Concorde BMC Mini, the miniskirt, the Jaguar E-Type, the London Tube map and the Supermarine Spitfire. The type was retired in 2003, three years after the crash of Air France Flight 4590, in which all passengers and crew were killed. The general downturn in the commercial aviation industry after the September 11 attacks in 2001 and the end of maintenance support for Concorde by Airbus (the successor company of both Aérospatiale and BAC) also contributed. The origins of the Concorde project date to the early 1950s, when Arnold Hall, director of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) asked Morien Morgan to form
Gloster Meteor retired from French Air Force service in 1964. Five Meteor NF.11s were transferred to the Centre d’Essais en Vol (Flight Test Centre) in 1958, where they were used as equipment testbeds and chase planes, and were later joined by two NF Mk.13s and two NF Mk.14s. The test aircraft were used in a wide variety of experiments, including radar and missile tests and during the development of Concorde. Due to tensions between the newly formed nation of Israel and its neighbours, both sides had commenced an arms race which led to jet aircraft being vigorously purchased by various countries in