The Concorde - the Most Unique Aircraft - Research Paper Example

The Concorde - the Most Unique Aircraft Abstract I have chosen the the Concorde as my selected aircraft as it is the most unique aircraft ever built. It was the first and only passenger aircraft to fly above the speed of sound(mach 1) and this paper will describe how the Concorde evolved and how it was used in service. It will tell what made it work and describe the special features it needed over subsonic planes to survive the incredible speeds it attained. The paper will also cover the reasons for it's eventual demise. Supersonic relates to a speed that is faster than the speed of sound (mach 1) which is generally considered to be 768mph (1235km/h). The first fighter plane to achieve such speeds was the Mirage jet or Desault, named after it's designer Marcel Desault which evolved in 1953 after French Governmental research and it was attain speeds of mach 1, however it was considered to light to be able to carry the equipment needed as a fighter plane and was not used. The Mirage II was designed but never built because it was to heavy and would not be able to attain the required speeds. The Mirage III was developed and in 1957 became the fastest jet in history attaining speeds of 830mph(1335 km/h) or mach 1.8 with the use of afterburners in the same fashion that rockets do. France continued ti dominate the research into fast planes with the then president Charles De Gaulle resenting an American domination oof the aviation industry and so continued the research and building the Caravelle which was powered by British Rolls Royce engines.”Thus Foreshadowed The Later Concorde Partnership” (Heppenheimer), however they did not travel above the speed of sound. Driven by his dislike for America and his countries lessening impact on world politics, De Gaulle invited British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, who had a close relationship with American President John F. Kennedy to join him in a plan to produce a supersonic jet that could slash the time taken for world travel. The two government leaders met in 1962 to form a treaty to develop the Concorde at a cost of $448million. With the advent of a new prime minister, Harold Wilson, and a worsening economic climate England tried to pull out of the partnership but the treaty signed by Macmillan allowed France to continue collecting funds from England. Thus, the first experimental Concorde was tested in 1969 but because of the prohibitive cost in fuel it created little interest especially now that the 747 had just come into service and while it traveled no quicker than other jets such as the Caravelle its much larger size gave passengers a much better level of comfort.Through the efforts of French and British manufacturers the Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued commercial flights for the next 27 years. Astonishingly the Concorde, due to the heating of its frame by the immense speeds it attained, would stretch it's length of 204 feet by up to 10 inches during flight and it was painted with a special white paint to service the heating of its fuselage at high supersonic speeds. It had a delta style wingspan of only 83 feet which is much less than the average 211 feet span of sub sonic jets. Because it's design the Concord’s had to take of and land at very steep angles which impaired the pilots vision over the needle like nose. To improve the pilots sight of the runway a drooping nose was developed and it would droop by some 5 degrees during take of and 17.5 degrees during landing. Because of these same angles of attack the Concorde had tail wheels to protect the tail from scraping on the runway. The Concorde flew at twice the speed of sound (mach2) or 1350mph(2172kp/h) with a range of 4500 miles at a height of 60000 feet (11 miles) and the outside temperature about the nose would reach 127 degrees Celsius (260F). The normal flight time by a sub sonic jet from London to New York was around 7hours and 30 minutes but the Concorde could achieve this in 3 hours and 30 minutes and it has done it in 2 hours and 52 minutes. In 1992 The Concorde circumnavigated the world, including stopovers for fuel, in 32 hours 49 minutes and 3 seconds. The Concord’s major and most spectacular feature was it's four turbo Rolls Royce jet engines which enabled it to reach those amazing speeds that no passenger jet has ever, to this day, achieved. To reduce air turbulence the engines were attached under the wing struts and each engine produced a fantastic 18.7 tons of thrust and burned 6771 gallons of fuel an hour which was in part it's final downfall. It carried 17 fuel tanks which could hold 31500 gallons (119500 liters) of Kerosene.”The Concorde's Engines Used Afterburners to Gain Additional Thrust to Reach Supersonic Speeds. Afterburners Mix Additional Fuel With the Exhaust Gases From the Primary Combustion Chamber and Burn it to Get More Thrust.” (Freudenrich,2001). A typical Concorde flight from London to New York would cost the traveler $5100 and include a gourmet meal with more than 2.5 million passengers flying with Concorde during it's time in the air and it was thought that super sonic flight was the way of the future when American President Ronald Reagan “Called For a Program to Develop a Hyperspace Transport or National Aerospace Plane Capable of Going From New York to Tokyo in Two Hours”.(Freuderich,2001). These craft would have to enter orbit and have to overcome re entry problems in the fashion as the space shuttles and were completely commercially enviable. After 27 years of service the Concorde needed safety modifications with tens of millions of dollars needed to be spent on upgrades before life extension programs could be undertaken. With the exorbitant fuel costs the airlines were unable to justify these costs and still make a profit and so on October 24, 2003 Concorde made its final flight. “We Should Celebrate What Concorde Was And Still Is, The Only Profit Making Supersonic Passenger Jet Ever To Go Into Service - The Americans Could Not Even Do - That's How Far Ahead Of Its Time It Was...And Still Is!”(concordesst.com) Research Freudenrich, Craig PhD. (2001).How Concorde Works. How Stuff Works. Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/concorde4.htm British Airways. (n.d.) About Concorde. Concorde. Retrieved from http://www.britishairways.com/concorde/aboutconcorde.html#facts_figures Heppenheimer, T.A.(n.d.) The Concorde Supersonic Transport. U.S Centennial of Flight Commission. Retrieved from http://centennialofflight.gov/essay/Aerospace/Concorde/Aero53.htm Celebrating An Aviation Icon.(n.d.). Concorde Retrieved from http://www.concordesst.com/home.html Concorde. (n.d.) retrieved Nov 25, 2011 from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde Read More