Concorde prototype 001 F-WTSS

Concorde 001, registered F-WTSS, was the French prototype assembled by Sud Aviation and the first Concorde to fly, on March 2, 1969. It reached Mach 1 on October 1, 1969, and Mach 2 on November 4, 1970. Instrumented testing examined the flight envelope, sonic-boom effects, and engine smoke. On June 30, 1973, it became an airborne astronomical laboratory: a supersonic flight from Las Palmas to Fort-Lamy kept observers within the Moon’s shadow for 74 minutes during a total solar eclipse. Its final flight, to Le Bourget on October 19, 1973, brought its career to 397 flights and 812 hours, including 255 supersonic hours.