British Aerospace / Aerospatiale Concorde

Concorde was designed to meet unmatched requirements for altitude, speed, range, and payload, leading its designers to create new materials, construction techniques, and aerodynamic features. Because it flew very high where outside air pressure was extremely low and very fast where friction heated its outer skin to about 260°F (127°C), engineers developed a special aluminum alloy to withstand pressure differences and aerodynamic heating, and the aircraft was painted white to help dissipate heat. Its delta-shaped wings were efficient at both supersonic cruise speeds and slower landing speeds, but their shape required a much greater angle of attack during takeoff and landing than conventional aircraft, causing the aircraft to angle skyward. Since pilots could not see the runway over the long slender nose, engineers designed a nose that tilted downward for better visibility and added a small retractable wheel in the tail cone to prevent tail strikes. Concorde also lacked the stabilizers used by conventional airplanes to maintain balance as the center of lift moved aft during acceleration, so the flight engineer transferred jet fuel between tanks in the nose and tail as ballast to keep the aircraft balanced.

New York, New York · United States