ESAM now has its second shipment of the half-size Concorde model from the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island. This shipment consisted of the nose section. Thanks to John Panoski, Dan Wilson, Frank Hackert and Lucia Specialized Hauling for carrying out the move. We continue to raise money for the remaining shipments and to cover the cost of rehabilitating, painting and mounting the model. Your donation will be gratefully accepted. To donate send a check with the notation “Concorde” to ESAM, 250 Rudy Chase Drive, Glenville, NY 12302, or donate through GoFundMe at https://www.gofundme.com/help-bring-the-sst-concorde-to-esam?ssid=805516739&pos=3. Concorde first took to the air in 1969, the product of a deal between the British and French governments and the manufacturers Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation—its name being French for “agreement” or “harmony”. With its delta wing and turbojet engines, Concorde could hit Mach 2 and carry passengers between New York and London in under three hours, allowing west-bound travelers, as British Airways pointed out, to arrive before they left. The plane’s speed caused the fuselage to heat up and expand, and it would stretch to almost a foot longer while in flight. lts curious nose was the result of an engineering solution. The delta-wing configuration required a high nose angle during take off and landing, and with such a long pointed nose, the pilot's view would be dramatically obstructed. The solution was a “droop nose” that could be mechanically lowered by 12.5 degrees from horizontal. Scheduled flights began in January 1976, delayed by a number of factors including the 1973 Oil Crisis. Only Air France and British Airways purchased Concordes, heavily subsidized by their respective governments, although a few other airlines had brief arrangements to use their planes.
