Tag: tranh go cuu hac du xuan duc dep

Though it’s been almost 20 years since the glamorous landed for good, dreams of letting ordinary people break the sound barrier again have never fizzled completely. Several companies want to bring it back, most notably , a Denver-based startup that last month from United Airlines for a new faster-than-sound airliner . 

Boom Supersonic says  in 2025 for a first flight the next year. Passenger service could then begin in 2029. But before you get too excited (I’m partially talking to myself here), there are a lot of caveats. 

For one thing, United, or any other airline, would have to make supersonic flights affordable to more people than the privileged class that could drop four figures for a one-way Concorde flight without flinching. Just as important, if Boom wants to fly the Overture on anything other than overwater routes, it’ll have to persuade a long list of countries (including the United States) on sonic booms over land. 

That’s where come in. As CNET’s Claire Reilly explains in , the experimental aircraft the two are building, they hope to make sonic booms so quiet on the ground that you’d barely notice them. By tweaking the X-59’s shape and making it as slender as possible, the resulting boom should be a no louder than a car door slamming. (In contrast, the Concorde’s thunderous sonic boom was louder than a fireworks display.)

It’s a long goal, and an important one. In the meantime, though, you have plenty of opportunity to experience what it’s like to be up close to a Concorde and even sit inside one. Of course, you’ll never leave the ground, and champagne may not be served, but one of the most gorgeous airplanes ever to fly is still a sight to behold.

Where to see a Concorde today

From 1965 to 1979 only 20 Concordes were built, of which 18 still exist. What of the other two? One Air France aircraft (Concorde 203), the same plane that was featured in , was destroyed in a crash outside Paris in 2000 that killed 113 people. The other (Concorde 211) was scrapped in 1994, with many of its parts auctioned off in 2003.

Two aircraft are on display at (Concorde 208) and Paris Charles De Gaulle (Concorde 215) airports, but they aren’t open to the public. You might see them as your subsonic flight taxis to the runway, so keep your camera ready. You can visit the remaining 16 planes at museums in the UK, France, Germany, the US and Barbados. And for most of them, you can see the cockpit and walk through the cabin to feel just how narrow it was (I’ve noted where you can’t get on board). I’ve seen 10 of them so far, and I have a life goal of visiting them all. 

Here they are in the order they were built. Just about all the museums listed here have reopened from COVID-19 lockdowns at least in a limited form, but check locally to be sure. Some may require that you book ahead of time.

Prototypes and development aircraft

The first six Concordes were preproduction aircraft that never carried passengers. Instead, they were used to test the airplane’s design and https://tranhmaihuong.com/tranh-go-cuu-hac-du-xuan-duc-dep/ obtain certification from aviation safety agencies. Three were built in France, and the other three were built in the UK. If you visit, keep in mind they won’t have a full cabin design that passengers would’ve experienced. 

Musée de l’air et de l’espace — Le Bourget, France

The first prototype to fly and the first to go supersonic, Concorde 001 announced the Anglo-French plane to the world and flew for 812 hours. In 1973, it was fitted with scientific equipment and portholes on the top of its fuselage over Africa. From an altitude of 56,000 feet, far higher than most planes fly, it observed the eclipse for 74 minutes. Retired in 1973, it’s still painted with a logo for the mission. Located outside Paris at , which also hosts the , the Musée de l’air et de l’espace (Air and Space Museum) is an easy day trip by train from Paris Gare du Nord. 

Fleet Air Arm Museum — Yeovilton, England

The first British Concorde flew 438 times before being retired in 1976. The is 120 miles west of London in Somerset, England. Though you can get there by train, it’s a long taxi ride from the station, so it’s best if you bring your own car. I have yet to visit, but . 

Imperial War Museum — Duxford, England

The next two Concordes had design refinements, like a different wing shape, a higher fuel capacity and modified engines. Concorde 101 flew 269 times and was retired in 1977. It now lives at the spectacular outside of Cambridge (take a taxi from town). It’s for the vast collection of civilian and military aircraft from as far back as a century. The American Air Museum tells the story of US bomber crews during World War II. 

Musée Delta — Athis-Mons, France

The second French-built Concorde was the first to cross the Atlantic and the first to visit the United States when it flew to Dallas in 1973. For several years it also was painted in British Airways colors on one side and Air France colors on the other. It was retired in 1976 and was moved to the next to Paris Orly Airport 12 years later (saving it from the scrap heap). I haven’t been there yet.

Aeroscopia — Toulouse, France

By this point, the development aircraft had assumed the final Concorde design and wing shape. Concorde 201 was the first to land in New York, on Oct. 19, 1977. Retired in 1985, it can be seen today at , a huge aeronautical museum next to the main Airbus f in 2006. Sitting outside in the English weather, it looks a bit more worn than some of its siblings, but the guided tour is fun and you can even experience a (car people, the museum also has plenty to see for you). See it on a day trip from London Waterloo by train.

Production aircraft

Like the developmental aircraft, the 14 production Concordes were half built in the UK and half in France. Though scheduled passenger service began in 1976, regular flights to New York from Paris and London (the aircraft’s intended markets) didn’t begin until November 1977. All the passenger-carrying planes were identified by the last two letters of their registry (like “Alpha Alpha”). Most were retired in 2003.

Runway Visitor Park — Altrincham, England

The first Concorde delivered to British Airways, it was the flagship of the airline’s fleet (its registry, G-BOAC recalls BA’s predecessor airline, the ). It’s now housed in a glass hangar at the at Manchester Airport. You can choose from a few different tours, one of which includes a glass of champagne. There’s also a cool viewing platform right next to the airport runway. Get there via a short taxi ride from the airport’s train station.

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia

The second Air France Concorde (the first was destroyed in the Paris crash) operated the first commercial flight for the airline when it flew from on Jan. 21, 1976. Today you can see it at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum’s at Washington Dulles International Airport. You can’t get inside this one, but don’t let that stop you from seeing this amazing museum. Dulles is a fitting final home, as it saw occasional Concorde flights from 1976 to 1994.

National Museum of Flight — East Lothian, Scotland

Alpha Alpha inaugurated BA’s service to Bahrain, also on Jan. 21, 1976. Retired in 2000, it’s now housed at the at East Fortune Airfield in Scotland. The museum’s not far from Edinburgh, so you can get there by car or public transport. It’s still on my list to visit. 

Technik Museum Sinsheim — Sinsheim, Germany

Foxtrot Bravo is one of the Concordes leased by Braniff International Airways for subsonic flights between Dallas and Washington Dulles from 1978 to 1980. It’s now displayed in spectacular fashion at the Sinsheim in Germany. Also there is a , Concorde’s less successful Russian rival. I still have .

Barbados Concorde Experience — Barbados

In 1999 Alpha Echo flew over Edinburgh with the to mark the opening of the Scottish Parliament. Barbados might seem like an unlikely retirement home for a Concorde, but the Caribbean island had weekly BA Concorde service from 1987 to 2003. The . If I miss one Concorde, this may be it.

Musée de l’air et de l’espace (de nouveau)

The other Concorde at Le Bourget was briefly painted in in 1996 and performed the last Air France commercial flight, on May 31, 2003. It also holds the record for the fastest Concorde flights around the world in both directions: 32 hours, 49 minutes and 3 seconds westbound in October 1992, and 31 hours, 27 minutes and 49 seconds eastbound in August 1995. 

Museum of Flight — Seattle

Alpha Golf was the last BA Concorde , when it flew from New York to London on Oct. 24, 2003. A few days later it flew to Seattle via New York (having received permission to fly supersonically over northern .

Aerospace Bristol — Bristol, England

The last Concorde built, also was the last to fly when it was ferried to Bristol Filton Airport on Nov. 26, 2003. For years it sat outside at Filton (and open to the public), near the factory where all British Concordes were assembled. Then in 2017 it into , . It’s a cool place, which you can reach by public transit or car. It can be a long trip from London, but Bristol is a delightful city to explore (also see the and the ).

How many Concordes have you seen? Let me know in the comments.

The opening stages of the Tour de France have been a whirlwind. The opening day saw a fan cause a pileup, injuring several riders. There were enough crashes in the following days that cyclists on Tuesday protested the hazardous conditions. On Wednesday, the woman who caused Saturday’s first spill was arrested. 

It’s been a lot. 

The opening stage on Saturday saw . The first of the two incidents has itself become an international news story: A camera-keen spectator obliviously holding a sign on the narrow cycling path caused one rider to lose balance and fall. A chaotic pileup ensued, and one of the damaged cyclists was force to leave the tour altogether.

“My wife does not want to see my son on a bike,” Marc Madiot, a former champion cyclist and manager of the Groupama-FDJ team, . “It’s been years that we are talking about [safety], we need to find solutions. It’s not bike racing anymore. One day there will be dead people.”

Tour de France’s deputy director, Pierre-Yves Thouault, that the organization would sue the woman who inadvertently caused the crash. After days at large, the woman was . 

Here’s everything you need to know about the fallout from Saturday’s chaotic crash, including the minute protest on Tuesday. 

How did the crash happen?

The pileup happened on Saturday, the opening day of the Tour de France. This year’s tour runs from Brest, in northern France, to Paris, a 2,121-mile (3,414 kilometer) race over 21 days. Day 1 had the athletes cycling from Brest to Landerneau, a 123-mile (198 kilometer) course. 

Midway through the race, however, disaster struck. An enthusiastic spectator, keen to show off her sign to a nearby camera, rushed near the track and extended the sign out. Her back was to the cyclists, and as such didn’t notice their rapid approach. Her cardboard sign knocked Germany cyclist Tony Martin off balance slightly. Because of how tightly all the bikers were packed into the narrow track, that was enough to send him falling. An insane pileup ensued. 

The spectator’s sign read: “Go, grandpa and grandma!” 

How many people were injured? 

Quite a few. There were two crashes on Tour de France’s opening day, with 21 injuries between them. The pile-up caused by the sign-holding spectator caused nine of those injuries. 

“We had everything under control until the crash,” Martin said via a press release. “It all happened very quickly; suddenly almost the entire team was on the ground… Many spectators behave respectfully, but unfortunately not this one.”   

Martin was able to finish the race, but the same can’t be said for German athlete Jasha Sütterlin. After suffering a large hematoma, Sütterlin was forced out of the tour after being unable to continue in the race. 

“It looks like a war zone,” Gilbert Versier, a surgeon working for Tour de France, . “The same chaos, the same moans, bodies everywhere and tangled machines.” 

What’s the reaction been? 

Social media reactions have ranged from remarking on the horrible crash to mocking (or sympathizing with) the spectator to wondering how this is even possible.

The signholding woman will now be investigated for endangering public safety, . Local police called for witnesses to come forward to help identify the woman.

“The viewer causing this accident left the scene before the investigators arrived,” . “She was wearing glasses and dressed in blue jeans, red and white stripe sweater, yellow jacket (waxed). She holds a sign supporting the inscription ′’ALLEZ OPI-IMO”

“We are suing this woman who behaved so badly,” Pierre-Yves Thouault, vice president of Tour de France, . “We are doing this so that the tiny minority of people who do this don’t spoil the show for everyone.” 

And she’s been arrested? 

She sure has, although the particulars aren’t entirely known yet. One publication, France Bleu, on Wednesday. However, the Associated Press  after witnesses at the scene were questioned. 

Local police have been contacted for clarification but didn’t immediately respond. 

In either case, the woman is in custody in Landerneau, the town that hosted the Tour de France’s opening stage. It remains to be seen whether the woman will actually be sued by tour officials, or whether rider Tony Martin will press charges. 

What was Tuesday’s protest about?

The Saturday spill caused by the sign holder was the first of many. Later, toward the end of the same stage, 12 bikers suffered injuries in another crash. That includes several who had head trauma and one, Cyril Lemoine, with four broken ribs and a collapsed lung. 

But Stage 3, on Monday, was apparently the breaking point for Tour de France’s competitors. Three separate crashes left dozens of bikers injured, some very seriously. Jack Haig, a favorite, suffered a broken collarbone and a concussion. Caleb Ewen also broke his collarbone. Geraint Thomas, winner of Tour de France 2018, dislocated his shoulder. These were just some of the known damages. Eurosport commentator Rob Hatch called it “one of the most chaotic days we have ever seen at the Tour de France.” 

As a result, around half a mile into Tuesday’s 93-mile (150 kilometer) Stage 4 track, a peloton of cyclists protested the dangerous course layouts by stopping and getting off their bikes for a minute. They then resumed the race at a more leisurely pace. 

“Their frustration about foreseeable and preventable action is enormous,” cycling union CPA wrote in a statement. “They wish to stress their respect for their sponsors, their sports groups, the organizer, their international institutions. Supporters are very important to them — and this is why they will be riding today.”

“In return, the riders of the Tour de France ask for the same respect — respect for their safety.”

Belgian cyclist Philippe Gilbert said that riders had analyzed the route and saw that the final stretch — where one of the three crashes took place — was dangerous. To discourage a dangerous sprint along the hazardous final stretch, they requested that rider times be stopped three kilometers from the finish line. The request was rejected the day of the race by Union Cycliste Internationale, cycling’s governing body, https://tranhmaihuong.com/tranh-go-cuu-hac-du-xuan-duc-dep/ Gilbert said.

“There are no longer any medium-sized towns without a small island, roundabout or narrowing,” route planner Thierry Gouvenou . “Ten years ago, there were 1,100 dangerous points on the Tour de France. This year, there are 2,300. If the level of demand becomes too great, there will be no more finishes. That’s where we are.” 

UCI President David Lappartient rejected criticisms on unsafe planning. “The majority of crashes are due to a lack of attention but I can understand [the riders], they are so stressed out during the entire day,” . “And inevitably it’s edgy, everybody wants to be [at the front], and there’s not enough space for everybody. But I don’t think one should blame that on the route.”