Concorde
Arthur Gibson (Photographer) New York: Crescent Books, 1975. First Printing [Stated] of this edition. Hardcover. 64 pages. Illustrations (most in color). Diagrams. Technical Specifications. Production Manufacture Breakdown. Minor wear and soiling to cover and some page discolortion. This is the first detailed and first-hand account of the most ambitious civil aircraft project ever undertaken -- the design, development and manufacture jointly by Britain and France of the Concorde supersonic airliners. F> G. Clark, who wrote the text, and Arthur Gibson, who took the great majority of the photographs which illustrate it, form a team uniquely qualified to present the story of the Concorde. Both have been involved with the project since its inception, Mr. Clarke as a member of the staff of British Aircraft Corporation and, before that, Bristol aircraft Ltd., and Mr. Gibson as a consultant designer to BAS and Britain's leading aviation photographer. Both have travelled widely in connection with Concorde's overseas demonstration tours to many different parts of the world. Their book will surely rank as the authoritative 'biography" of one of the most beautiful and exciting aircraft the world has seen. Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde is a British-French turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet airliner that was operated until 2003. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 km/h at cruise altitude), with seating for 92 to 128 passengers. First flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued flying for the next 27 years. It is one of only two supersonic transports to have been operated commercially; the other is the Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-144, which was operated for a much shorter period. Concorde was jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty. Twenty aircraft were built, including six prototypes and development aircraft. Air France (AF) and British Airways (BA) were the only airlines to purchase and fly Concorde. The aircraft was primarily used by wealthy passengers who could afford to pay a high price in exchange for Concorde's speed and luxury service. Among other destinations, Concorde flew regular transatlantic flights from London's Heathrow Airport and Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, and Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados; it flew these routes in less than half the time of other airliners. Concorde's name, meaning "harmony" or "union", was chosen to reflect the co-operation on the project between the United Kingdom and France. In the UK, any or all of the type are known simply as Concorde, with no definite article the. Concorde won the 2006 Great British Design Quest organized by the BBC and the Design Museum, beating other well-known designs such as the BMC Mini, the miniskirt, the Jaguar E-Type, the London Tube map and the Supermarine Spitfire. The type was retired in 2003, three years after the crash of Air France Flight 4590, in which all passengers and crew were killed. The general downturn in the commercial aviation industry after the September 11 attacks in 2001 and the end of maintenance support for Concorde by Airbus (the successor company of both Aérospatiale and BAC) also contributed. Condition: Good.
Keywords: Aviation, Aeronautics, Concorde, Supersonic Transport, Airliner, Delta Wing, Aerodynamics, Flight Testing, Olympus Engine, British Aircraft, Aerospatiale, Sonic Boom, Passengers, Marketing
[Book #73637]
Price: $35.00