do you think Concorde could fly agne?

Answer 1

Yes it could and should as well it was disgraceful that BA was allowed to retire it (they didnt pay for it the taxpayers did but after privatisation they got lucky) as for the spares yes airbus didnt want to provide spartes but Branson should have been allowed to buy the machines and presses etc to make spares yet again ground breaking british technology goes to waste

Answer 2

The main problem with maintaining the airworthiness of Concorde was that Airbus were no longer prepared to continue to support the type with parts.

It was not economically viable for Airbus as a business to maintain machines and tooling to provide parts for a worldwide fleet of only13 aircraft.

Though the accident at Gonesse and 9/11 did considerable harm to Concorde business it was the exclusivity of the aircraft that killed it off. Branson would only have been able to fly the type for a very short time before the parts shortage meant that the retirment was inevitable, and who can blame BA for wanting to have their aircraft retired in BA livery rather than have Virgin fly them for 3 months and then face the same problem, but have museums all over the world with VIRGIN concordes in them.

Yes, the aircraft could fly again, but the cost and time involved means this would only ever happen as possibly a charitable foundation keeping one airframe airworthy. It is very unlikely however. It would cost millions of pounds a year to have a Concorde at a handful of airshows, making perhaps up to 12 appearances a year. As nice as it would be, how can a government justify spending this amount of cash on what is essentially now a museum piece rather than on schools/hospitals?

Answer 3

All things are possible, but at what cost. While all Concord flights but one were completed successfully there were many in flight incidents of minor bits dropping off. There were only 20 built using technology devised in the 50s (think TSR2) and the spares problem would be difficult. The remaining airframes have been "stuffed and mounted" as museum displays and this sort of preservation is not the type that maintains airworthiness. This year a Vulcan bomber returned to the air after many years of re-building, a Concord might need centuries of work by an enthusiast group

Answer 4

I'm with the "I Doubt it" group.

It really boils down to a cost effectiveness. Tickets on the Concorde were between $2500 and $10000. It burned quite a bit of fuel too as it used afterburners like a fighter jet to get up to its cruising altitude of 50000 feet and higher as well as pushing it to a cruising speed of Mach 2.02

By the way, the Americans weren't against the aircraft so much as the noise. It was one of the loudest aircraft around (if you've ever seen the B2 strut its stuff at an airshow and been amazed by how loud it was, that's the Concorde taking off.) Not too mention that fact that there's that sonic BOOM when it goes past Mach 1.0

One of the posters mentioned the age of the fleet and replacement parts. They were spot on as far as Airbus not wanting to continue to create replacement parts for a fleet of 13 aircraft.

Answer 5

Yes, the concord could fly again. But the real question is will it ever be in a revune generating airline operation? NO. The aircraft never made money in the past, and survived off subsizdies from the french gov't. With fuel costs at all time highs, the aircraft will never fly again due to this reason.

Answer 6

No but i am sure within the next 10 years a supersonic airliner will come up on the drawing board. Boeing was almost ready to produce one in 2001 until 9/11 happened and it would have been larger than the concorde

Answer 7

It could, but sadly it won't. The world has moved backwards in terms of technology since the great bird retired. London to New York now takes 9 hours instead of 2 and a half. So sad. But concorde was not cost effective, and 9/11 did more harm than the Paris crash. Most of Concorde's regular customers were murdered that day.

Answer 8

Ya it could fly, but it wont. I mean look at the new boeing. Everything now is becoming more cost effective and enviromental friendly, two things that the concorde was diffentally not.. so i guess we will have to give up seeing the concorde in the sky inorder to save other "real" birds from dying due to the pollution :)

Answer 9

The government should buy one or force BA to give up one and attach it to the BBMF.
Concorde could easily fly again. Nothing will surpass it for many many years and its something for the country to be proud of.
No-one else in history has made a successful supersonic airliner.

Answer 10

No, but I think that agne should definitely have a go at flying a concorde. She's got what it takes, I think.