Transport and Travel

                                       Modern Aircraft

•            Today"s aircraft are a far cry from the Wright brothers" flimsy, under-powered machine, for progress in aviation has been extremely rapid. Seventy-five years may seems a long time, but it is really only equivalent to one man"s life time and if it were possible to place a Wright Flyer along side a Beoing 747 'Jumbo'   jet-liner, and performance, you would realise what has been achieved. 
• The wright brothers' machine carried one person,and its 12hp engine gave it a top speed of 46 kph  (30 mph). A Boeing 747-200B can carry to 516 passenger, plus a flight crew of three and cabin staff.    

                                     Supersonic aircraft

• Concorde is the world passenger-carrying aircraft to go into commercial service, and was designed and built by French and British aviation experts working together. Although military aircraft had already broken through what had become known as the 'sound barrier' and a great deal was known about the problems associated with flying at speeds faster than sound, no one had tackled the greater problems involved with building a much larger supersonic aircraft -particularly one which had to carry ordinary fare-paying members of the public.