The Concorde made its first supersonic passenger flight 40 years ago - here's what it was like

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Concorde Air France

AP

On the morning of January 21, 1976, a pair of Concordes - one each from British Airways and Air France -took off simultaneously on what would be the aircraft's first commercial supersonic flights with fare paying passengers.

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The British Airways jet took off from London's Heathrow Airport bound for Brazil with a stop in Senegal while the Air France flight left Paris Orly Airport headed for Bahrain.

Later that year, Air France and British Airways put the cutting-edge jet into service - making daily flights from Europe to the US. The jet was retired from service nearly 30 years later.

A decade after the retirement of the jet, we remember the awesome experience that was flying on the Concorde.