1969 - 1972 Concorde

As a premier carrier representing a major German nation, Himmelbahn was basically expected to buy into the European supersonic megaproject. Aérospatiale BAC actually had to engage in a serious effort to induce the airline to buy their Concorde over the competing American Boeing 2707 program. These efforts were successful in convincing carrier executives that buying into the Concorde was not just good policy but it was in fact the future of the airline. However, Himmelbahn was not as cash rich as the Concorde project's major donors in old England and France. The order was, at its zenith, a mere six units to operate flagship "Überschall" super sonic services to New York and São Paulo. Oil price instability, rising costs, and delays all made Himmelbahn's order less and less certain. Technically, the cancellation of the order was never officially announced but any good aviation enthusiast can assure you that the Germany's supersonic era never dawned. Despite the fact that the order spent much of its life in limbo, a huge number of various concept art and publications appeared showing the Concorde, at various stages of development, sporting Himmelbahn's Neudüsenflugzeugvogel colours. The most common rendering only slightly deviated from the standard livery slightly with less dark red paint to reduce heat accumulation. If the order had not fallen through, the Himmelbahn Concorde would have probably looked like this.