Faster Than Fast - Passing Of An Era

[HARDCORE]

?Speed has always been the name of the game in air travel - faster, higher and farther!!? And in this venue, few have garnered more deserved fame that the SR-71 Blackbird and the Concorde!

Well, today marked the end (?) of that era and the world definitely took a step backwards with the retirement of the Concorde Supersonic Airliner!

Back in 1997, the SR-71 Project was blown from the skies by presidential decree. The ?Spy Plane of All Spy Planes? was discontinued under the guise of ?NO MILITARY REQUIREMENT!?

This aircraft that looked like something out of a Star Wars Novel, set records and did things that, even the mention of, could have got you burned at the stake in the 1600s, or locked away in the booby hatch just a few short years ago! Capable of speeds in excess of Mach 3, and altitudes of 80,000 + feet, this dragon of the skies once traveled from New York to London in less than two hours, and from coast to coast in about 68 minutes. It was even once clocked over a straight course at 2071 mph, but I doubt seriously if the top speed of this lightning bolt was ever reached or reported!?

?On the other hand (civilian application), we had the Concorde!?

This bent-nose beauty saw it?s last flight (?) today, ferrying the rich and famous across the Atlantic from New York to London for a mere $6000 per head!

After 27 years of service and a fatal flight back in July of 2000 that claimed 109 lives as a result of debris on the Paris runway, the Concorde is being put to bed permanently, or so they say?!

A bit slower than the SR-71 Blackbird, the Concorde traveled from the Big Apple to Jolly Old London in but three hours at Mach 2. One thing about the descriptive of the Concorde, however, still puzzles me? Some damned fool referred to the Concords as a ?Relic Of A Bygone Era?!?

So if this (the Concorde) is so damned archaic, what did those who grounded this beautiful beast envision as a replacement - a new fleet of dirigibles perhaps?

?Sometimes you just have to wonder if we are on an irreversible course back to the cave!?? Hell, with the military cutback mentality of today, coupled with the ?Let?s Cut Corners Genre? of the private sector, maybe we will fight our next war with Spades and trek across the oceans aboard a square-rigger or a lugger!?

But what the heck, if you listen to our sage-like politicos, ?Less Is More?, until that is, we again find our asses in a wringer similar to that which we experienced early on that Sunday Morning, 7 December 1941! ?

?AIN'T PROGRESS GRAND?!? :cd:

?VERITAS

[Seascamp]

The cost of maintaining the Concord was its undoing as only a National airline like British Air or Air France could afford the luxury of just showing off and strutting their stuff. Add to that reality is the fact that the US, for one, does not allow supersonic flight in its air space domed the venture before the first flight. I always reckoned the Concord was a British-French nanner-nanner aimed at supposed US technological superiority in commercial aircraft manufacturing. But still today Boeing leads the way all around the world. So I guess the nanner-nanner deal didn?t yield all the desired results, or so it would seem.

Scamp

[HARDCORE]

SCAMP -

Point well taken!! I believe that the noise pollution levels were also a factor? "However, when one gains in one area, he usually loses in another!"

Still and all, we eventually will figure out a way to overcome the buggaboos of great speed, and it will eventually win out, I think?

As populations grow, the need to excellerate them from "Point A to Point B", faster, safer and cheeper, will become a necessity!

Hey, just think of it - "Live on the West Coast, work on the East Coast, and home for lunch at that!!"

"Move over George Jetson, here comes Uncle Sam!!"

VERITAS

[Seascamp]

Ya bet the Concord is loud, big time and a real window shaker. But I suppose there is dispensation and forgiveness for the lifestyle of the supposed ?fast, rich and famous?. Perhaps the next iteration will be something along the lines of a ?Scotty, beam me to New York? rig. But I?m not going on that ride, no sir. I?m thinking the reassembly process will inevitably get things screwed up and it? be my luck to get mixed up with some alligator or something like that that is in transit. :ek:

Heck, I?m still partial to the open cockpit biplanes and I have to go any faster than that, then maybe I need to ask why, LOL.

Scamp

[HARDCORE]

SCAMP -

"Ah, then came the light!!" Now I know why some people have their brains where their backsides should be!! LOL

That "Beaming" stuff can be a real bitch, especially in the D.C. area!!

VERITAS

VERITAS

"See, it even split my Veritas!?"