The astoundingly beautiful super-sonic aircraft known as the Concorde had its first commercial flight in 1976 and was retired in 2003. Why? Because of high operating costs, expensive travel prices and debris on a runway that resulted in a fatal crash killing all on board in 2003. (It wasn’t the planes fault but most people assume the disaster had something to do with the very thing that made the Concorde special–it’s incredible power and speed.) Now, I took my first plane ride from New York to Los Angeles in 1965 at the age of one–it was on Pan Am I believe. I took my latest NY/LA flights in December of last year. Both flight lasted six hours. How is it possible that in sixty plus years the time the trip takes hasn’t shrunk dramatically? The Concorde cut the times of travel in half–crossing the Atlantic took three and half hours instead of the usual seven which means the NY/LA trip would be three hours. That’s more like it! But although the technology exists to make this happen, it will likely never be deployed. Environmental concerns are one reason. I guess the money bit would still be the same issue. And there were drawbacks to the plane–it was narrow-bodied and not generally considered the most luxurious high-priced ticket around. The source of the planes power heated the bird up and by the end of the flight all surfaces–tables, seat arms, doors–were warm and sometimes too hot to touch. I’d still trade that for the time savings though. Above and below are two videos showing the plane in action–the first in its earliest days and the latter in one of its last flights in 2003. Click here for an excellent history of the Concorde on–where else?–Wikipedia. Oh, and here’s a cool little bit of trivia. The plane got its name due to the treaty between the British and French governments that led to Concorde’s construction; Concorde is a French word  which has an English equivalent, concord. Both words mean agreement, harmony, or union.