Oh Concorde! How we miss you. On this day in 1973, Concorde slashed the transatlantic air-crossing record, making the journey between Washington and Paris in just over three and a half hours and averaging an impressive 1,535 kph (954 mph).
The supersonic jet was developed and produced under an Anglo-French treaty, with planes supplied to both British Airways and Air France, and its name reflected the agreement between the two nations.
Concorde plane was supposed to usher in a new era of air travel, when folk would regularly flit between London and NYC in a mere couple of hours, cruising at 60,000 feet and dining on oysters and champagne. Sadly, some three decades on from that record-breaking flight, after a tragic crash, Concorde was grounded for good. And, so far, no super-fast passenger aircraft has replaced it.
We are raising a glass to aviation dreams gone by with an Air Mail cocktail, a drink we found in Esquire's 1949 Handbook for Hosts - it's essentially a Honeysuckle enlivened by a hint of fizz.
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