F-ZeroOne Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 Concorde, the worlds only regularly scheduled supersonic passenger airliner, makes its last commercial flight today. I can think of no finer tribute to what was arguably the most famous jet in the skies for the past couple of decades than Terry Pratchetts description in his book, Wings: "...a bit of shaped sky". So long, Concorde. It will be far too long before we see your like again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander McBride Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 What once was, will soon be gone. A great bird, if there ever was one. A glistening white bird. A bird not of majesty, but of power, of speed. What once was great, will now be grounded forever. Free to fly, only in it's own dreams. Trapped in a glassy gage. A legacy is finished. An age is at an end. Concorde, you were the hopes, the dreams, of another generation. When you first took to the sky, man walked on the moon. When you flew, men looked to the sky, and saw the future. Now, she is a citizen of the past. Not the first of her lineage, but childless. Not the beginning of a new age, but the end of an old one. When you first spread your wings, a new age was beginning. With your departure, that age is finally over. Farewell, Concorde. Godspeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeta Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 Frankly I think it should of never flown, the only purpose it served was as a status symbol. The impracticalitys of scheduled supersonic flight (people hate living near airports, living near a almost constant sonic boom would be insane) kept it from ever being produced in high enough numbers to change the industry. Factor in the fact that few if any people ever need to cross the atlantic in under 6 hours it could never have survived as long without riding on its "cool" factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted October 24, 2003 Author Share Posted October 24, 2003 Zeta, you're of course entitled to your opinion, and similiar sentiments have been raised in the various retrospective looks at Concorde over the past couple of weeks in the UK, though I do feel that the same thing could have been - or rather, has been - said about the Moon landings, and I also can't help wondering what would have happened, or if people would feel the same way. if the planned US SST had got into service... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DestroidsRage Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 The sonic boom thing is a myth... Its all in the aerodynamics. I was reading an article, and one of the big aviation companies was saying how, if you build the plane in the right shape, the sonic boom created by the aircraft going through the air can be virtually null. Its just all in the design of the plane. And we never fully figured out a good airframe. That was the problem. I think its all in the fact that the world is about Returns. About Revenue. There are no dreams anymore. There are no ambitions. If someone can think of a cheap assed way of making money, theyre going to go with that. No ones going to say "lets make a new generation of transport plane!!" or anything like that. Humanity has gone from a good number of interesting geniuses pumping out intriguing designs, to a bunch of clone idiots creating cars that look the same, jets that look the same, soda that tastes the same, its just all a clone of eachother these days. Cause humanity has lost touch in its creative side. Well, thats just one of my ideas... The Concorde will be sorely missed, I never even got to fly on it... I always wanted to... Blah... -BEN-MAN- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Nut Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 What once was, will soon be gone.A great bird, if there ever was one. A glistening white bird. A bird not of majesty, but of power, of speed. What once was great, will now be grounded forever. Free to fly, only in it's own dreams. Trapped in a glassy gage. A legacy is finished. An age is at an end. Concorde, you were the hopes, the dreams, of another generation. When you first took to the sky, man walked on the moon. When you flew, men looked to the sky, and saw the future. Now, she is a citizen of the past. Not the first of her lineage, but childless. Not the beginning of a new age, but the end of an old one. When you first spread your wings, a new age was beginning. With your departure, that age is finally over. Farewell, Concorde. Godspeed. Sweet poem there. Concorde will be greatly missed. I also hoped to fly in it one day, but now that day will never come. I salute the pilots that have had the honour of flying such an iconic aircraft and I hope in my lifetime there will be another speedbird as majestic as concorde was. Godspeed Concorde, fly like you've never flown before and touch the stars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isamu_dyson Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 au revoir concorde ! a great one has gone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander McBride Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 What once was, will soon be gone.A great bird, if there ever was one. A glistening white bird. A bird not of majesty, but of power, of speed. What once was great, will now be grounded forever. Free to fly, only in it's own dreams. Trapped in a glassy gage. A legacy is finished. An age is at an end. Concorde, you were the hopes, the dreams, of another generation. When you first took to the sky, man walked on the moon. When you flew, men looked to the sky, and saw the future. Now, she is a citizen of the past. Not the first of her lineage, but childless. Not the beginning of a new age, but the end of an old one. When you first spread your wings, a new age was beginning. With your departure, that age is finally over. Farewell, Concorde. Godspeed. Sweet poem there. Concorde will be greatly missed. I also hoped to fly in it one day, but now that day will never come. I salute the pilots that have had the honour of flying such an iconic aircraft and I hope in my lifetime there will be another speedbird as majestic as concorde was. Godspeed Concorde, fly like you've never flown before and touch the stars. Actually, I wrote it as song lyrics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Nut Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 oh, my bad. cool song then B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfunk Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 The sonic boom thing is a myth... Its all in the aerodynamics. I was reading an article, and one of the big aviation companies was saying how, if you build the plane in the right shape, the sonic boom created by the aircraft going through the air can be virtually null. Its just all in the design of the plane. And we never fully figured out a good airframe. That was the problem.I think its all in the fact that the world is about Returns. About Revenue. There are no dreams anymore. There are no ambitions. If someone can think of a cheap assed way of making money, theyre going to go with that. No ones going to say "lets make a new generation of transport plane!!" or anything like that. Humanity has gone from a good number of interesting geniuses pumping out intriguing designs, to a bunch of clone idiots creating cars that look the same, jets that look the same, soda that tastes the same, its just all a clone of eachother these days. Cause humanity has lost touch in its creative side. Well, thats just one of my ideas... The Concorde will be sorely missed, I never even got to fly on it... I always wanted to... Blah... -BEN-MAN- no, its physics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt Hungry Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 It is the end of an era. I was living on Long Island in NY when the Concorde was first scheduled to land at Kennedy. I remember, somewhat the furor over the amount of noise that it was expected to create. I thought it was pretty cool that such a sleek looking airliner was flying. I'll be able to see one up close and personal at the new Smithsonian museum when it opens. Very much looking forward to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawjaw Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 I think its all in the fact that the world is about Returns. About Revenue. There are no dreams anymore. There are no ambitions. If someone can think of a cheap assed way of making money, theyre going to go with that. No ones going to say "lets make a new generation of transport plane!!" or anything like that. Humanity has gone from a good number of interesting geniuses pumping out intriguing designs, to a bunch of clone idiots creating cars that look the same, jets that look the same, soda that tastes the same, its just all a clone of eachother these days. Well said - I couldn't agree more. Just look at movies and TV as the best example. Before, they would just borrow ideas or follow a similar formula. Now, they can't even do that - they just flat out remake old stuff. I love to see when people do a project just to see what it would look like or to see if it would actually work. I suppose all the computers and technology these days allow you to figure out what works and what doesn't well before anything is made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Nut Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 Update: The final flight has touched down at Heathrow Airport and thus the era of Concorde has ended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opus Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 Cell phones and tele-cofrencing are what killed the Concorde. Business men no longer need to fly across the Atlantic at a moments notice to seal thier deals. Just like everything else that sucks in the world I blame Bill Gates. I snatched this pic from the Associated Press Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeszekely Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 Don't cry, guys! Check out page 42 of the October issue of Popular Science magazine. Lockheed Martin, with the support of an unnamed backer, is trying to develop a new supersonic business jet. Wind-tunnel tests and computer studies have already show that low-boom jets are possible, they just need to get the full-scale prototype built. According to the article, Gulfstream Aerospace and DARPA also have low-boom jets in the works, but LM is likely to finish theirs first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prowlus Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 we are sure gonna miss the "Queen of the skies" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J A Dare Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 I salute all those pioneers who joined the most elite of clubs...the 11-Mile-High Club. May your accomplishment(s) be held secret...but never forgotten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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