it was concordes supersonic flights that were making holes in the ozone layer so thats why it was taken out of commission..

Was it not scrapped because it was well past it's original intended number of flights and no one needed supersonic travel anymore as it was to expensive and there was no real need for it anymore

I understood that it was a combination of the crash in Paris and the twin towers that sealed Concordes fate. The twin towers because most of the regular business travellers who used Concorde were killed on that day, subsequently it was not financially viable to continue running the service.

Plus the Americans would not let it fly over the USA at supersonic speed, mainly because they could never get there Boeing SST to work!

stan wrote:

it was concordes supersonic flights that were making holes in the ozone layer so thats why it was taken out of commission..

Concord was killed by a series of different factors.

9/11 was the biggest nail in the coffin. Less people wanted to fly and the cost of fuel went up. Both hit concord where it hurt as the flying a supersonic speed used a lot of fuel and Concord had a very limited number of people it could carry.

Airlines during this time were losing money, a lot of money, and low cost airlines were grabbing larger market shares. BA and air France needed to change there market strategy and compete for the low fare market.

The crash was more a blessing than a disaster for both BA and Air France as it gave them an excuse to stop flying the plane until the market picked back up.

Since the whole air craft industry was hit, part manufactures also cut back on no essential items. Concord replacement parts prices started to climb and the cost of keeping concord in the air was far more than the companies could get from keeping it there.

^ Is correct.

I think one of the bigger points was that air France were rubbing almost empty flights and scrapped their service just as the service contract was doubled overnight to approx £40m per year at which point the remaining profit margin was almost wiped out. At this point a route to oz was internally being looked at with 2 stops being Saudi and them Sri Lanka but that only got it as far as Perth as there were doubts it would be allowed to go supersonic over the outback if at all.

They were looking at total end to end times of about 10-11hrs with the euro sector taking the longest time per mile as they would have to wait till over the Adriatic to go upto speed then drop again over part of Egypt or detour a little to avoid as much as possible. The land section they thought about was the big desert part with Sharm and so forth on it and as it wasn't everyday they thought it was possible and that they could maybe negotiate it by releasing one or two landing slots in the uk to the Egyptian national airline in exchange.

Iirc the cheaper fuel in the stopovers made it possible to do one flight each way a week so as to open up another route but as it was being the sole airline left running them they had no choice but to give up or face possibly having to buy one or two from air France just as future parts bins

I still think to this day they could recommission some for a route or two and make them break even purely as a marketing thing but ho hum they will never listen now they are half Spanish  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

I always thought the maintenance/up keep of the jigs was also a major factor - I believe Airbus were not willing to keep them going, even with extra money.
They were back flying in 2003. Before 9/11 BA's were profitable. BA's had extra safety features added, ie TPMS, different tyres and frangiable T-bars on the main gear - - these features were not mandatory.
There has been much debate whether such a sad event would have happened if it were a BA airframe.
Certainly Cantor Fitzgerald were a major customer for BA, they suffered in 9/11.

After the crash all Concorde's were grounded. They were only allowed to fly again with kevlar fuel tank liners. They also got different tyres, but this wasn't a certification requirement. Both AF and BA aircraft were modified. I don't know what other modifications were done only to BA aircraft, but post modification both BA and AF Concordes should survive an incident like Paris where a burst tyre ruptured a fuel tank.

Airworthiness Directives issued September 5th 2001 by both CAA & DGAC for Concordes’ return to service:
The fitment of Kevlar lining to key fuel tanks
The use of the new Michelin Near Zero Growth (NZG) tyres on all eight main wheels
The armouring of electrical wiring in the undercarriage bay
The water deflector retention cable must (if fitted) be removed and there is a slight reprofiling of the deflector to accommodate the new tyre.
The antiskid protocols are changed. Necessary because of the tyre change.
The flat tyre detection and warning [TPMS] system must be working on departure.
The electrical power to the brake cooling fans is switched off before take off and landing.

Note - airworthiness directives are mandatory, if not then the aircraft is not considered airworthy....

Some aviation phrases.

Crop Dusting: When flight attendants walk down the aisle and fart.

Cockpit queen: A flight attendant more interested in the front end of the aircraft than the cabin.

Crotch watch: The required check to make sure all passengers have their seat belts fastened.

Gate lice: The people who gather around the gate right before boarding so they can be first on the plane.

Two-for-one special: The plane touches down on landing, bounces up, then touches down again.

Ramp-rat: Ground crew.

Screamer: A passenger who has lost his or her cool.

Tuff cuff: Plastic handcuffs for disruptive passengers.

kingpleb wrote:

Well as i live right next to MAN i do get the odd oddity come in...

Click image to enlarge

http://www.buzzfeed.com/richardhjames/chec...e-uk-on-an ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
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Wow. It's a real traffic jam up there.

Wonder if you get planes tailgating?

thats the advantage of planes being able to overtake over or underneath the plane in front ..wish we could do that..  ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
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