to take place from September 28th to October 1st at the Halle aux Grains in Toulouse, folks with a big love for aviation and even bigger bank accounts will no doubt gather to try to snag a piece of…
