Concorde turned transatlantic passenger travel into something unlike any other commercial flight. Cruising at more than twice the speed of sound, the Anglo-French airliner could cross the Atlantic in roughly three and a half hours and, because of time-zone differences, could arrive in New York at an earlier local time than it had departed London.
A Passenger Relic from Concorde
The historical material connected with The Time Machine is a deck of playing cards produced by Carta Mundi in Belgium and carried aboard Concorde in 1987. The cards feature British Airways' Landor-era identity and were part of the memorabilia associated with the premium Concorde passenger experience.
Playing cards carried aboard Concorde in 1987.
The Aircraft Behind the Experience
Concorde's four Olympus engines used reheat for takeoff and acceleration through the transonic range. At sustained supersonic speed, aerodynamic heating caused the airframe to expand measurably in flight. Its slender delta wing and movable nose were among the visible solutions required to combine Mach 2 cruise with practical airport operations.
Commercial Concorde service ended in 2003. Surviving aircraft are now preserved in museums and collections, while passenger items such as these cards document the human experience of an aircraft that made routine supersonic travel possible for a small number of travelers.
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