But the aircraft ... year. Supersonic passenger planes were the next obvious frontier. But with the exceptions of the Soviet Tupolev TU-144, which first flew in December 1968, and the Concorde ...

The throng of spectators, including famed airplane designer Sir Geoffrsey de Havilland, heard the earsplitting shriek before they saw the sleek, bullet-shaped aircraft burst out of the mist and ...