The Concord

[Cavman]

I read an article in Flying Magazine many years ago about barrel rolling the Concord. It was built to take such stresses. The aircraft stretches six inches in flight. That's why the flooring is on rollers where the passengers are sitting.
It's too bad these are not flying anymore. What a beautiful aircraft it was!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aSnh-4EiBYM

[cuznjohn]

when i did a job at kennedy airport years ago, one day i saw it land, and another day i watched it take off. it was beautiful

[Chupaca]

One amazing aircraft....sadly only on display on some aircraft carriers today. Guess it was just to far ahead of it's time and to expensive but we may see the return of it or similar craft some day...

[Bob Denman]

One amazing aircraft....sadly only on display on some aircraft carriers today. Guess it was just to far ahead of it's time and to expensive but we may see the return of it or similar craft some day...

It's on the Intrepid...

562x422px-British%20Airways%20Concorde%20at%20the%20Intrepid%20Sea%20Air%20and%20Space%20Museum.jpg

[ARtraveler]

A real beauty from days gone by. It was ahead of its time.

[4 MARIE]

Beautiful and Deadly..............poor design placed the fuel tanks immediately above and behind
the main landing gear. Right where runway debris and chunks of blown tires can impact. Grim safety record.

I appreciate the thing about it "stretching". It's actually expanding however. Much like the SR 71 Blackbird.
which leaks fuel on the tarmac, and the wet wings don't seal until the titanium skin heats and expands to it's
engineered size.

[Bob Denman]

Beautiful and Deadly..............poor design placed the fuel tanks immediately above and behind
the main landing gear. Right where runway debris and chunks of blown tires can impact. Grim safety record.

I appreciate the thing about it "stretching". It's actually expanding however. Much like the SR 71 Blackbird.
which leaks fuel on the tarmac, and the wet wings don't seal until the titanium skin heats and expands to it's
engineered size.

It might be a bit low on the charts; but hardly grim:

http://www.airsafe.com/events/models/rate_mod.htm

[youngers]

use too watch this bird take off from dallas fort worth international airport in the early 80`s have it on a photo in my crap-o-la , you could hear it from 10 miles off , then after it passed you could hear the engines kick it into over drive , so-too- speak ,

[retired1]

I read an article in Flying Magazine many years ago about barrel rolling the Concord. It was built to take such stresses. The aircraft stretches six inches in flight. That's why the flooring is on rollers where the passengers are sitting.
It's too bad these are not flying anymore. What a beautiful aircraft it was!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aSnh-4EiBYM

They must have had some really BIG arresting cables to land that thing on the ship!

[JerryB]

Hi Cavman,

Re: barrel rolling the Concord

Tex Johnson, Chief Test Pilot at Boeing at the time, barrel rolled the 707 on her very first test flight. He did not tell anyone on board ahead of time, he just did it.

Re: the Concord

IMO she is still a great looking machine. I saw the Concord twice back in the early 90's; once while coming into Miami, she was just taking off; and once on the tarmac in Rio de Janeiro.

However, as with many things ( including us ), her time had passed.

Jerry Baumchen

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

When I was living in Louisiana I knew an older couple who flew the Concorde not long before it was taken out of service. According to Hans the only truly redeeming feature of the trip was the short time it took to cross the Atlantic. He said the cabin was small and cramped, not luxurious, and not all that comfortable for traveling. I think he said it was noisy also. I believe what did the Concorde in, besides the safety questions and its age, was the fact that the cost of operating it required ticket prices that were not commensurate with the level of comfort afforded by the plane.