Concorde project

1. I. Introduction:
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde is a supersonic transportation (SST) that jointly developed and
produced by Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French
treaty. First flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued commercial flights
for 27 years.
Among other destinations, Concorde flew regular transatlantic flight in less than half the time
of other airliners.
With only 20 aircraft built, the development of Concorde was a substantial economic loss; Air
France and British Airways also received considerable government subsidies to purchase them.
Concorde was retired in 2003 due to a general downturn in the aviation industry after the
type'sonly crash in 2000, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and a decision by Airbus, the
successor firm of Aérospatiale and BAC, to discontinue maintenance support.
Concorde's name reflects the development agreement between the United Kingdom and
France. The aircraft is regarded by many people as an aviation icon and an engineering marvel.
II. Development:
1. Early studies:
Early 1950s, when Arnold Hall, director of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) asked Morien
Morgan to form a committee to study the SST concept. The group met for the first time in
February 1954 and delivered their first report in April 1955. In an SST design, this would have
required enormous engine power to lift off from existing runways, and to provide the fuel
needed, "some horribly large aeroplanes" resulted. Based on this, the group considered the
concept of an SST unfeasible, and instead suggested continued low-level studies into supersonic
aerodynamics.
2. Slender deltas:
Soon after, Dietrich Küchemann at the RAE published a series of reports on a new wing known
as the "slender delta" concept. Küchemann's papers changed the entire nature of supersonic
design almost overnight
Küchemann presented the idea at a meeting where Morgan was also present, he immediately
seized on it as the solution to the SST problem. This is considered to be the true birth of the
Concorde project.
3. STAC
On 1 October 1956 the Ministry of Supply asked Morgan to form a new study group, the
Supersonic Transport Advisory Committee or STAC, with the explicit goal of developing a
practical SST design and finding industry partners to build it.
4. Ogee planform selected:

2. While the wing planform was evolving, so was the basic SST concept. Bristol's original Model
198 was a small design with an almost pure slender delta wing, but evolved into the larger
Model 223 with an ogival wing and canards as well.
5. Partnership with Sud:
By this time similar political and economic concerns in France had led to their own SST plans. A
single design emerged that differed primarily in fuel load. More powerful engines, being
developed for the TSR-2, allowed either design to be powered by only four engines.
6. Cabinet response, treaty
The development project was negotiated as an international treaty between the two countries
rather than a commercial agreement between companies and included a clause, originally
asked for by the UK, imposing heavy penalties for cancellation. A draft treaty was signed on 29
November 1962.
7. Naming:
Reflecting the treaty between the British and French governments which led to Concorde's
construction, the name Concorde is from the French word concorde which has an English
equivalent, concord. Both words mean agreement, harmony or union.
8. Sales efforts:
The consortium secured orders (i.e., non-binding options) for over 100 of the long-range
version from the major airlines of the day: Pan Am, BOAC, and Air France were the launch
customers, with six Concordes each.
9. Testing:
While Concorde had initially held a great deal of customer interest, the project was hit by a
large number of order cancellations. The Paris Le Bourget air show crash of the competing
Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 had shocked potential buyers, and public concern over the
environmental issues presented by a supersonic aircraft – the sonic boom, takeoff-noise and
pollution – had produced a shift in public opinion of SSTs. By 1976 four nations remained as
prospective buyers: Britain, France, China, and Iran. Only Air France and British Airways (the
successor to BOAC) took up their orders, with the two governments taking a cut of any profits
made. The US, India, and Malaysia all ruled out Concorde supersonic flights over the noise
concern, although some of these restrictions were later relaxed.
Concorde had other considerable difficulties: Costs more than six times, world events, the 1973
oil crisis and new wide-body aircraft, such as the Boeing 747, had recently made subsonic
aircraft significantly more efficient and presented a low-risk option for airlines. An emerging
trend in the industry in favour of cheaper airline tickets had also caused airlines such as Qantas
to question Concorde's market suitability.

3. III. Concord Accident: Air France Flight 4590 Crask
1. Overview
On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590,
registration F-BTSC, crashed in Gonesse, France
after departing from Paris Charles de Gaulle en
route to John F. Kennedy International
Airport in New York City, killing all 100
passengers and nine crew members on board the
flight, and four people on the ground. It was the
only fatal accident involving Concorde.
Prior to the accident, Concorde had been
arguably the safest operational passenger airliner
in the world in terms of passenger deaths-per-kilometer
travelled with zero, but had a rate of
tyre damage some 30 times higher than
subsonic airliners from 1995 to 2000.
2. Reasons of the crash:
The investigators concluded that:
 The aircraft was overloaded by 810
kilograms (1,790 lb) above the maximum
safe takeoff weight.
 After reaching takeoff speed, the tyre of
the number 2 wheel was cut by a metal
strip (a wear strip) lying on the runway
from another plane.
 The aircraft was airworthy and the crew
were qualified. The landing gear that later failed to retract had not shown serious problems
in the past. 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.
 While two of the engines had problems and one of them was shut down, the damage to the
plane's structure was so severe that the crash would have been inevitable, even with the
engines operating normally.
IV. The progress of Concorde retirement
July 25, 2000: Air France Concorde crashes near Paris, killing 113 people
August 15, 2000: BA takes Concorde out of service

4. November 7, 2001: Passenger services resume after safety improvements
10 April 2003: Air France and British Airways simultaneously announced that they would retire
Concorde later that year.
May 31, 2003: Last Air France Concorde flight
October 24, 2003: Last BA Concorde flight
V. Causes of Concorde retirement
Despite failing in the mass commercial market, the Concorde did maintain a market niche for 24
years before a crash in Paris plunged the Concorde’s safety rating from the best to the
worst. The subsequent maintenance costs and safety upgrades yielded a significant increase in
the aircraft’s operating costs. . Despite all of these setbacks, British Airways and Air France
continued to operate the Concorde until Airbus announced in 2003 that it would cease to
support the aging aircrafts. With no technical support for the Concorde, it was retired from
service at both airlines in 2003, ending the period of supersonic commercial travel for the
foreseeable future
It was all down to Cost:
1. Concorde was retired in 2003 due to low passenger number, a general downturn in the
aviation industry after the 25th July, 2000 crash in Air France Flight 4590 and the 9/11
terrorist attacks in 2001. When Concorde was suspended for a short time after the
accident in 2000, both the airlines realised that their passengers remained loyal to the
airline brands and flew First Class in their subsonic aircrafts instead.
2. High Operational Cost - The Airlines were not making back the money spent on the
safety modifications and other upgrades, with some other big costs coming up (tens of
millions, before any life extension programme), BA need to write off £84M now rather
than £150M in 3 or 4 years. Air France wrote off a large sum of money too.The
maintenance cost and fuel costs per passenger was too high considering the limit in the
payload the aircraft could carry. Moreover, Airbus, the successor firm of Aérospatiale
and BAC decided to discontinue maintenance support for Concorde. Although Concorde
was technologically advanced when introduced in the 1970s, 30 years later, its analogue
cockpit was dated. There had been little commercial pressure to upgrade Concorde due
to a lack of competing aircraft, unlike other airliners of the same era such as the
Boeing 747.
3. Concorde made an tidy operating profit for the airlines, but with the premium first class
market as it is post September 11th 2001, there is no hope of the airlines being able to
fund this investment and keep the aircraft in profit. Therefore, the airlines decided to
write off the current levels of investment in the aircraft, of around £100M, rather than
risk having to write off sums that could top £200M in the coming years, if the premium
travel market did not improve.

5. 4. The Airlines are not making back the money spent on the safety modifications and other
upgrades. With some other big costs coming up (tens of millions, before any life
extension programme), Brishtish Airway need to write off £84M now, rather than
£150M in 3 or 4 years. Air France will write off a large sum of money too.
5. No keen interest by the British and the French Government to upgrade the aircraft or its
technology. Concorde was the only aircraft in 2000 which housed a Flight Engineer - a
position eliminated by all commercial aircrafts due to sophistication of the Cockpit
instruments. While the entire world had moved into digital glass cockpits, Concorde still
flew with the analog instruments and gauges in the cockpit.
6. Environmental issues - Concorde could do supersonic only on international waters,
which limited its reach and network to flying supersonic above other continents
In short, high cost for production, maintenance, and operations, the decreasing number of
people willing to pay the exorbitant prices to cover the costs, the crisis in airline industry after
Concorde crash on 25th July, 2000 and the event of terrorism on 11th September in US are the
main reasons of Concorde retirement.
After nearly 35 years of flight and more than 25 years of passenger service, the world's most
famous plane had been pensioned off - first by Air France and then by British Airways - marking
the end of supersonic passenger flight.
It is a sad time, but the inevitable really only came forward a few years. We should celebrate
what Concorde was and still is - the only profit making Supersonic Passenger Jet to ever to go
into regular revenue service. The Americans or Russians could not even do it - that's how far
ahead of its time it was ... and still is!