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N0KFQ > TODAY 21.01.16 17:37l 107 Lines 5286 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 82451_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Jan 21
Path: IW8PGT<I3XTY<I0OJJ<GB7CIP<GB7YEW<N9PMO<NS2B<N0KFQ
Sent: 160121/1533Z 82451@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1976
Concorde takes off
From London's Heathrow Airport and Orly Airport outside Paris,
the first Concordes with commercial passengers simultaneously
take flight on January 21, 1976. The London flight was headed to
Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, and the Paris to Rio de Janeiro via
Senegal in West Africa. At their cruising speeds, the innovative
Concordes flew well over the sound barrier at 1,350 miles an
hour, cutting air travel time by more than half.
The flights were the culmination of a 12-year effort that pitted
English and French engineers against their counterparts in the
USSR. In 1962, 15 years after U.S. pilot Chuck Yeager first broke
the sound barrier, Britain and France signed a treaty to develop
the world's first supersonic passenger airline. The next year,
President John F. Kennedy proposed a similar U.S. project.
Meanwhile, in the USSR, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev ordered
his top aviation engineers to beat the West to the achievement.
There were immense technical challenges in building a supersonic
airliner. Engines would need to be twice as powerful as those
built for normal jets, and the aircraft's frame would have to
withstand immense pressure from shock waves and endure high
temperatures caused by air friction. In the United States, Boeing
tackled the supersonic project but soon ran into trouble with its
swing-wing design. In England and France, however, early results
were much more promising, and Khrushchev ordered Soviet
intelligence to find out as much as possible about the
Anglo-French prototypes.
In 1965, the French arrested Sergei Pavlov, head of the Paris
office of the Soviet airliner Aeroflot, for illegally obtaining
classified information about France's supersonic project. Another
high-level Soviet spy remained unknown, however, and continued to
feed the Soviets information about the Concorde until his arrest
in 1977.
On December 31, 1968, just three months before the first
scheduled flight of the Concorde prototype, the fruits of Soviet
industrial espionage were revealed when the Soviet's TU-144
became the world's first supersonic airliner to fly. The aircraft
looked so much like the Concorde that the Western press dubbed it
"Konkordski."
In 1969, the Concorde began its test flights. Two years later,
the United States abandoned its supersonic program, citing budget
and environmental concerns. It was now up to Western Europe to
make supersonic airline service viable before the Soviets. Tests
continued, and in 1973 the TU-144 came to the West to appear
alongside the Concorde at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget
airport. On June 3, in front of 200,000 spectators, the Concorde
flew a flawless demonstration. Then it was the TU-144's turn. The
aircraft made a successful 360-degree turn and then began a steep
ascent. Abruptly, it leveled off and began a sharp descent. Some
1,500 feet above the ground, it broke up from overstress and came
crashing into the ground, killing all six Soviet crew members and
eight French civilians.
Soviet and French investigators ruled that pilot error was the
cause of the accident. However, in recent years, several of the
Russian investigators have disclosed that a French Mirage
intelligence aircraft was photographing the TU-144 from above
during the flight. A French investigator confirmed that the
Soviet pilot was not told that the Mirage was there, a breach of
air regulations. After beginning his ascent, the pilot may have
abruptly leveled off the TU-144 for fear of crashing into this
aircraft. In the sudden evasive maneuver, the thrust probably
failed, and the pilot then tried to restart the engines by
entering a dive. He was too close to the ground, however, and
tried to pull up too soon, thus overstressing the aircraft.
In exchange for Soviet cooperation in the cover-up, the French
investigators agreed not to criticize the TU-144's design or
engineering. Nevertheless, further problems with the TU-144,
which was designed hastily in its bid to beat the Concorde into
the air, delayed the beginning of Soviet commercial service.
Concorde passenger service began with much fanfare in January
1976. Western Europe had won its supersonic race with the
Soviets, who eventually allowed just 100 domestic flights with
the TU-144 before discontinuing the airliner.
The Concorde was not a great commercial success, however, and
people complained bitterly about the noise pollution caused by
its sonic booms and loud engines. Most airlines declined to
purchase the aircraft, and just 16 Concordes were built for
British Airways and Air France. Service was eventually limited
between London and New York and Paris and New York, and luxury
travelers appreciated the less than four-hour journey across the
Atlantic.
On July 25, 2000, an Air France Concorde crashed 60 seconds after
taking off from Paris en route to New York. All 109 people aboard
and four on the ground were killed. The accident was caused by a
burst tire that ruptured a fuel tank, creating a fire that led to
engine failure. The fatal accident-the first in Concorde's
history-signaled the decline of the aircraft. On October 24,
2003, the Concorde took its last regular commercial flight.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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