The Jet Age hit full stride during the 1950's, as piston-powered aircraft gave way to faster jet-driven models. And as we got addicted to pure speed, the next logical step was to go supersonic.
And that was the ambitious plans of airlines all over the world. In the US, development of the Boeing 2707 was undertaken. In Russia, the Tupolev Tu-144 was created. And over in England, the Concorde was born.
Thus, during the late 60's, a race to become the first airline offering supersonic flights was started. This 1968 Braniff commercial from Youtube shows that 1975 was the magical year that was being forecast as the time that supersonic flights would become, not only available, but commonplace.
The Tu-144 was first conceived of in a January 1962 article in a Russian aeronautical magazine. On December 31, 1968, the first Tu-144 took off on a test flight. In June of next year, the Russian bird broke the sound barrier for the first time. A month later, it hit Mach 2.
Test flights and improvements on the Russian plane went pretty well. However, a tragic crash at the 1973 Paris Air Show dealt the program a severe blow. A Tu-144 was approaching a landing when it lost control and exploded in mid-flight. All six aboard were killed, as well as another eight on the ground.
Despite that setback, the revamped Tu-144S went into service delivering mail and freight in December 1975. In November 1977, passenger service was at last begun with the supersonic plane. In May, 1978, a Tu-144D (designed to have a longer range) experience failures in flight. It managed to land, but with casualties among its crew. As was often the case with Communist Russia, details were sketchy about the disaster. The next month, the final passenger flight took place and Russia's experiment with supersonic speeds for passengers was over. There were only 55 official flights.
Interestingly, it has been well documented that Aeroflot made additional passenger flights of the Tu-144D well into the 80's, after its official retirement.
The Concorde SST first took to the air in March, 1969. In October of that year, it broke the sound barrier for the first time. In September 1971, it made its first Atlantic crossing. The 1973 Russian crash hammered the Concorde program as well. Further hurting the selling of a supersonic plane to the airlines was the 1973 Arab oil embargo, which pushed fuel prices to never-before-seen levels. Concerns about pollution and sonic booms also caused many nations to back away from flying supersonic. In 1976, when the airliner was cleared for passenger flights, only two buyers remained: British Airways and Air France.
Despite achieving the most success of its rivals, the Concorde program was a huge money pit. In 2000, a fatal crash further tarnished its image. Flight 4590 hit debris on the Charles de Gaulle International Airport runway as it was taking off, and this caused a fire which brought the plane down and caused the death of all on board, including 100 passengers. The Concorde was grounded for about a year, but all flights ceased in 2003.
Boeing's contestant in the race to go supersonic never actually flew at all. On June 5, 1963, President Kennedy formed the National Supersonic Transport program, which committed the government to subsidizing 75% of the development costs of a commercial airliner to compete with Concorde and Tupelov. The 2707 was to be bigger and faster than the Concorde, holding 250 passengers and flying at speeds approaching Mach 3 (the Concorde carried 100 passengers and went Mach 2).
The military had recently developed the XB-70 Valkyrie, a high-altitude bomber which cruised at Mach 3. It proved impractical for military use, but its design was the basis for the 2707. The plane had swingable wings, allowing for variable angles of the delta wings. This added much weight to the plane, as did the addition of small canard wings on the nose. Finally, the wing was redesigned to be fixed, and a model which also pared passenger count to 234 had two prototypes begin construction in September 1969, two years behind schedule.
Public opinion began turning against supersonic flight in the US. The planes would exude vast amounts of water vapor, which some environmentalists claimed would lead to global warming. Others pointed out that the plane's exhaust would be damaging to the earth's ozone layer. And nobody liked sonic booms. At some point about this time, supersonic passenger flights over the US were banned. In 1971, funding was cut for the 2707 program, and it was canceled. The two prototypes never flew. The cancellation was devastating to Boeing, which laid off over 60,000 employees. A famous 1971 bulletin board was posted in Boeing's hometown which said "Will the last person leaving Seattle - turn out the lights."
Thus, the supersonic race died for the US with a whimper. The Russian program was a disaster as well. The French and British kept the Concorde in flight for much longer, but it too was a major money loser.
Nowadays, airlines stay afloat by jam-packing as many passengers as possible into planes like sardines in a can. Going first class is the only way to escape the mayhem. But you can't go supersonic. That's by design. As cool as it was to break the sound barrier, it was economic disaster.
Comments (6)
Fast is better....
Smiles,
Sharon
~The Baby Boomer Queen~
Posted by Sharon/Baby Boomer Queen | August 29, 2010 9:15 AM
Posted on August 29, 2010 09:15
I remember daydreaming about taking trips on the cool Pan-Am Space Clipper from the film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The real Concorde turned out to look somewhat like it.
Posted by NCeddie | August 29, 2010 6:28 PM
Posted on August 29, 2010 18:28
Its funny how optimistic we were in the 60s. The future seemed wide open. Tech was moving fast and cool new things got us hoping for more. The SST (super-sonic-transport?) and its relatives seemed like a great idea. Many saw pushing the development envelope would only lead to more discoveries, maybe. Maybe it was just a good way to make a few jobs and create some kick backs or something. But it seems to me that practical factors should have been realized before they all got as far as they did. Sane minds eventually backed off.
I do marvel at those that make those 12 or 14 hour flights. I can't imagine 14 hours in a seat with no real change to move around, save a trip to the bathroom. I have never flown commercially, but I have been on ferries and 10 hours is fine if you can go lay down or go to the restaurant or snack bars or walk the decks or hang out in the lounge area. One ferry ride, recently moved away, was only 3 hours but the high speed catamaran ferry really rolled back and forth from side to side. You had to hold a railing to visit the back open deck area. Airline seating. It was not the easiest ride and it was good calm weather sailing, too. AND only 3 hours!!!
I have heard many who used to love flying and now hate it. Maybe it just got too big and popular and affordable. For a bit of nostalgia, I have a picture of the Beatles getting off a plane in NYC and it looked so small, open, vacant, laid back. Hard to believe that was NYC airport. 1964! My how times have changed. The airline industry grew and got cheaper and everyone began doing it. Maybe we fly too much for too many reasons.
A little known aspect of the airline industry is that most troops are now transported by this method. The entire industry could be commandeered in the event of an emergency and used, if necessary, exclusively for the military. So in many respects, the airline industry is a reserve branch of the military. Many industries serve in similar such capacities. Its a very thin blurry line that exists between the military and industry. But Eisenhower already told us about that.
But wasn't it great when air travel was a little less affordable and much more pleasant? Ah, the good old days! And we were much more practical, too. Flying was almost extravagant to many. Maybe we need more of that attitude back. Recreation can be had close to home and much cheaper. Cheers!
Posted by Scott I | August 29, 2010 7:07 PM
Posted on August 29, 2010 19:07
This is the other Scott...
Scott, I like reading your comments on here. You write better than I do..
....Interesting, the whole Concorde thing...I do wish I made one last flight before they discontinued the program entirely, but, if you have a jones for speed AND aircraft, and a few bucks, you can still fly to the edge of space in Russia in a Mig..I think they charge 10-15K for training and the flight...If I ever score some bucks, I will def do that in a few years...they haul ass to the edge of the stratosphere in like 5 minutes...and we are talking 90,000 ft high...
www.incredible-adventures.com
No cocktails are served ala the concorde, but barf bags are supplied thoughtfully....
Yes, Air travel has jumped the shark, as Scott infered...I call them "buses with wings"...
and worse, cause at least at the local Greyhound you don't have to suffer the indignity of a contract worker staring at you naked as a jaybird in that x-ray thingie they have now...Greyhound would not WANT to see people naked that use that service, trust me...they would need the same barf bags so lovingly provided on that Mig to space adventure...
Now, if only the plane held steady enough for the stewardesses to give hot cream shaves! Turbulance could be quite a pistol in that scenario!
Posted by scott k | September 12, 2010 10:50 PM
Posted on September 12, 2010 22:50
For baby boomer queenie
Candy is dandy, but
Liqour is quicker!
-Burma shave sign in the 50's
Posted by scott | September 12, 2010 10:52 PM
Posted on September 12, 2010 22:52
Two things killed the SST:
-- the eco-dorks went crazy and got flights over the US banned. 2 hours from NY to LA would have been very popular. That alone would have made it profitable, and
-- Very few people thought it was worth paying $1,000 extra to shave 3 hours off a 6-hour flight over the ocean.
There weren't many people who HAD to be in paris immediately, but there were LOTS of reasons we needed fast transportation across the east and west coasts of the US. I had been looking forward to Fedex same-day delivery: "bring it to us by 10 am and get it anywhere in the US by 5 pm the same day."
Posted by Faye Kane Homeless Brain | March 31, 2011 5:17 AM
Posted on March 31, 2011 05:17