Just when you thought Concorde was gone for good, a group of French and British investors are talking about bringing the world's first supersonic airliner back to the skies. In mothballs (or sold off piece-by-piece) since their last flights in 2003, the group wants to revive Concorde for what they're calling "heritage flights." It's unclear exactly what "heritage flights" are, but the murky concept might have something to do with the opening of the 2012 Olympics in London.
The tricky part is to be sure those powerful Rolls-Royce supersonic jet engines still work. If they do, the plan is to see if those engines can power the old rattletrap enough to taxi up and down a runway somewhere. After that? Well, the sky's the limit. But dammit. Why can't we just build a new supersonic airliner that's actually practical, and not a playtoy of the rich and famous? Perhaps Concorde was so far ahead of its time, that's not even possible yet. Sigh.
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