Concorde's First Flight
Next: March 2, 2027
The big bird flies.
The story
Where it comes from
This Story marks the anniversary of 2 March 1969, when Concorde 001, the prototype of the Anglo-French supersonic airliner, took off for the first time from Toulouse at 3.38 pm. Britain and France had agreed to build it together in 1962, sharing the cost equally. The test pilot André Turcat kept the first flight short: less than half an hour, never faster than 480 km/h. Back on the ground he said, 'Finally the big bird flies, and I can say now that it flies pretty well.'
How it's celebrated
There is no formal observance, but aviation fans remember the day, and Concordes are kept in museums in Europe and North America. Concorde 001 itself is displayed at the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace at Le Bourget, near Paris. It is a good day to look up the next time a plane crosses the sky, and to think how fast the world has learned to travel.
Did you know
- Concorde 001 first broke the sound barrier in October 1969 and reached twice the speed of sound on its 102nd test flight.
- Its makers hoped to cut the flight from London to New York from seven hours 40 minutes to three hours 25 minutes.
- Between 1977 and 1980 a British Airways Concorde flew London to Singapore via Bahrain with Singapore Airlines, painted in Singapore Airlines colours on its left side and British Airways colours on its right.
Coming up next
- World Wildlife Day · March 3, 2027
- Hinamatsuri (Doll Festival) · March 3, 2027
- World Engineering Day · March 4, 2027
- Gerardus Mercator's Birthday · March 5, 2027
- Michelangelo's Birthday · March 6, 2027
- Mothering Sunday · March 7, 2027