Tag: Concorde

5 Things, Aviation

Farman Magasin d’Antiquités (Part Deux)

Also, look at Paris: Antique Aviation Shop for the first part of this story. On Saturday, 14 June 2003, Pierre Farman was a passenger onboard the very last flight of Air France Concorde F-BTSD. Informally known as Sierra Delta (the last two letters of the aircraft’s call sign in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) alphabet, this particular Concorde was a record breaker, holding the … Continue reading Farman Magasin d’Antiquités (Part Deux)

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Aviation

Supersonic Flight: The Shape of Things to Come (Part 2)

In last week’s blog post, we discussed one of the great impediments to commercially successful supersonic aircraft: the sonic boom. A theory based on shaping of supersonic booms in order to reduce the pressure wave—the noise—began to emerge in the late 1960s. The theoretical models—first developed by two Cornell University aerospace engineers, Richard Seebass and Albert George—focused on techniques for the reduction of the first … Continue reading Supersonic Flight: The Shape of Things to Come (Part 2)

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Aviation

Supersonic Flight: The Shape of Things to Come (Part 1)

Concorde, known for its supersonic, trans-Atlantic flights of yesteryear, was in the news just past week, as a French court overturned manslaughter convictions and upheld civil damages in relation to the Air France 4590 crash in 2000. To some, this story might seem an afterthought to the dashed hopes for supersonic flight. The dream of commercial, supersonic transports capable of safely and cheaply whisking business … Continue reading Supersonic Flight: The Shape of Things to Come (Part 1)

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Aviation, Space Exploration

A Day at NASA’s Dryden Research Center (#NASASocial): A Is for Aeronautics

If you missed last week’s post about Dryden Flight Research Center, you might want to start THERE. Otherwise, read on to continue the story. A clear and consistent message was delivered at both the #DrydenSocial and last fall’s GRAIL Tweetup: NASA wants to use social media to help spread the word of its achievements. To that end, NASA trots out its best and brightest to … Continue reading A Day at NASA’s Dryden Research Center (#NASASocial): A Is for Aeronautics

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Aviation, Science

On This Date: Radium, Tu-144, and Earthquakes

On most Mondays, we post either a piece by a guest blogger (first and third Mondays) or a video interview (second and fourth Mondays). We do have video interviews queued up for the new year (and just wait ’til you see who!), but today we take the opportunity for one of our “on this date” posts. In 1898, just three years into their marriage, one … Continue reading On This Date: Radium, Tu-144, and Earthquakes

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Aviation

Last Flight of the Concorde

Supersonic passenger flight ended on November 26, 2003, the day a Concorde made its last flight, this time back to its birthplace in Bristol, England, where it was put on outdoor display. The Concorde’s last transatlantic flight had occurred roughly a month earlier (see video below). The Concorde, a joint venture between the United Kingdom and France was riddled with problems right from the start, … Continue reading Last Flight of the Concorde

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Aviation

Air France Flight 4590

Today is the tenth anniversary of the crash of Air France Flight 4590 just after take-off from Charles de Gaulle International Airport. The Concorde jet’s tire was ruptured by a small piece of titanium (Anna’s favorite metal) left on the runway after the previous plane took off. A chunk of the Concorde’s tire hit the wing, which led to a rupture in a fuel tank. … Continue reading Air France Flight 4590

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