Why didn't it succeed?

Concorde flights came to a screeching halt after only 27 years of operation on October 24, 2003. The reason? Excessive cost, high fares, and loud noise. On a regular flight, Concordes consumed 6,771 gallons of fuel, which quickly exceeded the profit made from the flight. In addition to that, only a total of 20 Concordes were built and no airline ordered them except for Air France and British Airways, who had to as they were state-run airlines at the time.

Oh, and a 2000 crash that killed everyone on board (109 people) and four people on the ground.

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[–] 11 points 1 year ago (3 children)

What killed the Concorde was economics. It simply wasn't worth while doing and then when one finally crashed that one time, the entire fleet was mothballed

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    the entire fleet was mothballed

    For anyone who was as confused as I was -

    To mothball: to stop using a piece of equipment but keep it in good condition so that it can easily be used again

    I've spent over 35 years speaking (and studying) this bizarre language we call English. Yet until seeing your comment, I had no idea "mothball" could be a verb. TIL!

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  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)

    Wait until you hear about pickling. A number of military aircraft at the “boneyard” At Davis-Monthan AFB are still suitable for service; their engines having been removed and pickled within a special crate beside the aircraft.

    Marine desalination systems are pickled between extended periods of non-use.

    And there’s also the traditional use for pickled.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Honestly I haven't seen it often. I think the first time I saw it was actually in a Crusader Kings 2 or Europa Universalis 4 tutorial video because it was an option you could do to your forts or something to reduce upkeep.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    True. And the fact that because of sonic boom it was not allowed to fly supersonic above land. Only when it reached the atlantic supersonic was allowed. So it's practical use was quite limited.

    Boom is working on a 'successor' to the Concorde without the loud boom when going above speed of sound.

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