Different missions and records

The Concorde site: http://www.concorde.cybair.com/ (by David Trebosc)

v Since its first flight in 1969, Concorde has been used for a lot of different activities. Firstly, it is an excellent flying observatory: on the 06/30/1973, seven scientists (coming from USA, Britain and France) watched a solar eclipse during 74 min (instead of 7 min on the ground). In 1986, one hundred passengers were able to view Haley's comet as they flew out of New York.

Secondly, it is a luxurious personality means of conveyance: the supersonic airplane frequently transports political men in their business travels or Pope Jean-Paul II for example and other VIP such as personalities of French gastronomy.

v On top of it, Concorde receives lots of records: on the 09/01/1975, it becomes the first aircraft to make four Atlantic crossing in a single day; on the 12/16/1979, Concorde lands at London after flying from New-York in less that three hours (2 hrs 58 min) at an average speed of 1,172 mph.

The supersonic transporter (SST) also gets two round-the-world records: the first one going east to west in 32 hrs 49 min and 3 sec on the 10/12-13/1992, and the second one going west to east in 31 hrs 27 min and 49 sec on the 8/15-6/1995.

Þ All these highlights make the Concorde the symbol of French Aeronautic: it is at the head of numerous parades of "Patrouille de France".