In the 1950s, a flight from London to New
York was a grueling 13 hours. All the while enduring the noise and vibration
of piston engines and that occasional white-knuckle ride through a North Atlantic storm. And then… Along came jetliners. They flew above the weather, and a flight
from London to New York was cut to just seven hours. The Jet Age revolutionized air travel. But an even bigger leap forward was just around
the corner. In the upcoming supersonic age, airliners
would travel twice the speed of sound, and fly right at the edge of space. Cutting a trip from London to New York down
to just three and half hours. It was supposed to be the next giant leap
forward. But instead, going supersonic would end up
as one of biggest missteps in commercial history. In 1947, a rocket-powered plane breaks through
the sound barrier. The first time in history an aircraft is recorded
flying faster than the speed of sound. The monumental achievement tputs to rest doubts
about whether man or machine could even withstand supersonic flight. And it was just the start. New speed records quickly followed as supersonic
flight became widely understood. And it wasn’t long before military aircraft
were routinely flying well beyond the sound barrier. If a commercial airliner could be built to
do the same, a trip across the Atlantic could be cut down to just a couple hours, pulling
the world closer together. But flying at supersonic speeds requires engines
at least twice as powerful as those on subsonic jets. Streamlined wings and airframes, and materials
that can withstand the high temperatures caused by air friction. With these technical hurdles, there were doubts
about whether supersonic air travel made any sense. But only a decade earlier, there was similar
skepticism around the switch from props to jets. Even so, the transition to jet age happened
quickly and it left many aircraft builders behind. The upcoming supersonic age could end up doing
the same. In 1949, the British stunned the world with
the first jet airliner. It flew faster and higher than any airliner
before it. The Comet was revolutionary, and with it,
the British were going to lead the world into the jet age. That is, until a design flaw caused a string
of deadly accidents, temporarily grounding the Comet. Which gave the rest of the world time to catch
up. By 1960, for every Comet sold, the Americans
were selling another ten jetliners of their own. And the British quickly lost their early lead
in the jet age. But if supersonic air travel was the next
evolution, Britain would have another chance to retake the lead. By 1961, the British had come up with an early
design for a supersonic airliner. At the same, the French were also working
on a similar concept. As both efforts advanced, it made sense to
join forces. And after a little creative deal-making and
political maneuvering, the two countries partnered to launch the Concorde program, signing a
treaty in 1962. Britain and France, once fierce aircraft-building
rivals would now work together to reinvent air travel. Thousands of the brightest French and British
engineers were put to work making supersonic air travel a reality. Aside from maybe the Apollo moon landings,
Concorde was the most technically ambitious project of the century. It would cruise at twice the speed of sound,
with enough range to fly across the Atlantic. Although it would burn more fuel, Concorde
would make two flights in the same time a regular jet could make just one. Offsetting higher fuel costs by reducing the
number of aircraft needed for each route. By 1963, mockups were capturing the world’s
imagination and dazzling the press. And Airlines placed orders for more than 70
Concordes. A number expected to grow to at least 200
by 1975. And beneath Concorde’s elegant lines was
triumph of engineering. It’s delta wing took over 5,000 hours of
wind tunnel testing to perfect. An ingenious shape that allowed Concorde to
fly beyond Mach 2, but also slow enough to fly into existing airports. Afterburning turbojets were sourced from a
Cold War-era bomber. But they were re-engineered with an innovative
intake system that allowed for cruise at supersonic speeds for longer than aircraft in history. With a streamlined airframe, Concorde’s
sleek nose obscured the pilot's view. The solution was a nose cone that lowered
to provide better visibility during takeoff and landing. The sheer number of innovations was astounding. But by 1967 Concorde was ready to be unveiled
to the public. As Concorde landed, dozens of people telephoned
the airport to complain about the noise. For those who live near the runways at Kennedy
Airport claim it’s just the noiset plane in the world. Zero Zero Two didn’t help with matters when
it left with the loudest takeoff ever recorded at Tokyo Airport. This magnificent machine is a prime producer
of a sound that nobody wants. The sonic boom. So far, 7,000 people have complained. The National Science Foundation of the United
States Government has...has indicated that there will be severe environmental damage
to the ozone layer... In fact they say the plane is all wrong. Too dare, too small, too dirty, and too noisy. Your biggest customers have...have gone down
the drain. No they haven’t gone down the drain, they...they've…. The Concorde has always seemed to me to be
part of particularly French patriotism…. If you kill it, what do you put in its place. I do not kill it....It never lived...It never lived. There was no future for Concorde from the
beginning. By the early 1970s, Concorde was facing a
perfect storm. There were even doubts about whether the plane
would make it into service. For one, Concorde’s afterburning turbojets
were twice as loud on takeoff compared to jetliners of the day And it led to protests
around the world. And like all supersonic aircraft, Concorde
generated sonic booms. Loud bangs heard by anyone under the supersonic
flight path. Public tolerance for sonic booms had clearly
been underestimated because one by one, countries started banning supersonic flights over their
airspace. Evidence was also mounting that Concorde could
damage the environment. If hundreds entered into service...regular
high-altitude supersonic flights could destroy the ozone layer. But the biggest challenge facing the program
was economics. Concorde had been designed in the 1960s, when
jet fuel was just pennies per gallon. But it would enter commercial service in the
mid-to-late 1970s, just as the price of oil began to skyrocket. And Concorde burned nearly four times more
fuel than even a first generation jetliner, while carrying fewer passengers. The economics made no sense. And by the end of 1973 nearly every airline
cancelled their options. Leaving just a tiny handful of orders. Nowhere near the 150 planes the program needed
to sell just to break even. All the while, development costs were spiralling
out of control. To more than ten times the original estimate
by the early 1970s. But with the Concorde treaty, neither France
nor Britain could back out of the program without paying the other massive penalties. So with or without orders, the Concorde program
would have to push forward. After 14 years of development, Concorde was
finally ready to enter service, and on January 21, 1976, two Concordes simultaneously lifted
off carrying their first passengers. It was a huge milestone for the program, but
hardly the bold new era of mass supersonic air travel that many had once predicted. Because British Airways and Air France were
the only airlines to put Concordes into service. And both nationally owned airlines had been
more or less been forced to. Each taking delivery of just a few planes. With limited range and over land flight restrictions,
there were few route options available. Every time Concorde takes off, British Airways
loses money, if it’s half empty as it is on the Bahrain route, it’s costing them
up to twenty thousand Pounds a flight... In just the first few years, British Airways
and Air France lost tens of millions operating Concordes…. …And by 1980….rumors were swirling that
planes would be retired early. It might seem a strange decision to have the
government subsidizing one of the most expensive forms of transport in the world. But a dramatic turnaround was just around
the corner. By the mid-1980s, British Airways and Air
France were not only still operating their Concordes, they had figured out how to make
huge profits with them. With the prospect of supersonic air travel
for the masses having come and gone, and with only fourteen Concordes in service, the plane
was transformed into more than just faster air travel. Instead, Concorde was rebranded into an ultra
exclusive travel experience. Aimed at a new kind of passenger… with much
deeper pockets. By the mid-1980s, the price of Concorde tickets
had doubled from they were in the 1970s. At one point costing upwards of 20,000 in
today’s dollars for a London to New York round trip. Concorde might’ve failed to revolutionize
air travel, but it also opened up a profitable new market serving celebrities and the ultra-rich. And with only a handful of aircraft in service,
public concern over the environment and noise faded. Instead for nearly three decades, Concorde
served as a symbol of pride for the British and French. But much like it’s development and introduction,
Concorde’s final years would prove difficult. A tragic crash in July 2000, caused by a piece
of runway debris, tarnished Concorde's impeccable safety record. A year later the events of September the 11th
led to a huge decline in air travel. And then there were the challenges of maintaining
such complex and aging planes. In 2003, after 27 years of service, the most
recognizable and iconic aircraft in history was retired by Air France and British Airways. Closing the final chapter on the most ambitious
aviation project of the century. There’s a lot more to Concorde’s story. And you can keep watching on Nebula, where
I cover the extraordinary effort to try to win over skeptical airlines and fascinating
plans for a second-generation Concorde that never was. Nebula is where you can watch Mustard videos
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Every time I hear about Concorde, I wish I had a chance to fly with it. It's a shame we'll never see anything like it again!
I was working about 20 miles from the crash site although I didn’t see it happen. Now every time I land in Charles de Gaulle I get to see the Concorde that is on display near the terminal and I always wish I had the chance to fly in it. Incredible technological endeavor