Friday, October 24, 2003
Supersonic facts
• In 1962, Concorde was projected to cost £160m. By 1976, the year of commercial launch, more than £1.2bn had been spent.
• Concorde's fastest ever crossing of the Atlantic from New York to London took 2 hours 52 minutes and 59 seconds. Until last month, that was faster than London to Paris by Eurostar.
• Concorde holds 119500 litres of fuel, but uses up 25000 litres of fuel an hour and so has a range of only 3740 miles. And that's why Concorde can fly from London to New York or Paris to New York, but couldn't manage Frankfurt to New York.
• Concorde's wingspan is the same length as 3 London buses, whereas a Boeing 747 measures 8 on the same scale.
• Peter took a trip on Concorde earlier this year - read his report here.
• The best record ever made about Concorde is There Goes Concorde Again by the Native Hipsters. What do they do down there that results in such an increase in size and weight? Genius.
• Concorde, conceived 1962, born 1969, left the nest 1976, died 2000, retired 2003.
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