Tag: commercial airliner

Concorde - The fastest commercial airliner in history

26 January 2010

The Concorde is a type of commercial airliner that flies through the skies well past the sound barrier. The plane is so fast that, on a cross-country trip from New York to California, it can actually land on the west coast before it took off from the east - according to the time zone differences, obviously.

Although the Concorde is a commonplace and popular aircraft today, there’s a story behind this airliner, showcasing a few struggles along the way. This story of officially begins around 1956. In November of that year, the Supersonic Transport Aircraft Committee was developed and funded in order to study supersonic air travel, and namely build an airliner that could break speed records.

For the next three years, the top engineers in the field worked to develop various plans and test theories, and were ultimately set on 2 separate designs for an airplane. This was a merger between the British Minister of Aviation and the French; the two countries would split the cost. This was a hard-fought battle, and it took the Sud Aviation of France and the British Aircraft Corporation a long time to reach an agreement in 1961.

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