13/05/2026
Concorde fact of the day.
Concorde wasn't white because it looked good. It was white because it had to be.
At Mach 2, the aircraft's nose reached 127°C (260°F) and the fuselage skin hit around 90°C (194°F). The airframe physically stretched by 8 to 12 inches from the heat. The original specially formulated white paint reflected that heat and kept the supersonic jet within safe limits.
Dark blue does the opposite. It absorbs heat.
That created a serious problem in 1996, when Pepsi did something no brand had ever done before. It painted a Concorde blue.
The stunt was part of a $500 million global rebrand called "Project Blue." Pepsi struck a deal with Air France to repaint one of the 20 Concordes in existence in full Pepsi livery. The aircraft chosen was F-BTSD, affectionately known as "Sierra Delta."
The repaint took 200 liters of paint and 2,000 hours of work at Air France's facility in Paris-Orly. Workers wrapped the freshly painted jet in brown paper to keep the surprise, before flying it to London Gatwick under the cover of darkness.
On April 2, 1996, Pepsi unveiled the aircraft at Gatwick in front of hundreds of journalists, alongside Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, and Andre Agassi. The plane rolled out in electric blue. It was jaw-dropping.
But behind the scenes, engineers were worried about the heat.
Aérospatiale, Concorde's French manufacturer, told Air France the blue Concorde could only fly at Mach 2 for 20 minutes at a time. Below Mach 1.7, there were no restrictions. To reduce the risk further, only the fuselage was painted blue. The wings stayed white because they housed the fuel tanks.
For two weeks, the Pepsi Concorde toured 10 cities across Europe and the Middle East, including Paris, London, Dublin, Stockholm, Beirut, Dubai, Jeddah, Cairo, Milan, and Madrid. It completed 16 flights in the Pepsi livery before being repainted in its original Air France colors.
By the end of 1996, Coca-Cola was still earning nearly 50 percent more than Pepsi. The blue Concorde didn't change that.
But the image of a blue supersonic jet sitting on the tarmac remains one of the most iconic moments in aviation history.
www.flightsimcentre.com