AMERICAN AIRLIENS FLIGHT STATUS

The Plane:

The Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport (SST). It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aerospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation. First flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued commercial flights for 27 years.

Among other destinations, Concorde flew regular transatlantic flights from London Heathrow (British Airways) and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (Air France) to New York JFK, profitably flying these routes at record speeds, in less than half the time of other airliners.

With only 20 aircraft built, their development represented a substantial economic loss, in addition to which Air France and British Airways were subsidised by their governments to buy them. As a result of the type’s only crash on 25 July 2000 and other factors, its retirement flight was on 26 November 2003.

Concorde's name reflects the development agreement between the United Kingdom and France. In the UK, any or all of the type—unusual for an aircraft—are known simply as "Concorde". The aircraft is regarded by many as an aviation icon.[4]

The Car:

The Mercedes-Benz 300SL was introduced in 1954 as a two-seat, closed sports car with distinctive gull-wing doors. Later it was offered as an open roadster. It was the fastest production car of its day.

Built by Daimler-Benz AG and internally numbered W198, the fuel-injected road version was based (somewhat loosely) on the company's highly successful competition-only sports car of 1952, the somewhat less powerful carbureted Mercedes-Benz 300SL (W194).

The road model was suggested by Max Hoffman. Being intended for customers in the booming post-war American market it was introduced at the 1954 New York Auto Show, unlike previous models introduced at either the Frankfurt or Geneva shows. In Mercedes-Benz fashion, the "300" referred to the engine's three litre cylinder displacement. The "SL" stood for "Sport Leicht" (Sport Light).

The 300SL was best known for both its distinctive gull wing doors and being the first-ever four-stroke car equipped with a Gasoline direct injection. The gull wing version was available from March 1955 to 1957. Production of the roadster ended in 1963 with the introduction of the 230SL.

January 2005 Once again, Bristol has a hand in helping to create an aircraft that sets new standards. From the Box Kite to the Brabazon and from the Britannia to Concorde, planes that left their mark on the world of aviation have relied on Bristol expertise. And so it is with the latest in that line, the giant Airbus A380.

Even before she has made her first flight, this aircraft has redefined air travel, in the numbers of people she will carry, the facilities aboard and in her sheer size. She is one of those machines which will turn heads. She may not have the originality of the Box Kite, the propeller-driven grace of the mighty Brabazon or, for certain, the revolutionary look of Concorde. But she will stand out from the crowd thanks to her sheer size and she will usher in a new era of plane travel.

Just like the Brabazon and Concorde, people will hold their breath on the day this mighty aircraft takes to the skies for her maiden flight. That is expected to be towards the end of March although no date has yet been confirmed. We can already anticipate the excitement and the expectation of that day and the anxiety.

For no matter how many thousands of hours have been spent predicting her performance using computers, there is no substitute for the acid test of opening her throttles and attempting a take-off.

But when that day comes we are confident she will have a successful maiden flight and the name of Bristol will be written into another chapter of aviation history. It will be an immensely proud event for all the 1,000 people who work on the wings, landing gear and fuel systems at Filton.

And perhaps it will give us all the chance to pause and to marvel at how far aviation has come since the first powered flight more than a hundred years ago. 'We wish her well'.