[SOC] Concorde

[Bob Baxter]

> I no longer hold a grudge but I agree that it was probably American
> intransigence (jealousy?) that stopped Concorde from being a proper
> commercial success.

Sorry guys, it wasn't us who killed the Concorde, it was simple economics.
(but you knew that already)  Business doesn't abandon a moneymaker and the
supply of customers willing to pay two or three times the usual fare, to
save time, dwindled below the break even point.  The Concorde was never
prohibited from flying accross the US at sub-sonic speeds, and it did so
several times, but we don't allow our military planes to exceed mach 1 over
populated areas.  We have never envied the Concorde and, in fact, had
designs on the drawing board, but public opinion convinced the builders that
it was a losing proposition.  As an aircraft mainenance technician
(politically correct term for "grease-ball") all my working life, I admired
the design and performance of the Concorde.  It had an admirable safety
record with the exception of the one crash, which could have happened to any
jet airliner.

Bob Baxter AA7EQ
Bisbee, Az.