Concorde Jet Rotor Turbine Blade
Concorde Jet Rotor Turbine Blade

Traveling at a top speed of Mach 2.04, the Concorde was the first supersonic commercial aircraft in history. While it was retired in 2003, the aircraft represented a collaborative effort between British and French engineers that resulted in one of the most powerful aircraft engines of the time.
Recovered from one of the jet engines powering the sleek ship, this specimen is a complete Concorde Jet Rotor Turbine Blade!
Want more from Air & Space? Check out this Concorde display case specimen or our complete aeronautics collection here!
Supersonic Speed
From 1976 to 2003, passengers took the skies aboard the supersonic Concord airliners, traveling at twice the speed of sound to cross the Atlantic in just three and a half hours.
This specimen is a rotor turbine blade taken from the jet engine of a Concorde. The compressor vane, an integral part of the four turbojet engines, allowed the Concorde to cruise above Mach 2. Produced by Britain's Rolls Royce and Snecma Moteurs of France, the Olympus 593 Mk 610 were the most powerful transport certified engines in the world at the time of their introduction.
The specimen ships in a sturdy carton and comes complete with a certificate of authenticity. Check out our riker display case Concorde specimen at the bottom of the page!
📸 "I've always thought of the Concorde as a magical object, a symbol, a miracle." ~ Andrée Putman (1925-2013), legendary French designer responsible for the 1994 revamp of the Air France Concorde interior
MORE ABOUT THE CONCORDE
📸 Engineers working on the Concorde's massive engines
Speed and Style
On January 1, 1976, the Concorde became the first supersonic commercial aircraft in history. With a Space Age design that signaled the arrival of the future, the joint project between British and French engineers fulfilled a decades-old dream of faster-than-sound passenger travel.
For nearly thirty years, these magnificent aircraft cruised at altitudes twice as high as their subsonic counterparts, twice the speed of sound, and with ticket prices twice the price of their most expensive luxury rivals. While the program operated above cost, the profits were not enough to save the Concorde as it reached the end of its technical lifespan. Waning passenger numbers stemming from a 2000 Concorde crash and fewer overall airline passengers after September 11, 2001, set the program on track for closure. The last Concorde flight occurred on October 24, 2003.
📸 The Concorde Takes Flight!
Today, the remaining Concordes are in storage or on display around the world, but there have been some attempts to bring the planes back to the sky. In 2015, Club Concorde said it had enough funding to return the aircraft to operation. The Club had hope to achieve this by 2019, but for now the Concorde remains a relic of a bygone age of commercial flight.
Front of the Specimen Card
Back of the Specimen Card
Further Reading
“Concorde: The Rise and Fall of the Supersonic Airliner” Jonathan Glancey
Calder, P. H., and P. C. Gupta. “Future SST engines with particular reference to Olympus 593 evolution and Concorde experience.” The Aeronautical Journal 80.786 (1976): 235-252.
Costello, John, and Terry Hughes. The Concorde Conspiracy. New York: Scribner, 1976. Print.
Owen, Kenneth. Concorde and the Americans: International Politics of the Supersonic Transport. Washington, D.C: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997. Print.
Owen, Kenneth. Concorde: Story of a supersonic pioneer. London: Science Museum, 2001.