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Reminder: Concorde 1st flight was 2nd March 1969. Civilian supersonic flight was completely routine until 2003. You could book pure "pleasure cruises" doing a l
by nickdothutton 2y ago
Reminder: Concorde 1st flight was 2nd March 1969. Civilian supersonic flight was completely routine until 2003. You could book pure "pleasure cruises" doing a lap of the Bay Of Biscay, eating lunch, and returning to the same airport. IT was not "built by the government" either. It was built by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), both private companies. It was funded by government.
- fermigier 2y ago100% accurate, AFAICT and as a French man. I wonder why you are downvoted.
- kjkjadksj 2y agoIt was not routine. There were only what 14 commercial concordes? Something like 12,000 737s have been built as a point of comparison.
- nickdothutton 2y agoAre A380s routine? There are what, only 250 of those? Concorde had a regular schedule decade after decade. Only 14 airframes but 50K flights from BA alone, I presume a somewhat similar number from Air France. 12K 737s, a completely different market and customer for the most part. High-end can be routine too, you just needed to have the money.
- xoa 2y ago>IT was not "built by the government" either. [...]both private companies. It was funded by government. Eh? Apollo was built by private companies too. So were the B-52 or F-35 or SR-71. Using private companies to build and do engineering on government projects that are envisioned/funded/directed by government is the rule not the exception. Most people wouldn't describe the F-35 as a private company project though.