Concorde Mark 2: Airbus files plans for new supersonic jet

[2hats]

(Was never really painted in Braniff colours, but was in SQ )

Since you bring it up...

One half of it was painted in Singapore Airlines livery. The other half was still BA (was a code share).

There is also the infamous Pepsi concorde (repainted AF):

Though the cruise speed was limited and the wings left white due to thermal constraints during supersonic flight (fuel heating issues).

The article says that this thing is planned to cruise at 100,000 ft, higher than a stinger or other ground to air missile system (I assume including the Russian BUK) operates.

Given the specs (sub-SR71) it is probably just within the reach of the Buk (perhaps S300 too, SM-3 and others almost certainly), even in the cruise.

 

[Fingers]

Oh and here's two airlines that did want Concorde but never bought it, however they did manage to get half the plane painted in their colours...

(Was never really painted in Braniff colours, but was in SQ )

The SQ colours were only down one side, the other side was BA. Edit sorry just seen you said that. British Caledonian was also very interested in starting their own Concorde operations between Gatwick and Lagos and Gatwick and Atlanta around 1975 as there were a couple up for grabs but the price of oil shooting up in late 70's killed that idea off.

 

[Fingers]

I was mooching around Heathrow the other week waiting for a friend on a delayed flight. Saw the Concorde that you see when you are coming in to land when you are landing from the Windsor direction. Sill on the tarmac. Are there any plans for it or is it just going to sit there?

 

[pogofish]

I think its just going to sit there.

There was a possibility of returning the Heathrow Concorde to flight for the London Olympics and some prep, incl running-up the engines for a static test was done but then everything stopped and no more was said or done. Which is a shame as this is the one most likely to fly again, although only under display conditions and never with passengers but BA don't seem at all willing to allow it.

The French kept one of their Concordes in flyable condition for a while but that was apparently only to support the technical aspects of the enquiry after the crash. Once that report was published, it was quickly put beyond use. Most if not all of the Concordes distributed to museums were made utterly unflyable in various ways - filling tanks/hydraulic systems with concrete or resin and removing the wings by cutting the space frame structure that supported them. It would require total reconstruction to recover from that.

BA don't even seem willing to do much to ensure the raft of conditions the museums were subject to are maintained and some have been further vandalised in the name of preservation since they went on display - one of the US planes is now in a really sad condition.

 

[2hats]

I think its just going to sit there.

Essentially. Periodically someone claims that it is going to be put on display properly at LHR (eg T5 gate guardian) but then nothing happens. Every so often it gets a clean and a polish for family open days.

There was a possibility of returning the Heathrow Concorde to flight for the London Olympics and some prep, incl running-up the engines for a static test was done but then everything stopped and no more was said or done. Which is a shame as this is the one most likely to fly again, although only under display conditions and never with passengers but BA don't seem at all willing to allow it.

I doubt it. It was never modified in line with the air safety directives after the Paris crash. It's also in a sorry state inside; much of the interior, including parts of the cockpit, has been used to renovate the airframe on display at Brooklands.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

The one at Heathrow makes me

I think it's a cruel thing to do to it. Poor fucker's just sat there, watching planes coming and going all day, while it goes nowhere. FFS the fugly A380's are in and out, whilst the beautiful Concorde who's never done anything wrong just sits and stares. They should lower the nose-cone, just to show the world how sad it is.

 

[pogofish]

I doubt it. It was never modified in line with the air safety directives after the Paris crash. It's also in a sorry state inside; much of the interior, including parts of the cockpit, has been used to renovate the airframe on display at Brooklands.

Yes - I think this was only ever thrown-out as a teaser but the sight and sound of it being turned-over on the test stand approx 18months before the Olympics did get a lot of peoples hopes-up.

 

[Chz]

Since you bring it up...

One half of it was painted in Singapore Airlines livery. The other half was still BA (was a code share).

There is also the infamous Pepsi concorde (repainted AF):

Though the cruise speed was limited and the wings left white due to thermal constraints during supersonic flight (fuel heating issues).



Given the specs (sub-SR71) it is probably just within the reach of the Buk (perhaps S300 too, SM-3 and others almost certainly), even in the cruise.

Certainly the S300 derivatives. It was always a much more ambitious system than the BUK was, with variants designated for ABM use. Specs-wise, it's still the most impressive AA suite available.

 

[dylanredefined]

Whatever happened to HOTOL? That was going to be the next big thing when I was a kid

Engine technology got classified which meant no foreign investors allowed.

With the fuel at the front and the engines at the back it didn't fly very well ( In a flaming catherine wheel of exploding death kind of way). hence the new version with the engines on the wings.

 

[Crispy]

Skylon!



Love that thing

They're making good progress on that btw. Full engine testing to start in 2018, and the USAF are interested in it.