Supersonic Blast Past the Concorde

ACG 1997 Front Cover.

In the 1997 summer edition of The Air Charter Guide, founder Fred Gevalt wrote in his foreword:

“As I look out the window of the Concorde, I find it hard to believe. A touch of “reheat”, and Chuck Yeager’s milestone is gone in a blast. Scott Crossfield’s is next as the stewardess offers more champagne and caviar at nearly 60,000 feet, enroute to Europe at Mach two. Could the pilgrims have known that three hundred years later their descendants would hurtle through the air twelve miles above the Mayflower going back in the opposite direction at the speed of a musket ball? I am sure if you’d predicted it you’d have been burned at the stake.”

Just as a historical refresher, Chuck Yeager's major milestone was becoming the first human to officially break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947. Piloting the experimental Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis over the Mojave Desert at an altitude of 45,000 feet, he achieved Mach 1.05 (roughly 700 mph), proving that breaking the sound barrier was possible. And on November 20, 1953, test pilot Scott Crossfield became the first person to fly faster than twice the speed of sound (Mach 2). Piloting the Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket research aircraft, he reached a top speed of Mach 2.005 (approximately 1,291 mph) over Edwards AFB, California.

It’s hard to believe that back in 1997 travelers had the option of two flights a day from New York to London or Paris on the Concorde, supersonic transport jointly developed and manufactured by the French (Aerospatiale) and the British (British Aircraft Company BAC). And imagine in this time and age one could just pick up the cellphone and call to charter an entire Air France SST. Well, actually, it feels like we should and could do that. Mankind just returned to the moon’s orbit, and supersonic travel is back in the hangar. Stay tuned, folks!

BTW, a side note for our publishing friends, there was another remarkable change in 1997. From hammering out print on IBM AT computers and setting type and cutting ribbons, The Air Charter Guide team ventured into the world of electronic prepress and data cartridge. No film, no physical layout. And it also was the wee hours of the Internet. Beam us back, Scotty!

Brian Bitner from ATS with Michele Markarian.

Jose Maldonado from Blue Sky with Sara Hellon.

Julia and Kurt Wiegers from Real Clean Cape Cod.

Sandra Laurencio from ICCS with Michele Markarian.

Back here on earth, our team traveled to the fabulous NBAA White Plains Regional Forum bringing together more than 3400 attendees with representatives from close to 200 aviation business companies. Our photographer captured Brian Bitner from ATS next to Michele Markarian, Jose Maldonado from Blue Sky next to Sara Hellon, Sandra Laurencio from ICCS greeting Michele for a selfie and Julia and Kurt Wiegers from RealClean Cape Cod. Shoutout to Sim Shain from Paraflight. Looking forward to putting something very special together this summer for you, Sim!

June is going to be very exciting with the start of the FIFA soccer World Cup, while Aviation Week by Informa’s team will venture to our great neighbor to the North. The next chance to catch up will be in Calgary, Alberta for the CBAA-ACAA Convention June 9-11. For extra summer vibes, check out our article about Lollapalooza, the great music festival in Chicago coming up in a few weeks. Let’s all celebrate and be hopeful for more great collaboration amongst the many skies!