Concorde

[Astronuc]

The subject came up recently.

Nice overview - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde - with interesting political  and technical problems.

Cost a lot of money, but British Airways made a profit apparently.

Its development represented a major economic loss for the French and British governments, although it made large operating profits for British Airways for much of its service life. In retirement, Concorde remains an icon of aircraft history.