The Concorde was a project that could have only happened due to the lavish government spending by Britain and France, as well as the tying in of national pride.

The Concorde was a project that could have only happened due to the lavish government spending by Britain and France, as well as the tying in of national pride. It made no economic sense at all, and they hardly made any of them. The 20707 Boeing effort was more practical, but had the same genesis as the Concorde. It was also canned once the US pulled the funding and the oil shocks showed it would likely never be profitable. At least they stopped throwing good money after bad. The 747 was considerably more practical, and completely demolished the competition for years. It was the result of Pan Am (which owned the international flight scene at the time) coming to Boeing with real requirements, instead of just national pride, for a much larger jet. Boeing also decided to make it possible for it to be a freighter as well. The 747 was the truly revolutionary plane.