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The only picture of Concorde flying at supersonic speed, chased by RAF Tornado crew

Omegafanman
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Foo2rama Foo2rama
I would have guessed they would have done it with an F-4. Didn’t know the Tornado had similar range and top end. I assumed even with its swing wing and concessions to low level and ground attack it would not have the same interceptor cred.
It was designed as a multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA was its development project name) so could cover most roles to a degree.
 
Fallout Boy
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Omegafanman Omegafanman
Considering Concorde was designed in the sixties, what an amazing plane, and so futuristic even today. All hand drawn back then and designed with slide rules......
This

concorde am.webp


was given to the passengers on the left side to calculate the current fuel consumption of the RAF Tornado ;-)
 
Twocats
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I bought eight of these from various sellers on eBay. There was a full service of Air France cutlery but it was way too expensive for me.

IMG_9234.webp IMG_9233.webp
 
bsowers34
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LEGO Concorde. I actually saw Concorde in flight over Columbus Ohio in 1986 or so. Did a lap over the city at about 5000 feet. Not supersonic of course, it was for a Europe tour leaving from NYC and picked up passengers in Columbus.
71555980089__F942161B-75F2-49FE-A892-DD9F62997396_Original.webp
 
Omegafanman
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I bet these were not so dusty when in operation (Concorde and Tornado engine turbine blades)
The silver is a compressor blade from an Olympus 592 engine, the hot exhaust side so I think made from Nimonic 90.
The brown is a blade from a RB199 Tornado engine, possibly titanium.
I recall @Twocats said in active life a blade could be £thousands to refurbish after 25,000 hours …

IMG_2510.webp
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Foo2rama
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SpeedyPhill SpeedyPhill
Concorde was the only passenger aircraft capable to stay in the shadow of a Solar eclips !
Through a small cupola placed atop the fuseage of Concorde,astronomers filmed the eclips in 1973...
.
1973 - Concorde-SUN.webp
Lies the SR-71 technically had 1 passenger!!!
 
Foo2rama
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Omegafanman Omegafanman
It was designed as a multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA was its development project name) so could cover most roles to a degree.
Yes but I always thought the tornado with the weight penalty of the swing wings gave up some top end so that it would function at low level unlike the f4 which was not as good in the low and slow wiggle carrying a payload.

When I looked it up I was surprised that tech had moved that far to give the same top end speed at altitude and the low level ability with the weight penalty.

Every design is compromise.
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mjb
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Mark020 Mark020
This summer I went to the https://sinsheim.technik-museum.de/nl/concorde which has both the Concorde and the Russian knockoff
I saw a TeeVee program once that had something about the Russian knockoff, I think it crashed at the first airshow that it was displayed at, and then another prototype only flew once?
 
Fallout Boy
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And the beat goes on 😀

boom.webp


On January 28, 2025, the XB-1 performed its first supersonic test flight from Mojave Air and Spaceport, piloted by chief test pilot Tristan "Gepetto" Brandenburg. It went supersonic three times, reaching a top speed of Mach 1.13. On the second supersonic run, the aircraft aborted its supersonic tests.This marked the first time that a civil private manufacturer had passed the sound barrier with an in-house made aircraft. An additional flight to further characterize the design and refine the engineering models, as well as to expand the flight envelope, is planned for later in 2025.

Just wait for a stretch-limo....
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Pastorbottle
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I saw the Concorde fly over Melbourne back in @ !972
I was home after school and hear a noise like none I'd ever heard, went outside and there it was flying overhead. it wasn't the sonic boom, just the engine noise but it was different from everything else I'd heard, it was low enough to recognise the distinctive shape, we lived on the other side of the city from the airport, and off the normal flight paths, so wouldn't normally expect to see it over our place, but I s'pose they were cutting demonstration laps. I was the only kid I knew of at school that had noticed it
It came here on a demonstration run to try a convince the politicians of it's worth so as to get landing rights and try to make sales to Qantas
The vested interests against it spoke louder to the politicians, so it never flew here on scheduled runs.
It did come again in @ 1975, but I didn't see it that time, by then we lived even further out and that far out it would be too high to recognise the shape.
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Twocats
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Omegafanman Omegafanman
I bet these were not so dusty when in operation (Concorde and Tornado engine turbine blades)
The silver is a compressor blade from an Olympus 592 engine, the hot exhaust side so I think made from Nimonic 90.
The brown is a blade from a RB199 Tornado engine, possibly titanium.
I recall @Twocats said I. active life a blade could be £thousands to refurbish after 25,000 hours …

IMG_2510.webp
You are correct, the cost is in the thousands and the scrap rate is about 30-60% depending on the life the engine lived. Turbine blades are an expensive business.

Anything in commercial aviation is expensive. The only time it feels cheap is when we speak to the helicopter boys and girls. The hourly cost there is insane because literally every single thing has a fixed life cycle.
 
PatinaPete
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Missed it by || that much.
I was working in France on a project for my corporate when a problem cropped up back in Miami that was part of my mission-critical duties. It was .. a major fix. I wasn't in Paris, though, I was in the south of France. I had to get from there to Miami immediately. De Gaulle, to JFK, then down to MIA was quickest on Concorde would have done it, and the booking started.

Things started moving, phone calls, hammering out details back in Miami. One small detail needed to be met - I needed to bring some info back with me, critical stuff, so that pushed the departure from France by 4 hours. With that slight shift, it no longer made sense to fly to NY then MIA, there was now a direct flight from CDG to MIA that was shorter.

Missed it. BUMMED!
 
Archer
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Concorde flyby at the CNE in Toronto from 1986...

IMG_0964.webp
 
GordonL
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I lived in Prestwick, Scotland as a child and Concorde visited there a few times in the 1970s. The geography is such that there is a golf course at the end of the runway, right under the flight path. I remember lying on the grass watching while concorde took off directly above - the noise was incredible.
 
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