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Concorde

Explorer · ages 7 and underAdapted from Wikipedia
The Concorde aircraft during its historic first test flight in 1969, marking a major achievement in aviation history.

The Concorde Airplane

The Concorde was a very special airplane made by teams from the United Kingdom and France. It could fly faster than the speed of sound, making trips much quicker than normal planes. People started working on the Concorde in 1954, and the first test flight happened in 1969.

This airplane had a slim body to fit about 100 passengers and used very powerful engines to reach high speeds. It could fly across the ocean at twice the speed of sound for most of the journey. Concorde began regular flights in 1976 with Air France and British Airways, mainly flying between Europe and places like Washington) and New York City.

Concorde was known for its speed and was used by airlines in the United Kingdom and France. Even though it made travel faster, loud noises it made while flying low limited where it could fly. Today, many of the remaining Concorde planes can be seen in museums in Europe and North America.

Concorde held many flying records. It made the fastest trip across the Atlantic Ocean and around the world. These flights showed just how fast Concorde could travel. The Concorde was a source of pride for both the United Kingdom and France, and it even flew over important events and celebrations, drawing large crowds.

Pictures

A British Airways Concorde jet parked at London Heathrow Airport in the 1980s.
The Concorde aircraft makes its historic first visit to Heathrow Airport in 1972.
Cockpit view of the Concorde supersonic jet on display at a museum.
The final flight of the Concorde aircraft over Filton airfield in 2003.
A close-up of the engine ramp system of the Concorde supersonic jet on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center museum.
Two Rolls-Royce-Snecma Olympus aircraft engines on display at the Safran Aerospace Museum.
The fuselage of the famous Concorde airplane on display at a museum in Germany.
Inside the Concorde airplane cabin at the Museum of Flight near Seattle.
A Concorde jet flying low over an air show at Baginton in 1981.
Landing gear of the famous Concorde supersonic jet on display at the Museum of Air and Space in Paris.
Close-up of the tail gear on the Concorde airplane, showing parts that help prevent damage during takeoff and landing.
The Handley Page HP.115 was a British delta wing research aircraft used for testing new flight technologies.
Top-view technical drawing of a historic aircraft design, the Bristol Type 223 SST project.

Keep exploring

New York City

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Concorde, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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