The BAC Concorde, which flew from 1969 to 2003, was the first supersonic passenger airplane. Its structure allowed for sustained supersonic flight and was a major factor in the technological advancement of aircraft as a whole. The Concorde, despite its technological prowess, also informed the industry of the issues that come from supersonic flight. The Concorde had features that changed the industry such as its revolutionary fuel transfer system, its signature droop nose, and the features set in place to mitigate the extreme heat that comes with supersonic flight; however, the issues that are associated with supersonic flight, most notably the aircraft’s lack of fuel efficiency, led to its discontinuation in 2003.
Due to its structure, the Concorde’s center of lift would shift backward during supersonic flight. This drives the nose of the aircraft down and lifts the tail. This, if not remedied, could cause the aircraft to flip tail over nose during flight. To fix this, the engineers working on the aircraft created a system where fuel is not only used to power the aircraft, but also as a stabilizer. This system pumps fuel from fuel tanks toward the nose of the aircraft to fuel tanks toward the tail and vice versa. This changes the aircraft’s center of balance to match its center of lift. The fuel is pumped from the back of the aircraft to the front during low-speed flight to bring the nose down and fuel is transferred from front to back during high speed flight to bring the tail down.
The Concorde is highly recognizable due to its streamline structure and the droop structure of the nose. The Concorde’s design necessitated a long, streamlined, bullet-like structure because it was necessary to reduce drag and to increase the aerodynamics of the aircraft. The streamlined structure allows the plane to fly faster and with more efficiency. The long nose of the aircraft creates an issue though; its nose only allows for about five degrees of visibility of the runway during takeoff. The makers of the Concorde remedy this by creating a nose that hydraulically moves either up or down during different phases of the flight. During takeoff, the nose is drooped down so the pilot has greater visibility. During flight, the nose returns to its streamline form and a heat-resistant glass covers the windscreen used during takeoff. The heat-resistant windshield is necessary during supersonic flight because the wind friction creates enough heat to shatter normal glass.
The Concorde has a couple of creative ways of dealing with the heat produced by wind friction during supersonic flight. The steel and titanium structure of the aircraft expands and stretches up to 7 inches due to the extreme heat. To mitigate this heat, engineers designed the aircraft’s nose to withstand up to two hundred and sixty degrees Fahrenheit along with the aforementioned heat-resistant windscreen to protect the flight deck during flight. The Concorde also had a coat of highly reflective white paint to reflect and dissipate the heat produced by friction
The BAC Concorde led to the advancement of supersonic aircraft and solved issues in extremely creative ways that were unique to the aircraft. Ultimately, the main issue, the one that eventually grounded the plane, was economic, not structural. The Concorde was not economically efficient and cost more money than it made. The aircraft was only profitable on long-haul flights and could only accommodate about a hundred passengers. Due to this, companies discontinued their use of the aircraft.
Works Cited
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde, www.aviation-history.com/bac/sst.html.
PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/concorde/anat-nf.html.
CONCORDE SST : HISTORY, www.concordesst.com/techspec.html.
“Concorde Airframe Materials.” Heritage Concorde,
www.heritageconcorde.com/airframe-]materials.
Hoeller, Sophie-Claire. “A Group of Fans Are Trying to Bring the
Concorde Supersonic Jet Back.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 25 Sept
2015, www.businessinsider.com/concorde-jet-may-come-back-2015-9.
“UK | Concorde Grounded for Good.” BBC News, BBC, 10 Apr. 2003,
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2934257.stm.