The concorde was a supersonic aircraft used for trans-atlantic travel in the 1980s and 1990s, having a length of 62.5 m when sitting on the ground on a typical day when the temperature is 16.0 ∘c . the concorde is primarily made of aluminum. in flight at twice the speed of sound, friction with the air warms the concorde's skin and causes the aircraft to lengthen by 25.0 cm . (the passenger cabin is on rollers, so the airplane expands around the passenger cabin.) take the coefficient of linear expansion for aluminum to be α = 2.40×10−5 /∘c