Concorde

Concorde was born from parallel British and French supersonic transport programs that merged in 1962. The result was the most technically ambitious commercial aircraft ever built. Its ogival delta wing, drooping nose, and four Olympus engines with afterburners enabled sustained Mach 2 flight at 60,000 feet. Passengers could see the curvature of the Earth. British Airways and Air France operated Concorde for 27 years on transatlantic routes, arriving in New York before departing London in local time. The fatal crash in 2000, combined with post-9/11 economics, sealed its fate. When the last Concorde landed in 2003, commercial aviation lost its fastest machine, and no replacement has yet emerged.