Concorde: The world's first luxury ship, twice as fast as sound, from preparation to failure

 This article was first published on the pages of BBC Urdu in October 2021.  It is being re-presented today on the occasion of 21st January. 

 This is the date when the Concorde flights from London to Bahrain were supposed to start.

 It was a ship that, when it landed, had a long, conical nose that made it look like an eagle was catching its prey.

 It was a plane in which people ate, drank and felt as if they were in their own bed as usual, traveling at the speed of sound.

 We are talking about Concorde, a joint venture between Britain and France, which ruled the hearts of the people for almost three decades.

 Concord retired on October 24, 2003, 27 years after joining the regular service in 1976.

 An Urdu translation of the BBC4 documentary Concord: 

A Supersonic Story is being presented on this occasion for the interest of the readers. 

 They wanted to build a supersonic ship.  The plan had been on their minds since the end of World War II.

 According to Jonathan Glensi, author of the book Concorde, the first discussion of Concorde took place among British engineers in the late 1940s, who dreamed of a future far beyond the world in which they lived.  

At the time, Britain was a coal-fired, bankrupt country where ration cards were used.

 The desire to leave the voice behind

 When the Americans first flew at high speeds in 1947, the race to build the world's first supersonic passenger plane began.

 The Nazis had made great strides in aerial technology during World War II, and now British scientists have begun to consider and advance these concepts.

 The UK now had some groundwork, but it would cost کروڑ 100 million to complete.

 France, on the other side of the English Channel, was working on a concept similar to the British design. 

 But instead of competing, the two countries exchanged ideas and shared costs.

 The two countries agreed that one aircraft would be built in Toulouse, France and one in Bristol, UK.

 The treaty was signed on November 29, 1962.

 Since the treaty was made between centuries-old enemies, there was a lot of skepticism on both sides.

 Concord's chief design engineer, Ted Talbot, says our politicians did not trust French politicians, so he insisted that anyone withdrawing from the agreement would pay for it until it was completed. 

 So that means we can't go out either. "

 But the clause remained a headache for British politicians for the next ten years.

 Engineers from Britain and France began work on the project.

 Both sides conducted language courses for their respective workers as both had difficulty understanding each other's language. 

 Concorde flight engineer Philippe Cairns says the French drawings on the project were done in French, so it had to be learned.

 Doubt each other

 The British engineer had to be careful not to jeopardize this delicate agreement even during the lunch break.

 Jonathan says: "But there was a good rapport between the British and French engineers, and they kept teasing each other.  

As a result of the national pride of both sides joining and competing, a very successful machine was developed.

 But the harmony of the engineers did not mean that the politicians were like that.

 The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Harold Wilson, became very angry with the French President Charles de Gaulle when he learned that the French had added the letter 'E' to the end of Concorde's name, so he removed it.  But de Gaulle put it back.

 But engineers in Toulouse and Bristol didn't mind.

 The initial design was unveiled a year after the agreement was signed between Britain and France. 

 A wooden pattern was created to give an experience of its interior.

 Jonathan Glensi says orders for the plane were immediately received.

  The aviation industry was very enthusiastic.  This was the early days of supersonic flights. 

 It instilled in the airline owners a passion that is hard to imagine today.  

Everyone knew Concorde was the next big thing.

 One order after another

 Around the world, 16 airlines have ordered more than 75 aircraft. 

 Many of the orders were from American Airlines, which angered President Kennedy, so he announced plans to build a better aircraft than Concorde.

 Jonathan Glensi says the United States did not want to be left behind because another player was involved in the game: 

the Soviet Union, which had supersonic technology, and Germany was working on it.

 Now that customers were present, it was necessary to change the concord to reality.

 Everything was started from scratch and the materials were tested to the last detail.  

The project grew because two planes were being built at the same time, so every part and every device would be built twice.

 But to travel twice as fast as the speed of sound, great advances in aircraft design were required.

  For many months the wings of aircraft were tested and the engines obtained from military aircraft were redesigned to make them twice as powerful.

 The long nose was designed to pierce the air faster than any other passenger plane.

 

But engineers had to invent a new way to take off and land.

 During Concord's takeoff and landing, the long nose was turned down so that pilots could see the runway. 

 By 1966, most of the aircraft had been manufactured by factories on both sides and transported to the other side.

 But soon Concord became five times more expensive than its initial costs, and its ordering companies began asking for more expensive additions. 

 Finally, one day in the winter of 1967, Concorde's first aircraft was unveiled.

 There was a lot of hope and excitement that day and even the flight attendants were dressed like astronauts which was an indication of how the two nations viewed the plane.

 Then finally came the day when two veteran pilots were scheduled to make the first Concord test flight in Toulouse.

 The flight was a success, followed by a 22-minute test flight of the British Concorde.

 Concorde's flight testing was now in full swing. Initial Concerns: Smoke and Noise

 But the thick smoke from Concorde's engines and its noise began to raise concerns.

 Anyone on Earth would hear two explosions as the Concorde passed over them, called the Sonic Boom.

  They are formed when something travels faster than the speed of sound.

 Jonathan Glensi says people would complain when they passed by a population.

 But by 1972, the Concorde project had blown more than a billion pounds and was still a long way from being in service.

 The Concorde prototype, meanwhile, was sent on a sales tour with the British Minister of Aviation, Lord Michael Hasseltine, and a number of engineers, traveling around the world to persuade other companies to purchase it.

 The first stop was Tehran where Shah Raza Pahlavi made a test trip.

 During the flight, he told Hasseltine that he wanted to go to the cockpit.  

When they landed, they were full of supporters to buy planes.

 He announced plans to buy two planes and allow Concorde to pass through Iran.