The lost world of post-war 20th century aviation

As an industry with a truly global footprint aviation is battered and shamed by climate activists, pushed from pillar to post by economic and geopolitical events and a frequent target for terrorism. A life in the aviation industry represents life on the periphery; the edge of profitability, technology, materials, safety and a complex web of human factors.

Powered flight was invented in the 20th century and the same century would go on to see the greatest breakthroughs in flight, not only driven by numerous conflicts but also driven by the values of an era that linked technological advancement closely to national pride, with economics and environmental concerns taking a backseat. Think of the Apollo moon landings, life-changing innovations in fuel and power, feats of civil engineering and of course massive developments in aviation that would start to shrink our world. For many people the 1960’s was a decade where comic book futurism seemed almost within grasp and the future would be invented. 

For many people the 1960's was a decade where comic book futurism seemed almost within grasp and the future would be invented.

Concorde: a symbol of 1960’s futurism?

Not a single human being had flown a powered aircraft at the beginning of the 20th century yet only 69 years later on a calm April morning in 1969, British test pilot Brian Trubshaw taxied Concorde prototype 002 to the take-off point on the runway at Filton (near Bristol) for the first flight of the British assembled prototype (the French assembled 001 flew at the beginning of March from Toulouse, France). Designed for intercontinental service the aircraft was extremely light, carrying fuel for a 22 minute flight to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, the future home for the flight-test program for the UK assembled prototype. Despite the light-weight of the aircraft the take-off still required use of the full-length of the runway. The roads around Filton and Fairford were packed with onlookers. Take-off procedure on the prototype aircraft involved setting full-power against the brakes then selecting re-heat (after burner). With re-heat selected (after two attempts on one engine) prototype 002 was on its way, the low aircraft weight ensuring rapid acceleration as the aircraft consumed available tarmac and then became airborne to cheers from gathered crowds. A right turn on a north-easterly heading and 002 was on its way to Fairford.  

Prototype 002 powers into an April morning sky from Filton, UK in 1969

After an extensive flight test program, Concorde would eventually enter service in early 1976, the sight and sound of a Concorde departure was one of those things you could never tire off; not just because of its elegant delta-winged form but also due to the biblical noise generated by four Rolls-Royce/SNECMA Olympus turbojets in re-heat. This combination could literally make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end as the aircraft took leave of its earthly ties. Today noisy aircraft are frowned upon, but they used to represent freedom and technological advancement and most importantly, the future. It is not that conventional looking quieter aircraft are not a good thing, they are just not nearly as exciting and inspiring. 

Writing history...

Aside from the visceral effects on body and mind the sheer performance of Concorde was almost incomprehensible in its age; even some 51 years later we would consider it remarkable. Facts and figures are dry and anecdotes are far better at providing context. One such story concerns an interaction between and Air France Concorde out of Caracas and a SR-71 ‘Blackbird’ spy plane on a mission around Cuba. As the story goes the SR-71 pilots received a request to change heading due to traffic. There is nothing remarkable in itself about this until you consider the SR-71 was a 50,000ft plus and travelling at Mach 2+; the survival of the crew members in the cramped two-seat cockpit of the world’s highest performance spy-plane being entirely dependent on a full pressure suit akin to those worn by astronauts. In blind contrast the 100 or so Concorde passengers were relaxing on-board a transcontinental passenger airliner flying at the same height and almost the same speed. You can only imagine the astonishment of the SR-71 crew in this encounter.

It (Concorde) is often just referred to as 'supersonic', which somewhat belittles the fact that it could fly at up to Mach 2.04, more than twice the speed of sound.

Throughout Concorde’s operational life records were set and history was written. It is often just referred to as ‘supersonic’, which somewhat belittles the fact that it could fly at up to Mach 2.04, more than twice the speed of sound. Top speed was actually limited by temperature caused by the friction of air moving over the aircraft’s skin and not engine power. A radiometer was carried on-board to monitor solar radiation as a consequence of the 60,000ft cruising altitude. On the 7th February 1996, British Airways Concorde G-BOAD operating a scheduled service between New York JFK and London Heathrow, covered the 6,035km in an astonishing 2 hours 52 minutes. The fact that the programme cost more money than it ever made was largely forgiven as was to an extent the only fatal accident to befall the type in 27 years of service. But what Concorde would not be forgiven for were actually the things that made it great; the focus on technology, speed, performance and prestige as opposed to fuel-efficiency and operating economics. A machine designed to convert fuel into speed was definitely at odds with the world it found itself in at the start of the new century.

Concorde visiting Caracas, Venezuala (date unknown)

On the 24th October 2003 British Airways flight BA002 brought to a close the world’s last remaining supersonic airliner service and today some 17 years later supersonic flight as a passenger seems like a remote and unfathomable future prospect. In a 21st century world that touts time as a more precious commodity than money there are limits; unless there is underlying commercial viability and the precious resources of our planet are not violated this time/value statement has limited application. Today Concorde would be considered as entirely irrational; technology that once had meaning would have no place in the modern world. 

Irrational Technology and the ‘modern world’

There were so many feats of human achievement accomplished in a very short period of time in the 20th century that would just not get a second look today; it used to be that the notion of achieving the unachievable was more important than the achievement itself. Today we have replaced this with something we vaguely refer to as ‘vision’ but the modern version of ‘vision’ just seems somewhat scaled-back in aspiration. The reality is that the tide had already started to shift in the last three decades of the 20th century following the OPEC oil crisis, edging towards market drivers so familiar to us today. But we were fortunate to be left a legacy from the immediate post-war decades that would continue to provide inspiration to many people well into the beginning of the 21st century.