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Episode · BBC Inside Science

How is air travel returning to supersonic speeds?

22 Jan 2026 · 26 min

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Episode notes

It’s exactly half a century since two Concorde jets took off from Paris and London respectively. The supersonic jet would come to define top end luxury travel. But Concorde has also been retired for nearly half that time, famously making its final flight to Bristol, UK where it was built, in 2003. What is Concorde’s engineering legacy? And will supersonic speeds ever be a reality for air travellers again? Tom Whipple is at Aerospace Bristol, back on-board Concorde which these days is stowed safely in its hangar. He meets Concorde’s former Chief Engineer John Britton. He also hears what it…

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BBC Inside Science

BBC Radio 4 · Tech & Science · English

A weekly programme that illuminates the mysteries and challenges the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.

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