The Concorde Story: 21 Years in Service (Osprey Civil Aircraft)

Rating:
Summary: A wealthy account
Review: "The Concorde story" is a fine testimony to management and professionalism of dedicated people like the author, involved in the day to day operation of this magnificent aeroplane. In fact this colourful book is an exhaustive description of the only supersonic commercial aircraft in airline service, seeing a lenghty duty in British airways and Air France livery.

It is clear that the program economical success was impeded by the oil crises of the early 70s and by the subsequent worldwide economic recession, but quietly the few ships built (16 in total) reached two important goals. First, their airline service was a keystone in proving that supersonic travel was technically and economically viable, despite the limits of preceding technological know-how and enviromental impact. Second, the fleet has demonstrated that producing an operating profit was financially feasible by careful industrial and commercial in-house resources, once the development costs were written off (and still it is, despite the notorious Paris crash). All these aspects are thoroughly narrated by Cpt Orlebar, telling the story behind the initial difficult steps and the progressive achivements in airline service. Very nice and objective is the chapter related to the competitors, since it shows how bad management (US SST program) and a technically trouble prone design ( Soviet Tupolev TU 144 SST ) failed to promote a challenger to the British and French enterprise ( and to make the supersonic technological race more interesting for everyone, just look at the current state of the art in the field: Aerospatiale AGV, Alliance ATSF, Dassault and Gulfstream SSJB, DARPA QSP, just to quote the most famous research studies). The best facets of the volume are the operations of a typical flight London-New York from the pilot point of view, the specifications and data of this flying marvel, and finally nice illustrations of powerplant layout, intake matching schedule, plane cutaway drawing, flight envelope chart.

The author provides a rare insight into the technical and professional endeavor of Concorde service and mantainance, giving a clear picture of high quality standard in training and duty of pilots and technicians, undoubtedly required to operate this beautiful airliner.

Rating:
Summary: A wealthy account
Review: "The Concorde story" is a fine testimony to management and professionalism of dedicated people like the author, involved in the day to day operation of this magnificent aeroplane. In fact this colourful book is an exhaustive description of the only supersonic commercial aircraft in airline service, seeing a lenghty duty in British airways and Air France livery.

It is clear that the program economical success was impeded by the oil crises of the early 70s and by the subsequent worldwide economic recession, but quietly the few ships built (16 in total) reached two important goals. First, their airline service was a keystone in proving that supersonic travel was technically and economically viable, despite the limits of preceding technological know-how and enviromental impact. Second, the fleet has demonstrated that producing an operating profit was financially feasible by careful industrial and commercial in-house resources, once the development costs were written off (and still it is, despite the notorious Paris crash). All these aspects are thoroughly narrated by Cpt Orlebar, telling the story behind the initial difficult steps and the progressive achivements in airline service. Very nice and objective is the chapter related to the competitors, since it shows how bad management (US SST program) and a technically trouble prone design ( Soviet Tupolev TU 144 SST ) failed to promote a challenger to the British and French enterprise ( and to make the supersonic technological race more interesting for everyone, just look at the current state of the art in the field: Aerospatiale AGV, Alliance ATSF, Dassault and Gulfstream SSJB, DARPA QSP, just to quote the most famous research studies). The best facets of the volume are the operations of a typical flight London-New York from the pilot point of view, the specifications and data of this flying marvel, and finally nice illustrations of powerplant layout, intake matching schedule, plane cutaway drawing, flight envelope chart.

The author provides a rare insight into the technical and professional endeavor of Concorde service and mantainance, giving a clear picture of high quality standard in training and duty of pilots and technicians, undoubtedly required to operate this beautiful airliner.

Rating:
Summary: This one is quite hard to review
Review: I first thought that this would be another picture oriented book. I was total impressed that it included both technical and historical information in detail and not just a pass-over subject. I learned about the relationship of MACH number to airspeed in the higher altitude. The effect of air friction and heat to the maximum speed the designers put on concorde. The pictures are all very informative and really related to the topic being discussed. I like the side-bars discussing all the technical pictures and diagrams on that particular page.

Get the hard cover one and you won't regret it. You'll get the first 21 years of Concorde's commercial service. After reading this book I wished that we have concorde every overseas routes to cut travel time to less than half of normal flight time. I felt it was only politics that prevented concorde from fulfilling it's design and purpose.

A salute to Concorde technology.

Rating:
Summary: A Tribute to the Beautiful Bird: Concorde
Review: This book is the most detailed and accurate account written of Concorde. The book appropriately starts with its development and gradually goes chronologically through its maturation. It also contains many priceless and rare photos of Concorde in its early days. There is also an account and explanation of a routine flight from LHR London Heathrow Terminal 4 to JFK New York John F. Kennedy International Airport. But, one of the most interesting chapters in the book has to be the one detailing the steps to becoming a Concorde pilot and its gruelling training compared to that of a Boeing 747-400 pilot. The final parts of the book also contain the important production roster, detailing the registrations of all Concordes, where and when they were manufactured, to whom and when they were delivered, and their present status. This book is a most for all Concorde enthusiasts. A most enjoyable and captivating book.

Rating:
Summary: A must-have for all Concorde fans!
Review: This is a good book to learn all basic stuff about this fascinating airplane. The history is well covered but even better is the story of the problems with landing rights Concorde suffered from. Then there is a nice part about a whole flight and how to become a Concorde Pilot. All in all a very good book, which could have some hundred pages more. Nice pictures, most times in colour. The author is a Concorde Pilot. Well done!

Rating:
Summary: Attractive and Informative Account
Review: This review refers to the 1997 edition (21 years in service).

I was looking for a good, thorough introduction to Concorde. This book, alongside Calvert's, did the trick.

This is a large, colorful, attractive history of Concorde with a focus on British Airways. While there are lots of nice pictures and diagrams, the text is clear and engaging.

It was worth looking for it used as it's out of print.

Enjoy!