As vanity projects go, the Concorde was one of the most vain. Completely impractical (high speeds making for terrible fuel consumption); hugely expensive (the UK secretely estimated its development would cost them £900m) and with years upon years of delays and cost overruns, it emerged completely unsuitable for most of its intended routes. But it was celebrated just the same.On this day, March 2, in 1969, the Concorde made its first successful maiden flight, taking off from Toulouse, France, to great fanfare, and staying airborne for 10 minutes before landing back at the airfield.

The UK hoped to have a commercially ready Concorde ready for flights between London-Heathrow and New York by 1973. That date came and went, as did 1974, and ’75. By 1976, the UK finally had a regularly-flown Concorde jet, but its small fuel capacity and the sacrifice of efficiency for speed made it impossible for flights across the pond. The UK had to settle for flying it just across the channel, to France.