50 years ago, the Concorde took off for the first time

On March 2, 1969, the Concorde took off for the first time. The crowd cheered as the aircraft flew for 28 minutes. A look back at a historic day that marked the beginning of supersonic civil aviation.

The first flight of the Concorde (source: aviationweek)

The first test flight

The first prototype of the supersonic aircraft is called Concorde 001, registration F-WTSS. A second prototype, registered G-BSST, was released on the following September 19. The aircraft was officially introduced on December 11, 1967. The first test flight took place on March 2, 1969. On Sunday, March 2, 1969, at 9 a.m., the Concorde 001 prototype was towed to its starting position. Pilot André Turcat, co-pilot Jacques Guignard, flight mechanic Michel Rétif and engineer Henri Perrier boarded the aircraft. It was 3:38 p. m. on March 2, 1969, when the aircraft left the ground. As the four Olympus 593 turbines of the Concorde carry the aircraft away, the joy of the technicians, engineers, employees and spectators who are present at this moment is obvious.

The Concorde’s crew for the first flight

 Six hundred journalists from all over the world are at hand to report on how "old Europe" has met the challenge of merging speed and technology to serve passenger transport. The aircraft climbs at an angle of 10 degrees before making its first turn. The 114-ton aircraft, which quickly reached 6,000 feet (1,800 kilometres above sea level), flew over the Garonne and Gers at reduced speed (460 km/h). The crew returned to land on the runway at 16:10 p.m. We hear the ovations of Henri Ziegler, the CEO of Sud-Aviation (ancestor of Airbus) and his English counterpart Sir Georges Edwards, the president of the British Aircraft Corporation (now BAE Sytems). The flight lasted a total of 28 minutes. Subsequently, Mach 1 was introduced in October 1969 and Mach 2 a year later.

The Concorde landed for the first time (source:parismatch)

The Concorde during its operation 

The new device connects the world's major cities. Air France thus serves Rio de Janeiro, Caracas, Mexico City for example at the beginning, then only New York, connected in only 3h30 to Paris against about 8 hours currently. The Concorde is also used for charter flights and world tours.

A British Airways Concorde (source:British Airways)

An aircraft put in the hangar but still admired 

Even being considered one of the greatest technological achievements in aviation, the Concorde is struggling to sell. 6 aircraft are used for development and only 14 aircraft are produced for commercial flights: 7 for Air France and 7 for British Airways. The various oil shocks eventually weakened the Concorde. On July 25, 2000, the Concorde, registered F-BTSC, crashed after takeoff from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport. On 24 October 2003, the Concorde made its last flight.