Pod Insights Hot History The Concorde About this episode Symbol of luxury, speed and ... disaster! This week, we break down the world's first supersonic passenger aircraft, which played host to everyone from Phil Collins to Princess Diana.
Transcript 0:00 Speaker 00 Hello everybody and welcome back to a brand new episode of Hot History. My name is Ainsley and I am so excited to have you listening along as we talk about all the things in history that you probably should know but don't. In today's episode, we are covering something a little different from our standard historical persons by diving into historical events and products. And today's subject is one that I've been obsessed with since I first found out that it existed. Concorde, the supersonic passenger aircraft. So let's get into it.
0:49 Speaker 00 Okay guys, I am honestly so excited to be chatting Concorde with you all because I feel like for me, it is truly a symbol of the 80s. And I don't know if you guys have watched and if you haven't, you absolutely should because it is amazing, Rivals on Disney Plus, which focuses on media and TV in the 80s. And the series actually starts on a Concorde flight. Now, I was doing a re-watch the other day and I thought, I have to talk about this because it is mentioned several times throughout as this kind of peak pinnacle of success and innovation, which is pretty spot on. Now, for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, then don't worry because I'm going to break it all down. So what the hell is Concorde?
1:34 Speaker 00 Well, as I said at the top, it is an aircraft, but not just any old aircraft, guys. It was a supersonic passenger airliner, which means it was a plane that could fly faster than the speed of sound, which is approximately 1,235 kilometres per hour. I will preface, this episode does have a bit of like engineering, science, maths, STEM vibes, so. Bear with me, um, because it is really, really worth it and I'm gonna try and break it down as simple as I can. When it comes to supersonic speed, this level of speed is also known as Mach one. And most supersonic aircrafts tend to fly between um, one to five Mach.
2:18 Speaker 00 Um, again, here you may have watched Top Gun Maverick and seen Tom Cruise testing that really crazy ship in the beginning of the movie, which was hitting Mach ten. So, pretty much supersonic means really fucking fast. But why did we develop aircraft that goes really fucking fast? And it's a very good question, the answer to which lies in our beloved history books. So let's go for a little deep dive into the post-World War Two aviation landscape.
2:47 Speaker 00 So World War Two saw some of the greatest inventions in human history. Albeit that they were hugely destructive and eventually led to things like the arms race, the Cold War and the very real possibility of nuclear annihilation. You of course have the atomic bomb, there was the invention and wider use of radar detection. You have the V one and V two rockets, which were the world's first long-range guided ballistic missiles. And we had the very first jet engine and jet fighter, which was the German Messerschmitt ME two six two. Now, the atomic project, AKA the Manhattan Project, was run by the US, UK and Canada.
3:29 Speaker 00 And it was first used in Hiroshima and then Nagasaki in August nineteen forty five, which kicked off the nuclear age and as I said before, the Cold War. Now radar detection and use was a primarily allied-focused development, but the big two, the jet fighter and the V rockets, were led by Nazi Germany, who prided themselves on what essentially became state-sponsored science. And for Hitler, the pinnacle of these sciences was in rocketry and aviation, which retrospectively was probably just as well, because it was Hitler's raging prejudice against the Jewish community that steered him away from atomic studies, which he called the Jewish sciences.
4:12 Speaker 00 And why so many Jewish, Poles, Austrian and German scientists found themselves expelled or as undesirable.
4:21 Speaker 00 One set scientist was Albert Einstein, who was more German than Hitler could ever be. Now, this process is what I like to call the brain drain. And I can do another episode on that in a later point. But it was basically Hitler kicking very smart people out because he didn't like them. So that is the brain drain. It is pre WW2. At the end of WW2, the Allies did the opposite. And despite disliking the various scientists and innovators working under the Nazi regime, they arranged for their extradition out of former Nazi regions to the US, UK and the USSR, primarily for their rocketry and aviation skills.
5:03 Speaker 00 Because, for the first time in human history, reaching beyond the stars was possible. Which meant all kinds of extra potential power, extraterrestrial materials, knowledge and of course, territory, which kicked off the space race between the US and the USSR. Again, all this stuff I can kind of cover in separate episodes if you'd like. But it's really underst- really important to understand that we have World War II with massive innovation in aviation by the Nazis. We have allied forces coming in and scooping up, said scientists, for their own programs. And the possibility of space and supersonic travel for the very first time. The result of which, saw a brand new industry open up.
5:47 Speaker 00 Commercial jet liners for standard passenger travel. There's your little post WW2 aviation landscape. I hope that it was enough of a summation for you guys. Again, I'm happy to do more in-depth episodes on things like the brain drain, things like, um, you know, um, Einstein himself, um, Nazi science programs, the space race, whatever you want. Send it to me in the DMs. Um, I'm happy to kind of focus on it, but this is just a summary at this point, so don't come for me. Now, when it came to these commercial jetliners for standard passenger travel, the very first to be developed was the De Havilland Comet in nineteen fifty-two, which was the first commercial jetliner that had several crashes, which ultimately terminated it.
6:32 Speaker 00 But the next that came was the Boeing seven oh seven in nineteen fifty-eight, which had huge commercial success and led to Boeing's dominance, which still really lasts today. While these jetliners made air travel faster and more accessible, they ushered in, yet again, a desire for more, further, farther, faster. And by the fifties and early sixties, the Soviet Union, the US and Europe were all independently investigating the possibility of supersonic transport to cut the time between New York and London from seven hours to just over three.
7:12 Speaker 00 Now, as someone who lives in Australia, which is pretty fucking far from everywhere, the idea of supersonic travel is a game changer. For context, I'm flying to Austria soon and it will take me about twenty-eight hours to touch down in the land of Wiener Schittels, so quite the trek. But supersonic travel wasn't just about saving time. It also promised unmatched convenience and luxury, so it needed technology and style to come together seamlessly, all while travelling faster than the speed of sound, which is where the Franco-British collaboration comes into play. So rather than competing against each other, the UK and France decided to develop a joint SST,
7:57 Speaker 00 Supersonic Travel Device, and on November twenty-ninth nineteen sixty-two, they signed the agreement to co-develop an aircraft that would be called the Concorde. So like I said, there's your kind of end of World War Two, around nineteen forty-five to nineteen sixty aviation recap. But how does Concorde go from concept to reality? Well, it had, like I said, guys, as well prefacing, there will be like some STEM talk. I am not a STEM girly, I am a history lit girly, so I'm like paring this back as much as I can. This is not like some scientific engineering-based explanation of how Concorde operates, so just keep that in mind. I will do my very best.
8:42 Speaker 00 Concorde had four turbojet engines made by Rolls Royce and Snekma Olympus. These four engines had something called afterburners, which injected fuel into the exhaust to generate extra thrust during takeoff and acceleration, which let it travel at supersonic speeds. This engine also allowed Concorde to cruise at an altitude of 60,000 feet, well above regular commercial jets. And up at this kind of 60,000 feet level, the air resistance is significantly lower, which also made those afterburners doubly effective. But going that fast means you are subject to things like air friction, which causes high temperature. So to combat this,
9:28 Speaker 00 Concorde's airframe was made of a special aluminium alloy, which made it lighter and more temperature resistant. The airframe also had a distinctive slender look, which featured what was known as delta shaped wings, which provided stability and lift at high speeds, but required high takeoff and landing speeds. Again, those afterburners come in here to assist in the required kilometres per hour. But the pilots also had to land and take off at those high speeds. So Concorde was fitted with a droop nose, which lowered during takeoff and landing to improve visibility. And that is basically how it worked. Like I said, I am no Tony Stark, but that is kind of the basis to understand
10:14 Speaker 00 how Concorde went from concept to reality, which came about throughout the 60s, when the UK and French team assembled Concorde, which was ready for its first maiden flight out of Toulouse, France, with test pilot Andre Turact by March 2nd, 1969.
10:34 Speaker 00 Testing of Concorde went on for nearly seven months, until finally, on October 1st, 1969, Concorde finally reached supersonic speed for the very first time. But still, and rightfully so here, there was a lot of scepticism, which meant that Concorde had to continue testing for nearly 10 years to improve noise, efficiency, safety, and just prove that it could consistently hit those supersonic speeds. But as 1976 rolled around, British Airways and Air France launched Concorde into commercial service, offering flights from London to Bahrain and Paris to Rio de Janeiro before then shifting
11:18 Speaker 00 focus to the transatlantic market. The most famous route was between London Heathrow and New York JFK with a typical flight time of just three hours and 30 minutes. Again, just wild, especially for an Aussie over here. But the time of the 70s came to a close, Concorde was the ultimate symbol of luxury. Its clientele included celebrities, royalty, politicians and business executives. And aboard, passengers enjoyed premium service. This included gourmet meals and of course, the prestige of flying fast on the speed of sound, which are all fabulous.
12:00 Speaker 00 But it was not without many challenges and controversies. The first of which was known as the sonic boom. A loud, thunderous sound caused when an aircraft exceeded the speed of sound. Basically, it's the noise that Iron Man or Superman or any of the flying men make when they take off.
12:25 Speaker 00 Concorde also did this, which limited its ability to flight supersonic speeds based on people and buildings and general fucking decency. So it was only able to go supersonic over oceans, which severely restricted the routes that it could fly. The next is the obvious giant seeping environmental impact that a supersonic jet has with its fuel consumption and emissions being significantly more fuel per passenger than subsonic jets. Plus, there were genuine concerns at the time that the high altitude emissions would literally punch holes into the ozone layer. It was also like super fucking expensive and despite its glamour, Concorde was never
13:08 Speaker 00 a commercial success in the traditional sense. Only 20 aircraft were ever built, including the prototypes, and it was expensive to operate and maintain with its small passenger capacity, which sat at around 92 to 128 seats, meaning it couldn't generate the same revenue as larger jets. Even with ticket prices being extremely high, often more than 10,000 for a round trip in the later years, which really limited its accessibility to the ultra wealthy and business elite. But still, Concorde remained a statement and symbol of the 80s and 90s with hopes that
13:49 Speaker 00 as technology advanced, those concerns from the boom to the cost and the ecological elements would eventually become alleviated. But that would not be the case. Unfortunately, on July 25th, 2000, Air France Flight 4590 crashed shortly after takeoff from Charles de Gaulle Airport, killing all 109 people on board and four on the ground. A piece of metal which was left on the runway that was previously dropped by a prior aircraft punctured one of Concorde's tyres, leading to a rupture in the fuel tank and subsequent inferno.
14:31 Speaker 00 This tragic, tragic accident led to a temporary suspension on all Concorde flights. And the aircraft was eventually modified with reinforced tyres and Kevlar lining in the fuel tanks. Um, and it resumed service in two thousand and one, but public confidence had truly been shaken. You combine this with the economic downturns following the nine eleven attacks, increasing maintenance costs and aging technology. Both British Airways and Air France announced Concorde's retirement in two thousand and three. Where she really was a symbol of innovation in the post-World War Two years and a hope for even greater technological
15:16 Speaker 00 innovation in those that followed. Concorde was a beast of the past, albeit a beautiful, fascinating and luxurious one. But she was not meant for tomorrow. And as such, the final commercial Concorde flight took place on October twenty fourth, two thousand and three, when British Airways Flight BA oh oh two flew from New York to London for the very last time. When arriving, the aircraft received a grand farewell with ceremonies and flyovers marking the end of a remarkable era. Concorde's last ever flight, a ceremonial journey to Bristol Filton Airfield occurred later that year, um, November twenty sixth,
15:58 Speaker 00 where the aircraft was delivered to the Airbus facility for permanent display. And rather interestingly, she was actually moved for the very first time in over ten years in May this year, when it was taken out onto the taxiway at Heathrow. It's pretty wild footage. I will share it with you guys on Instagram so you can see that the age of supersonic commercial aircraft came to an end with a historical footprint that ranges from the end of World War Two right up until the start of the twenty first century.
16:31 Speaker 00 Now at this point in the episode, I'd usually say, "Well, who else kicking around at the same time as X?", but given how very modern Concorde was, I thought instead, we could talk about some of its most famous passengers. So Concorde held the butts of several politicians, celebs and business figures in its years in the air, including Elizabeth Taylor, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Mick Jagger and Phil Collins, who famously used Concorde to play both the London and Philadelphia Live Aid concerts on the same day. Madonna and Beyonce were also frequent flyers, along with Sean Connery, Sophia Loren and Michael Caine.
17:11 Speaker 00 There was also Princess Diana, who flew on Concorde on a trip to Vienna in 1989, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who flew Concorde several times, including a state visit to the US. Now, what influence does Concorde have on modern times? Well, like I said, even though it was retired in 2003, Concorde still has a lasting influence on modern aviation today. Technologically, culturally and aspirationally, it represents a unique chapter in our history and continues to shape how we think about speed, design and the future of flight. Thanks to Concorde, we have pushed the limits of aerospace design, developing technologies
17:53 Speaker 00 like supersonic aerodynamics and high-temperature materials, which have all gone on to influence modern fighter jets. Concorde also influences us because of its many failures, as well with things like fatigue, noise control and fuel efficiency, making safer and more sustainable aircraft today. And lastly for this episode, how is Concorde remembered in pop culture? Like I said at the top, the opening scene of the TV series Rivals is set within Concorde, more specifically within a Concorde bathroom. And there is a couple of different renditions in film. The film The Concorde Airport 79.
18:33 Speaker 00 Which is a dramatic disaster film and part of the airport movie franchise which features the Concorde as the central setting, dramatising its speed and high-stakes flights. It also pops up in TV shows like Top Gear, The Simpsons, Doctor Who and Grand Designs, along with montages of glamour and 20th century innovation in various documentaries. Frank Ocean references Concorde in his song White Ferrari, while Jay-Z, Kanye West and other hip-hop artists have used it to symbolise wealth and speed. So there you have it guys, that is Concorde in a nutshell, which brings us to the end of another episode of Hot History. If you'd like to support us, then you can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as
19:18 Speaker 00 Hot History, follow us on TikTok at hot dot history and on Instagram at Hot History Club. As always, it is a pleasure getting down and dirty in time with you and tune in next week as we discuss the lives, loves and lies of one Miss Norma Jean, aka Marilyn Monroe.
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