Supercruise
PAXBoy... Probably the single most remarkable think about the design of the Concorde is the ability to supercruise (ie. maintain supersonic cruise/climb without reheat). There have been some excited rumblings recently about some military aircraft just built which can achieve this, but Concorde has been doing it without fuss or drama since 1970. Those guys got it right first time.
The reheats are used for the takeoff until the start of noise abatement. Next they are re-applied only for the transonic acceleration at M0.93 until M1.7. From M1.3 the intakes are doing their magic and at M1.7 the reheats are switched off - this halves the fuel flow at a stroke and makes transatlantic range at 20+ miles a minute possible. The engines are now the most efficient internal combustion engines yet built and complete the acceleration & climb to M2.0 without the need for reheat. At M2.0, only 50% of the total thrust comes from the engine - the other 50% comes from the intake system and exhaust nozzle assembly.
Good, eh?