By Olusola O. Muhammad
12/14/2003 8:04:26 AM

With the loss of the entire Concorde Fleet and our inability to have ever traveled on it, the demise of supersonic flight is sadly on the lips of those who used it most. To most of the black world many could say, ‘so what it has nothing to do with us.’

Let us take a look at the creation and technological genius Concorde ushered in to the world, but we must also ask, is this the end of supersonic flight? What relevance does it have to Black people? And what, if anything, is around the corner? Will the future of flight remain at supersonic speeds or will it transcend to hypersonic, ultrasonic and beyond?

Concorde, a master piece and "technological pioneer" of aerodynamic and mechanical engineering, and 'potentially' capable of traveling at twice the speed of sound, 1,527.28 mph, was finally laid to rest after thirty three years of service to the rich and famous.

The Great White Bird, as she was affectionately known, was a "glorious technological achievement" said John Hutchinson speaking on the BBC Breakfast program recently. But as with anything of such magnitude, bringing the plane from the initial thought and idea to its manifestation was fraught with many social, economic and political realities.

Milestones of flight technology

The mastery of the dynamics of flight in this modern 'era' began with a British Yorkshire inventor, Sir George Cayley, whose fixed-winged glider first took flight in 1804. In 1809 he published his research, which laid the foundation of modern aerodynamics (the study of flight).

A century ago, on 17, December 1903 the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur made aviation history with the first manned flight, in a propeller-powered plane made from wood and held together with wire and cloth. The plane flew for 120 ft and lasted 12 seconds in duration on the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Almost sixty-six years later on 2 March 1967 the first supersonic transport vehicle, Concorde, 'capable' of travel at twice the speed of sound (Mach 2) made her maiden flight over France in a joint venture with Britain commencing thirty-two years of supersonic travel.

What made Concorde so magnificent

At the time of her creation in the 1960's the plane set standards of technological design that modern day passenger aircraft can only dream of. Normal altitude for the plane was 60,000 feet and it was the closet most of us would ever get to space travel and witnessing the curvature of the earth. 35,000 feet is the standard flight level for others.

"While military planes could match it for speed, few could sustain Mach 2 for so long." A comparable speed is the speed at which our planet earth travels around the sun at 1,037 1/3 miles per hour.

The Rolls Royce/Snecma Olympus engines built to propel Concorde generated 38,050 pounds of thrust and were an enhanced engine of the Bristol-Siddeley Olympus engine used to power the Vulcan Bomber.

The enhanced revolutionary design meant that the 'afterburner' technology known as 'reheat' otherwise confined to military aircraft, was incorporated into its design. In addition to this the auto pilot system was an improved version than those currently in operation at the time.

With light traveling at the speed of 186,000 miles per second, Concorde was able to keep up with the speed of the 1973 total solar eclipse maintaining Mach 2 for 74 minutes, allowing a team of seven scientists from the US, Britain and France to make unprecedented observations.

Experiencing Concorde

As a child playing in my primary school playground in the early 1970's in Brixton, South London, with awe and elation I looked up whenever I heard the thunderous roaring sound emitted by Concorde's engines as it passed overhead on its way to Heathrow Airport.

The distinctive sound of the Concorde engines would keep me repeating the same action into adulthood whenever I heard it, until alas her retirement has now come. With the euphoria with which it was revered, sadness being expressed and people paying £320,000 for one of its noses cones or paying £106,000 and £82,250 respectively for an engine - it is not too difficult to appreciate the sadness with which Concorde will be missed by millions worldwide.

Reminiscing on the retirement of the plane, Joan Collins said "it's a tradegy for civilisation." Louise Mitchin the BBC 'News 24' presenter speaking on the 7pm news on 23/11/03 about the cost of a ticket and its consignment to a museum said, "I might be able to go on board now."

Tony Benn, the former Labour Minister for technology who oversaw the development of Concorde said, "It was something to be proud of." Richard Branson said it was a crowning achievment of British innovation. Pierre Yves Gerbeau, the French businessman who was drafted in to run the Millennium Dome said, "It's an achievment of technology that has not been rivaled to this day."

Technological Apartheid

Paying £400 to £900 for a flight ticket home to the Caribbean or Africa on other planes that are unable to travel at Concorde's speed, can be a struggle at the best of times, much less paying for a ticket costing in excess of £3000 or for the love of her, acquiring a piece of the plane for memorabilia as she is consigned to museums.

Technology should be for the benefit of all citizens, but the nearest most of the 'British' paying public and the Black Community would ever have got to Concorde would either have been watching her land in the Heathrow 'plane spotting' lounge, or observing it in the sky from the ground, as I so often did.

A flight on the 'white bird' as she was affectionately known was primarily for the rich and famous. Phil Collins played twice on the same day in London and Philadelphia crossing the Atlantic in Concorde, in a little over three hours to play at the 'Live Aid' concert at both locations. The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, took her children to school at 8.30am, boarded the 10.30am Concorde flight to New York and arrived at 9.30am, in time for her Weight Watchers meetings and speeches.

The Concorde 'jet set' included Elton John, Mick Jagger, Joan Collins, Robert Redford, Luciano Pavarotti, Sean Connery, Elizabeth Taylor, Annie Lennox and Rob Stewart. Not to mention our very own Diana Ross and Mike Tyson.

Only on Concorde could Diana Ross have been humilated when she was arrested on board the plane, for reasons best known to herself. And only on Concorde, could Mike Tyson have been the last person to leave the plane after Customs Officers embarked on the plane to check his doucments, before allowing him to leave the airport.

At taxpayers expense Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon became known as Junket Geoff, attributed to him for his regular travel aboad the aircraft. Also a frequent traveller on Concorde was the Queen.

As it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end

The West's pursuit of the supersonic dream has now led the European aerospace group Eads to petition Japanese companies to help them build the 'Son of Concorde.' Japanese companies and their Government have been attempting to buid their own supersonic passenger jet and have already spent over $300 million dollars, over the past five years testing and experimenting on their own design.

As with test flights and even launches, Western space vehicles and planes have suffered catastrophic setbacks in the initial stages of development. Regrettably Japan's National Aerospace laboratory's (NAL) "11-metre (36 feet) scale model, equipped with 900 sensors to assess its performance," also, temporarily, ended in disaster last year July in the 'Australian' desert.

With ancient African aeronautical engineering and the enormous aircraft runways on the 'Nazca' Peruvian plateau, serving as a guide to future possibilities, in 1902 Texan Reverend, Burrell Cannon fulfilled his dream of flying, having been inspired by Ezekiel's vision in the bible. Ezekiel's vision relays a picture of creatures being lifted up from the earth by wheels with eyes all around it. Alas, his plane, 'Ezekiel,' was damaged during a storm on his way to the St Louis World Fair.

In ‘fulfillment’ of Ezikiel’s vision, in 1929, The ‘Mothership’ – in what Erkau Badu spoke of as being ‘unable to save you,’ on her ‘Baduizm Album track – measuring ½ a mile by ½ mile (2,640 ft by 2,640 ft) became a reality.

The Mothership as it is known, was constructed on the Island of Nippon (Japan) on behalf of Master Fard Muhammad – the Founder of the Nation of Islam – and took flight from that Island in the same year. It’s sighting in 1929 caused the stock market crash of that year.

Former President, Jimmy Carter speaking about UFO's, which the 'Mothership' is often refered to as, by the media and Western governments denying its reality, said, "It was the darndest thing I've ever seen and it was big, it was very bright, it changed colours and it was about the size of the moon. We watched it for ten minutes, but none of us could figure out what it was, I will never make fun of people who say they have seen UFO's in the sky (Above Top Secret by Timothy Good)."

The Mothership 'is' a reality and she 'is' capable of travelling at Nine Times The Speed Of Sound, stopping, accelerating and changing direction instantly! As for the smaller, planes onboard the Mothership, they travel at speeds in excess of the speed of lightening - hmm!

Who said, breaking the sound barrier had ended?