When Concorde first took to the skies in 1969 in a joint British-French project, its chic, aerodynamic design lent itself to expensive, aspirational travel and since then the Concorde fleet has revelled in its image as the ultimate flying machine. The plane was a triumph of 1960s' technology, Europe's answer to America's moonshots.
Yesterday's crash outside Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris is the first fatal accident in Concorde's 31-year history and despite its incredible speed - it can reach speeds of up to 1,336 m.p.h. - there have been relatively few safety concerns since the first Concorde took off from an airfield in Toulouse.
In March 1969 Britain and France jointly funded the first Concorde flight, the 001 prototype, to the tune of £950 million sterling. But the history of the project really began in 1956 when both countries were working to produce supersonic aircraft. It was decided in 1962 that since both projects had similar aims, Britain and France should pool resources and technical talent to extend the frontiers of commercial aircraft travel.
It was a hugely innovative project, not least because supersonic flight was still very much a dream project for pilots in the 1950s and 1960s, who remembered the technical restrictions of aircraft being flown when they were children only 20 years previously during the second World War. Humanity had yet to experience the wonder of landing on the moon.
The Anglo-French project advanced quickly. The second prototype, the British-built Concorde 002, made its successful maiden flight from Filton aerodrome in Bristol on April 9th, 1969, and both prototypes had flown at Mach 2, twice the speed of sound, by November 1970.
While the 1970s-built supersonic planes are older than most flying today, engineers say they have suffered relatively little wear and tear - partly because they are too uneconomic to get much use. Their high speed helps keep them young, too, since the friction of supersonic flight heats up the skin and prevents corrosive water from collecting inside. And, of course, no flight lasts very long, so none of the planes has many hours on the clock.
While other planes plod along at not much more than 900 km (560 miles) an hour, and even hot military fighters can only sprint faster than that for a few minutes, Concordes cruise effortlessly at more than twice that speed, far above the other traffic.
The drop-nosed delta-wing Concorde was developed by the British Aircraft Corporation and Aerospatiale, companies that are now part of BAE Systems plc and the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Company. RollsRoyce and Snecma - British and French respectively - developed its mighty Olympus powerplants from a British bomber engine.
Concorde is the only airliner that tears down the runway under the power of after-burning engines and then relentlessly climbs and accelerates until it and its wealthy passengers are boring along at twice the speed of sound. Passengers heading west, almost always from Paris or London to New York, arrive before they departed as the aircraft overtakes the sun.
But the design of the aircraft turned out to be wildly uneconomical. Only 20 were built, 14 of them going into service. The plane consumes an ocean of fuel on every flight, requires great maintenance for its ageing systems and yet carries only 100 passengers to pay the bills.
The rival US aircraft manufacturers, Boeing, developed an alternative plane for the future - the 747 jumbo jet - so that it could operate as a freighter after supersonic jets inevitably took over the passenger work. But things did not work out like that, however. Supersonic flight generates great noise in the form of a so-called sonic boom, which eventually ruled out flight over land.
Boeing won the battle and Concorde was relegated to rich people in a hurry (and rich tourists), and to transatlantic flying only. In 1976, after 5,000 hours of testing, the first commercial Concorde services began simultaneously by Air France to Rio de Janeiro and by British Airways to Bahrain.
Since its maiden flight and the subsequent additions to the Concorde fleet in Britain and France, the aircraft has achieved something of a cult status among travellers. With the average cost of a round trip flight from London to New York setting you back u £6,000 sterling, it is only wealthy business peoploe, royalty and the rich and famous who can afford the tag of "Concorders" - regular Concorde passengers. Even the shape of the aircraft conjures up romance and glamour. The sleek nose and elegant wingspan of the Concorde sets it apart from the ordinary, slightly rounded shape of the workhorse Airbus or 747 design familiar to most passengers. As Concorde sits on the runway next to its slightly uglier sister aircraft, it sends out the message to travellers that only if they have lots of money can they hope to sit in one of its luxurious seats. Of course there are bargain seats to be had - group bookings, special offers and TV gameshow prizes provide once-in-a-lifetime trips - but the ethos of Concorde is that not everyone should be able to afford it.
Who else but royals, celebrities and the rich and famous could afford regular trips on Concorde at such high prices? And what other aircraft could offer its regular travellers supersonic speed, five-star cuisine and wine menu and a large enough interior so that the really rich and famous in the sought-after first three rows can keep their distance from other passengers?
It is not just those who fly in Concorde who wax lyrical about its beauty and glamour as it glides through the 3 1/2-hour flight from London to New York. The restaurant connoisseur Egon Ronay recently described the service as "oozing luxury and refinement" and Capt John Hutchinson, who flew Concorde for British Airways for 15 years, has said piloting the aircraft was one of the most enjoyable experiences of his career. "It's a beautiful aeroplane to fly, it's a responsive, thoroughbred of an aircraft," he said. "It is the most beautiful aeroplane out of all the 70 aeroplanes I've flown in my life, far and away the most beautiful aeroplane I've ever flown."
Even 31 years after its first flight, the sight of a Concorde aircraft sleeking its way to Heathrow can stop you in your tracks. The sound of the aircraft alone is incredible as it suddenly appears overhead, engines loud as it seems to burst through the sound barrier, only to speed away to its destination. It is a familiar, distinctive sight over the skies of London, Paris and New York and every time Concorde passes eyes are drawn upwards in amazement at a human triumph of engineering and speed.