Concorde saga

THE CONCORDE

SAGA

Group-9

Group Members

• Ravindra Kumar

Vishwakarma

• Rahul Singh

• Rahul Chawla

• Gaurav Kumar

• Manish Gupta

• Sumit Kumar

About the Concorde

Concorde was a product of the manufacturing efforts

of Aerospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC),

produced under a joint Franco-British treaty. First flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued commercial flights

for 27 years.

Contd..

• In the late 1950s, France, the United Kingdom, United States, and Soviet Union were considering developing supersonic transport.

• The designs were both ready to start prototype construction in the early 1960s, but the cost was so great that the British government made it a requirement that British Aircraft look for international co-operation.

• Approaches were made to a number of countries, but only France showed real interest.

Contd….

• A draft treaty was signed on 29 November 1962.

• The design work was supported by a preceding research programme studying the flight characteristics of low ratio delta wings. The supersonic BAC 221 was modified for flight tests of the high speed flight envelope.

Features

• Double delta shaped wings.• Mach 2.04 cruising speed.• Digital air intake system • Fly-by-wire and brake-by-wire system .• Droop-nose section for better landing visibility• Low weight aluminum body .• Fuel efficient engine • Fuel storage is high . • Special paint coating .

Problems

• Aerodynamics• Structural issues• High costs• Takeoff noise and sonic booms• Need to operate aircraft over a • Skin temperature• Poor range• Carbon dioxide rate.

BEGINNING OF THE END

THE ACCIDENT

DATE-25 JULY, 2000

Air France Flight 4590

Cocorde registered as F-BTSC operated by AIR FRANCE

Scheduled to fly from Charles de Gaulle International Airport near Paris, to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City

Total causalities reported- one hundred passengers, nine crew members and four persons on the ground were killed

Reasons

• According to BEA(Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile)

Post AccidentIt was safest operational passenger airliner in the world in terms of

passenger deaths-per-kilometres travelled with zero

tyre explosions 60 times higher than subsonic jets

Safety improvements were made in the wake of the crash, including more secure electrical controls, Kevlar lining to the fuel tanks and specially

developed burst-resistant tyres

The first flight after the modifications departed from London Heathrow on 17 July 2001, piloted by BA Chief Concorde Pilot Mike Bannister.

Normal commercial operations resumed on 7 November 2001 by BA and AF (aircraft G-BOAE and F-BTSD)

REASONS OF WITHDRAWL

On 10 April 2003, Air France and British Airways simultaneously

announced that they would retire Concorde later that year

Rising maintenance costs.

low passenger numbers following the 25 July 2000 crash

Slump in air travel following 11 September 2001

conclusion

• The withdrawal of the Concorde fleet ended an important chapter in airline history. Experts said that, this was probably the first time in aviation history when flight became slower rather than faster. The Concorde did not succeed because the market was not ready for commercial supersonic travel.

• No doubt there were people willing to pay huge amounts to travel faster than the speed of sound but, these small numbers did not have the capacity to justify the costs incurred in maintaining the Concorde.

Contd…..

A project of Concorde's scale required more widespread acceptability and use to justify its operation. However, analysts felt that, although the Concorde would not operate in future, there could be a market for a project on a much smaller scale (like a 10-seater plane), providing supersonic travel to a select few customers who were willing to pay the price. There was also speculation that a successor to Concorde could be operational by around 2030...