[Anonymous]

[epeek06]

Last weekend as I was taxing at Heathrow I spotted a Concorde next to a few hangars. Since I’m not a regular at Heathrow, is that a normal site? or is there a specific reason for this? closing ceremony for the olympics?

Thank you for your opinions!

[LuganoPirate]

What were you smoking Epeek? 😉

I think you could be right about the closing ceremony for the Olympics though. Seems a lot of London sights are being recreated. It should be quite a finale.

[DavidGordon10]

The old Concorde at Heathrow has been towed here and there while the building work for new terminals has been going on. I have heard nothing about plans for its final position, presumably somewhere where it will be displayed properly.

CDG has looked after its old Concorde more appropriately and the one at MAN was quite well positioned until it was covered over.

[DavidGordon10]

VK, that would be good publicity for BA, but as publicity for the airport it would be better on the field, as at CDG (I can’t find an image of that quickly, if you Google “Concorde at CDG” you mostly get crash pictures….)

[epeek06]

Just type in ‘concorde display CDG’

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/4532807754_bd6a11c893.jpg

[DavidGordon10]

Thanks epeek! I am being dense today. One point about the CDG display is that the Concorde is the right height and position to be clearly visible to passengers when taxiing past. Good publicity.

[esselle]

Concorde was grounded in 2003, since which time it has been shunted around all over the airfield. That suggests to me that nobody has a clue what to do with it.

[travelworld]

The plan was to site it on the roundabout at T5, as VK rightly says. No idea why it hasn’t been.

[esselle]

Problem is that somebody has to pay. I cannot see BA stumping up, but equally cannot see BAA give up a prime spot for nothing.

[ImissConcorde]

The plan was to site it on the roundabout at T5, as VK rightly says. No idea why it hasn’t been.
Simple answer – money.
I understand BAA wants an extortionate amount of money for that site to be used.

[LuganoPirate]

But surely just parking it at LHR must cost quite a bit of money as well?

[VintageKrug]

I hope they’ll put it on the roundabout on the approach to T5, though who will pay for it to be put there, I’m not certain:

http://www.framearch.co.uk/t5/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/terminal-5.jpg

Problem is, on the roundabout it’s effectively advertising; BAA will charge accordingly, or Emirates will kick up a fuss for the extortionate fee they are charged for the A380 outside the other T1/2/3 roundabout.

Sounds easy to install it outside T5. But it’s not.

It’s not just a case of towing it down the runway and plonking it there; the very act of towing it the half mile (on an undercarriage that maybe hasn’t been maintained at all), opening the security fence and then probably craning it into place, not to mention the stand to put it on – which could be a very big deal if displayed like the AF one – plus repainting, lighting and security, could cost 100s of thousands of pounds, maybe even a million or more.

Concorde is not a piece of kit designed to be an advertising hoarding; so it will need maintenance (regular repainting, structural improvements to undercarriage etc.) in the long term. Windows will mist over and need replacing (even if spares could be sourced, they would be collector’s items, so not cheap), and the mould reportedly inside the airframe would have to be removed and dried out, possibly with permanent dehumidification, another cost to be added to the mix.

No idea what that would cost, but it probably wouldn’t be short of £150,000 per annum, though might be deductible if it was established as a charity.

Not sure whether the engines have been removed, but if they have (and I seem to think they have, something about use of old High Life mags to balance her since they were removed?) something would have to be done cosmetically to make it look like the engines were still there and balance the frame more permanently.

The airframe could soon begin to cost quite a lot annually as – though it pains me even to write it – the inevitable rust and decay set in in the coming decades.

The airframe could then become even more of an Albatross round BA’s neck, and as a shareholder I can’t really justify maintenance of a Concorde over investment in product and people.

One way to mitigate this would be to make it pay its way as a visitor attraction, with subterranean access from the terminal, but that presents its own challenges. And I’m not sure in twenty years’ time, just as LHR is closing as an airport, there would still be an appetite to look round this venerable dinosaur of aviation.

The roundabout is not an easily secured or protected site, and could easily be a target for miscreants, vandalism or worse as well as being at risk of being crashed into, intentionally or otherwise and though no worse than where it is now, airborne pollution is considerable.

And BA’s brand gurus may be less than pleased to have a defunct product no longer offered by BA – even Concorde – outside the terminal.

What would happen if BA moved out of T5 and/or changed its name or revised its livery?

Finally, there’s the issue that the roundabout as pictured in my link is quite close to the threshold of the northern runway; depending on how it was angled and lit, Concorde could look like an oncoming aircraft to the uninitiated infrequent visiting pilot; that is a risk probably not worth taking.

There was a plan to site it next to the London Eye on that patch of grass, but I don’t think that’s particularly appropriate.

What do you think should be done with her?

[esselle]

VK
Do all the costs you associate with keeping the integrity of the airframe/windows/paintwork etc apply equally to the SST’s at, eg Brooklands or CDG, or not?

The operators ( state, albeit semi-privatised, and private enterprise respectively) seem to think so.

What should be a symbol of national pride is sadly shunted into a backwater, only to be glimpsed if you are on a perimeter road. Shame really.

[MontysDouble]

The retro liveried 757 before retirment was largely decals I think, and also I think some money MAY have come from elsewhere to contribute to it.

As for concorde being on the roundabout:
There is also the theft issue (ok, not the whole frame, but bits of it / from it / from inside it). Most of the old spitfires and hurricanes outside RAF bases (that were previouly preserved frames) are now fiberglass copies to thefts – yes, some thefts did happen right out side armed RAF bases.

And, as said above, Concorde is not designed to sit outside, well – without constant maintenance and TLC.

Further, there is also the very credible issue raised above, of what happens if BA leave T5.

Personally, I think the ideal option is to find it a home somewhere near by, build a spotters facility, aviation history place, stick it in there.

However right now I can’t see anything happening until after the U turn on the third runway happens. [If anything else is announced instead, nothing will happen either.]

[Author]

Posts