Editing Concorde (section)

===Flight characteristics===
[[File:Concorde at Baginton - geograph.org.uk - 156846.jpg|thumb|alt=A BA Concorde, wheels and nose-cone lowered as if for landing, with a crowd of spectators in the foreground|Concorde performing a low-level fly-by at an air show in August 1981]]

While subsonic commercial jets took eight hours to fly from Paris to New York (seven hours from New York to Paris), the average supersonic flight time on the transatlantic routes was just under 3.5 hours. Concorde had a maximum cruising altitude of {{convert|18300|m|ft|sigfig=3}} and an average cruise speed of {{convert|2.02|Mach|altitude_ft=60000|sigfig=3}}, more than twice the speed of conventional aircraft.{{sfn|Schrader|1989|p=64}}

With no other civil traffic operating at its cruising altitude of about {{convert|56000|ft|m|abbr=on}}, Concorde had exclusive use of dedicated oceanic airways, or "tracks", separate from the [[North Atlantic Tracks]], the routes used by other aircraft to cross the Atlantic. Due to the significantly less variable nature of high altitude winds compared to those at standard cruising altitudes, these dedicated SST tracks had fixed co-ordinates, unlike the standard routes at lower altitudes, whose co-ordinates are replotted twice daily based on forecast weather patterns ([[jetstream]]s).{{sfn|Orlebar|2004|p=84}} Concorde would also be cleared in a {{convert|15000|ft|m|adj=on|sigfig=3}} block, allowing for a slow climb from {{convert|45000|to|60000|ft|m|abbr=on}} during the oceanic crossing as the fuel load gradually decreased.<ref>[[Shanwick Oceanic Control|Prestwick Oceanic Area Control Centre]]: Manual of Air Traffic Services (Part 2). [[National Air Traffic Services|NATS]]</ref> In regular service, Concorde employed an efficient ''cruise-climb'' flight profile following take-off.{{sfn|Orlebar|2004|p=92}}

The delta-shaped wings required Concorde to adopt a higher [[angle of attack]] at low speeds than conventional aircraft, but it allowed the formation of large low-pressure vortices over the entire upper wing surface, maintaining lift.{{sfn|Orlebar|2004|p=44}} The normal landing speed was {{convert|170|mph|km/h|0}}.{{sfn|Schrader|1989|p=84}} Because of this high angle, during a landing approach Concorde was on the backside of the [[Parasitic drag|drag force]] curve, where raising the nose would increase the rate of descent; the aircraft was thus largely flown on the throttle and was fitted with an autothrottle to reduce the pilot's workload.{{sfn|Orlebar|2004|p=110}}

{{blockquote|text=The only thing that tells you that you're moving is that occasionally when you're flying over the subsonic aeroplanes you can see all these 747s 20,000 feet below you almost appearing to go backwards, I mean you are going 800 miles an hour or thereabouts faster than they are. The aeroplane was an absolute delight to fly, it handled beautifully. And remember we are talking about an aeroplane that was being designed in the late 1950s&nbsp;– mid-1960s. I think it's absolutely amazing and here we are, now in the 21st century, and it remains unique.|sign=John Hutchinson, Concorde Captain|source='The World's Greatest Airliner' (2003)<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uMm16fUwoQ| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140624220847/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uMm16fUwoQ| archive-date=2014-06-24 | url-status=dead|title=Concorde – The World's Greatest Airliner Part 3/4|date=19 January 2013|work=YouTube}}</ref>}}