8. Concorde was coated in special white paint to avoid overheating during supersonic flight
The Concorde was British/French turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner that operated until the year 2003. It was most notable for it’s sleek, air-fighter jet appearance, and the humble fact that it had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound. Somewhere along the lines of an astonishing 1,354mph, at cruising altitude. The simple fact about the Concorde was that it was perhaps the ultimate piece of aviation engineering the world has ever seen. Many believe it was the pinnacle of the industry, and since it’s retirement 20 years ago, the aviation industry has yet to hit those heights again. Concorde first entered service in 1976, and would go on to fly for another 27 years. It was famous for cutting the distance from popular business hot-spots like London to New York from the usual 7 and a half hours to an earth shattering 3 hours and 15 minutes. There were only 20 Concordes, and the fleet was either Air France or British Airways. Simply put, Concorde was only to a limited few, and costs were significantly higher than those travelling at less supersonic speeds. Despite being a piece of marvel engineering, Concorde eventually ran out of runway, after a number of high profile crashes, extraordinary maintenance costs and failing to secure more buyers, the British and French decided to retire the jet in 2003. Here are some extremely interesting facts about it, to help shed more light on the masterpiece.