Thread by @myhistorytales

A commercial flight from London to NewYork takes 8+ hours today. But a few decades ago this trip took less than 3 hrs!

Made possible by The Concorde, the supersonic flight! Join me on a #HistoryTour to know how it was to fly in the greatest plane ever made & how it all ended

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The Concorde was a collaborative effort between the British & the french. It was researched to become the first supersonic flight which could reach 2000+km/hr & reach altitudes of more than 60,000ft

Normal planes dont fly more than 800km/hr generally to get a perspective! 2/n

Introduced in the 70s, the main market was Trans Atlantic flights between main cities in Europe & the US. The supersonic speed meant London to NY could be done in < 3 hrs. 2 Financial capitals of the world. People could be in London for breakfast & be back in NY for dinner 3/n

Given the luxury, the ticket almost cost 1000$ one way - close to 5000$ or 4Lakh INR for a 3 hour flight. So, mainly big shot bankers & celebrities became the clientele. Traveling on Concorde itself became a status symbol. Someone taking a concorde was covered in the news!! 4/n

Some celebrities made it their favourite pasttime giving it more publicity. Diana, Michael Jackson, Paul Mccartney, Madonna, Margaret Thatcher etc frequented the Concorde making it an aspirational dream for the common public 5/n

But given the aerodynamics needed, the plane was smaller than todays vehicles but had all the luxury service one could imagine. Specially designed silverware, costly welcome gifts, gourmet menus, costliest champagnes and what not 6/n

The plane slowly picked up speed and reached 2180km/hr which was termed as 'Mach 2' meaning twice the speed of sound. There was a counter in the flight which showed the speed. When it reached Mach 2, all passengers celebrated as a tradition! 7/n

But the biggest attraction was something even grander. The Concorde reached an altitude so high that the curvature of the earth could be seen from the window!! The view was so surreal that this itself was a big selling point for the concorde! you were so close to space itself 8/n

One would think such a wonderful thing would only keep going on and improving more and more. But there is no Concorde today. Planes are much slower and no curvature of earth wonders from the window.

History works in weird ways. Great things fall. 9/n

When things go wrong, many things go wrong together.

Firstly, the fuel cost was increasing & increasing & the price to drive this luxury went up exponentially. Given the high price, only few rich people could afford it. The common public could never be the market for this. 10/n

Secondly, in addition to being very fuel inefficient, supersonic flights let out a big sound at takeoff called a Sonic Boom which was so loud & airports really shaked the cities.

Also, Concorde let out Nitrogen Oxide as output which was found to deplete the ozone layer. 11/n

So through the 90s, there was a continuous debate about the Environmental harm of Concorde. The public perception that it was for the rich didnt help it as the rich were seen as exploiting and environmentally irresponsible.

A concorde crashed as well in Paris in 2000 12/n

The final nail in the coffin came on Sep 11th, 2001. When Al Qaeda ran 2 flights into the World trade center, whole aviation industry hit a block for next 2 years world wide. Concorde couldnt get out of that blow. The final flight flew out on Nov 2003. An era was over. 13/n

Supersonic flights are used only by the defense forces. A viable market for a Concorde like flight hasnt come till now.

So, we just take long flights like primitive humans but the environment says thanks😄

RT this thread if you liked this #HistoryTour & follow for more