It is hard to believe that it has been over 21 years since the Air France and British Airways Concorde flights were canceled. Seems like yesterday. AT the time, it was stated that the reason was safety...yet, the Concorde had the best safety profile of any aircraft. The incident that caused a tragic accident and loss of life on an Air France Concorde flight in July 2000 was not due to a safety concern, it was due to an object on the runway. Conspiracy theories abound.
Since I am an astrophysicist, I looked into the REAL reason the fleets were grounded. Industry experts advised me that the pilots were retiring and the maintenance crews were also retiring after expended service. I spoke with a former Concorde pilot and he confirmed this.
There simply wasn't enough trained crew to continue. The Concorde required massive maintenance. It stretched as much as 18 inches during supersonic travel. Maintenance after a flight included 1,5 hours of welding to repair fatigued metal!!
Alas, this may all change. Boom Supersonic completed its first test flight of it concept, the XB-1. The test was a scale model (I believe 3/8 size) but it was significant nonetheless.
Boom plans to test a full scale prototype next year!! It will be called "Overture".
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