[epeek06]

I know for sure that one Concorde in a museum I forget which one, has 1/3 of its hydraulics working so that they can move the nose up and down for visitors 😛

[LuganoPirate]

Is there not a Concorde at New York on the river next to the aircraft carrier?

Re Toulouse. There is one there but it’s no longer used.
http://www.concordesst.com/201.html

What was Concorde like to fly – incredible. T/O was not much different from memory, but when you started from normal cruise to supersonic, I remember that slight punch in the back as the Machometer started to increase. I also remember the warm windows.

I seem to recall being at 70,000’ and zero turbulence till you started to come down. Seeing the curvature of the earth was amazing though I still wonder if that was true or an illusion made real by the number of people who would speak about it?

[VintageKrug]

The view of the curvature of the earth – and the blackness of space – was very real indeed.

[first_class_please]

gordoncph – i remember seeing the Concorde taking off many times at the 10.30am slot, as my usual route left at same time.

When i finally travelled on the Concorde i remember we left the gate and there was a long queue of aircraft waiting to take off. The captain advised us all over the PA system that we would be taxiing past all the other aircraft (they may have all been BA planes, i don`t recall) to the front, as we were BA1 and ALWAYS take off on time.

BTW – anyone know how / where to access the aircraft flight logs for Concorde? I know the date I took the flight, from the certificate I received and got framed. Out of curiosity I would like to see where the frame is now on display.

[Ah,Mr.Bond]

This is “Alpha Bravo” and has been collecting dust on the taxi ways for years ever since they scrapped Concorde. Albeit not in the same location. Has been moved around abit, in a rather undignified manner. This one was never refitted after 2000 crash so never flew again.

[JKL]

I could be mistaken but I’m pretty sure I saw Concorde flying over West Sussex area earlier this afternoon, trailed by four fighter jets in formation… I wasn’t aware any were still airworthy – maybe they’ve dusted one off for the Olympics closing ceremony?! Certainly *looked* like Concorde…

[SimonS1]

Who knows, but if one was airworthy, wouldn’t we have seen t at the Jubilee celebrations?

[JKL]

That’s what I would have thought, so I guess – assuming it was indeed Concorde – they’ve only just got it ready. Maybe we’ll find out tomorrow evening… 😉

[MontysDouble]

JonHirsch:

I could be mistaken but I’m pretty sure I saw Concorde flying over West Sussex area earlier this afternoon, trailed by four fighter jets in formation… I wasn’t aware any were still airworthy – maybe they’ve dusted one off for the Olympics closing ceremony?! Certainly *looked* like Concorde…

XH558 – the restored Vulcan bomber – was flying over Eastbourne.

It is also a delta wing design, however it has very different propotions. However, view from a limited number of select angles in flight I could see concorde being what someone thought they had seen.

[And before we go into the debate, the Vulcan is a total different generation of technology from the Concorde, it is a totally different game keeping the Vulcan in the skies – and there is a limit to how long this will be possible even in this case and even removing the finance problem.]

[JKL]

Ah, thanks MontysDouble, that may well explain it. Shame though (but not to disparage the Vulcan in any way) – for a moment I was quite excited that they might actually have got a Concorde flying again. Ah well.

(As an aside, I remember many years ago at school, one of the Vulcan pilots – sadly I don’t recall his name – came in to give one of those inspirational you-can-do-anything-if-you-set-your-mind-to-it type pep talks. Made a lasting impression, and was probably instrumental in giving me the confidence to follow my own path in business rather than go down the 9-5 route…)

[TiredOldHack]

@MontysDouble – I contributed some dosh to keep XH558 in the air. Partly because I wanted to, but mainly to annoy the Sacred Bleeding Hearts.

“Oh yes, I give to selected charities….”

‘Like what?’

“Well, recently it was to keep a nuclear bomber flying. (fx: knowing tap on side of nose, and meaningful look). You never know when you might need it again…”

It gets certain people very irritated. And this is A Good Thing.

[barnacles]

By way of an aside, I cringe every time I taxi past the AF Concorde at Roissy/CDG. How the French had the nerve to mount one of their aircraft there, in more or less exactly the attitude it would have had as during its last fatal take-off and ‘flight’, beggars belief.

Talking of the French and their breathtaking lack of savoir faire, I once travelled on the AF Concorde service to New York. I was in 1A, because the French president hadn’t wanted to travel that day, which was quite fun, and as we accelerated out over the Bay of Biscay and went supersonic, the French businessman in 1B looked at his watch, then turned to me and said, “A couple of minutes late today, I see . . . “. ‘Quel tosspot’, I said quietly to myself.

I’ve always thought that BA missed a trick in not putting their scale model somewhere in T5 – there’s a huge amount of space, populated mainly by trees, between the two parts of the ‘outer building’, which you see from the arrivals level, and I should have thought it would have fitted in nicely. Sadly, despite protestations to the contrary, at the time BA were sort of on a mission to write Concorde out of the history books (something to do with the way the French refused to re-issue the airworthiness certificate etc, and BA cow-towed, I suspect).

[VintageKrug]

The scale model (I assume you’re referring to the one which used to be on the roundabout) was in quite bad repair, and is currently languishing in Brooklands.

It probably would not have been structurally sounds to place suspended from the ceiling.

And again, would have been a considerable cost to make it structurally sounds, renew the livery and then get BAA to agree to attach it from the ceiling (no small task!), then no doubt pay an annual fee to “advertise” a service no longer offered by BA.

Then add in the cost of maintenance, such as dusting, regularly checking the cables holding it, and the fact you have a big reminder of a product BA no longer offers, which many passengers won’t know about or remember, and which was largely associated with a crash in many people’s minds and, though it pains me to say it, I can quite understand why it doesn’t have pride of place.

[Bruce98]

++Then add in the cost of maintenance, such as dusting, regularly checking the cables holding it, and the fact you have a big reminder of a product BA no longer offers, which many passengers won’t know about or remember, and which was largely associated with a crash in many people’s minds and, though it pains me to say it, I can quite understand why it doesn’t have pride of place.++

That will explain why BA’s top lounge at T5 is called the ‘747’ room, then.

[VintageKrug]

Are you just going to “contribute” to this site by post-stalking and criticising every post I make? It’s very dull behaviour on top of your many previous infractions:

We can add this to the canon of personal attacks and insults, some people never change:

Savior_Monk – 26/07/2012 16:03 GMT wrote in response to VK:

“you despicable prat”

Savior_Monk – 23/07/2012 11:35 GMT wrote in response to VK:

“Not really, it’s more a question of whether you have sensible judgment or think like a prat.”

Savior_Monk – 15/07/2012 12:02 GMT wrote:

“Gosh, this Vintage Krug is a nice piece of work?”

Savior_Monk – 14/07/2012 04:36 GMT wrote in response to VK:

“What planet are you on pal?”

Savior_Monk – 09/07/2012 07:12 GMT in response to epeek06:

“Idiotic comment above.”

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