Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I think it's really sad, it seems such a waste of all that fabulous technology and, I always promised myself a ride on it which will never happen now

We spent some time on the Thames this summer and Concorde would fly over us every day twice a day, each time everyone stopped and looked up, the fascination with it never seems to go. My friend tried to take pics of it and missed every time, he has a fantastic set of photos of an empty sky

No more Concorde - I feel quite gutted about it.

FlightMan

Concorde info for those interested.

THEY are due to land at 1600 on Friday. I say they because 3 Concorde will land one after the other. They will be arriving from JFK, Edinburgh and a Bay of Biscay trip. They arrival runway will be 09L/27R depending on wind direction. The best place to view will be alongside the visitors centre if arriving from the East, somewhere on the A3044 if arriving from the west. Lots of people expected tho, as said earlier, so be prepared.

I took my mum and 4 year old daughter to see her on Saturday. We were on easterlies so she took off over Hatton Coss tube. I can only saw it was a fantastic sight. The sun had gone, she was lit up by the airfield lights and was only 400ft up as she cleared the fence, and the 1000's of people below. Full reheat, afterburners glowing,the crackle in the air and the rumble in your belly is something i'll never ever forget. People were clapping and cheering, airhorns were going off, and as it banked right and headed west, my daughter said to me, "I love that plane, today is as sad day isnt it" Brought a tear to my eye it did. Anyone with a small child should get there before to watch one take off, approx 1845. I know my daughter will never forget seeing her. As JC says, Why are we going backwards? BA, you should be ashamed of yourselves, keep one airwworthy for christs sake.

Edited for spelling

[Edited by FlightMan - 10/21/2003 9:46:42 AM]

Pete Croney

Luke, perfectly put.

JC's article brought a tear to my eye on Sunday. Also perfectly written.

Whilst I have seen Concorde many times, I have only ever truly seen her once. A holiday on Nantuket involved a return flight from JFK. It was around 6pm and the sun was a massive golden ball, sillouetting the towers of Manhatten. And then she appeared. I did not see her at first, but the sudden silence amongst the thousands in JFK's departure lounge alerted me to something important. I cast my eyes in the direction of the masses and there she was. Nose drooped to the horizontal, standing on her engines, turning base over New York's cathedrals of commerce, the golden sun behind her. Never has anything looked so beautiful.

As she turned final, you could hear a pin drop. What had been a gathering of the loud, the precocious, the delayed and the weary suddenly turned into a collection of people sharing the same feeling. A recognition of something so good and so different that whether you were eight or eighty, it commanded the same respect.

As she touched her wheels down, I felt a tear in my eye. I have never been so proud to be British. In a country that, often rightly, claims to have the best of everything, several thousand people had been silenced by something so beautiful and so timeless that they could only look on in homage. In homage to something so profoundly British.

I will feel the same tear in my eye on Friday, for a different reason.

Dr Hu

Well said Pete.

The taxpayer ultimately bought Concorde - Its a shame that as it was sold to BA for £1 - that BA wont sell it for the same amount to Virgin....

BA wont sell it as it knows that the Concordista will just switch to Virgin & not the first class BA services.......

9-11 had a big role to play in it as well.....

Its a Crying Shame - I think we will look back in years to come and ask how it was allowed to happen......

[Edited by Dr Hu - 10/21/2003 9:54:12 AM]

Mungo

Friday will be such a sad day. I remember the first time I saw it fly over - on my 8th birthday in 1979. A beautifully clear September's day, and it was awesome.
It's still awesome now - I've seen it take off in the dark from Heathrow, and the sight and sound are just incredible. It makes a F1 car sound like a Micra, and the glow from the afterburners is wonderful.
Like people have already said, Concorde is one thing of which familiarity has not bred indifference. Every time it flies over, I'll watch it until it disappears. It's a truly special machine.

blair

I've seen Concorde take off from the runway at Heathrow ahead of the plane I've been sitting on two or three times in the past.

The noise from inside another plane is awesome - its more noisy than even the oldest 737. You can almost feel the trust from Concordes engines washing over the side of the plane.

Agree with those above that seeing Concorde take of just as darkness sets is probably the site I'll best remember of Concorde - the huge cones of blue flame from the engines and the awesome noise were fantastic.

As a kid I saw Concorde land at RAF Leuchars one time the Open Championship was at St Andrews - they'd used it as a shuttle to bring all the pro's up from London. I was standing at the fence on the edge of the airfield, directly in line with the end of the runway. The RAF did a little display, using 4 F4 Phantoms flying in a delta formation to mimic Concorde's shape and the noise they made was nothing compared to that made by Concorde.

The bit I remember most about seeing her that time was that as Concorde was coming in to land, directly along the runway towards us, just after the wheels touched down and the puff of burning rubber had blown away in the slipstream, some joker in the RAF control tower decided to activate the big net on sticks that they used to use to try to catch F4's that they thought were going to overshoot the end of the runway !! That seemed to cause a little bit of a panic amongst the grown ups who were watching with us

I think I might try and sneak out to Edinburgh airport on Friday to see her last visit north of the border

ian_sadler

It's going to be a very sad Friday.

Buckrogers

It is very sad that we are losing something so special.

BA are in a catch 22 situation. If they cease flying it, people are upset. If they sell it to Virgin, people are happy but they lose money, Virgin are "seen" as the savours of Concorde and I suspect more importantly, they lose the flight slots that go with it.

Simple answer, keep at least one in service, flying the most popular route at least once a week. It may run at a lose, but BA would gain great publicity in keeping her flying which it badly needs after the strike fiasco.

Stephen Read

I'll be sad on Friday too.

Best Concorde memory was watching it do a 'touch-and-go' at Aberdeen Airport to commemorate its 50th? anniversary.

The runway was too short for it to actually land, well certainly too short for it to take off again! but the crew managed to get the back wheels down for a few seconds and they full thrust and it was off again.

We stood at side of the runway (<100M back) and it was a bit wet so we saw those amazing spray vortexes coming of the wings.

Brilliant!

Shame I can't find any pictures of it.



Strangely enough, I never harboured a strong desire to part with loads of readies to actually fly in it. The windows are just so small, I think that would have spoiled it for me. I'd rather spend a similar amount for a short trip in a fast jet, but I'll miss it all the same.

[Edited by Stephen Read - 10/21/2003 10:55:48 AM]

SD

Saw it at the Farnborough air show many many years ago when I was a young lad. It did a few very low passes a couple of hundred feet in front of the crowd. Noisiest thing there! As a young'un I remember feeling ill at the noise and vibrations it gave my insides. Fantastic. Truely unforgetable and I think it's a travesty to think it won't be flying anymore and that BA won't let Virgin play at going supersonic for themselves.

Simon.

gregh

BA guy on Radio 5 yesterday said they are looking into keeping one airworthy for air shows etc, the majority will go to UK musuems.

regards,

greg

TonyG

Sad day indeed. When I was at infants school (back in 196*...), I can remember doing a group project on Concorde. I was amazed by it then, and still am today. I can also remember when it flew over the school on a test flight - everyone was taken outside to look at it as it swooped past. One of my regrets is never having flown on it.

Nick Wadeson

With our AT site being based on the flight path into Birmingham, the office emptied yesterday just as Concorde approached and flew overhead. Everyone watched in an almost silent atmosphere.

Then in the afternoon a couple of colleagues and I went up to the airport to watch her take off. The noise was fantastic and the sight of seeing her fly off in the distance left me with a feeling of emptiness (and this comes from a person with very little interest in aircraft).

Come on BA, please sell the fleet to Virgin. These planes do not deserve to be kept in museums.

Edited to add that one of my favourite memories will be of my family and I standing in The Mall with circa 1 million others, watching Concorde fly over with the red Arrows during the Queens golden jubilee celebrations. The crowd gave out one of the loudest cheers I have ever heard and started singing land of hope and glory (amongst other songs)......Concorde will be sadly missed.

Nick.



[Edited by Nick Wadeson - 10/21/2003 11:35:27 AM]

Leslie

I think it is a crying shame too, especially when it could fly for years yet. Very bad that Branson won't get the chance to buy it.

I miss the Vulcan too, only big bomber that could outhandle a fighter, especially at high level, but it was very difficult to get at low level too, not easy to get a blue sky shot on it in the mountain valleys. It was feared by the Russians right up to the day it retired as a bomber.

Les

[Edited by Leslie - 10/21/2003 12:36:54 PM]

Andy W STI

We were treated to low (relatively) level flyby in Belfast today by a Concorde, missed it but it certainly sounded impressive.

Andy

Luke

Does anyone know the landing time gaps between the 3???? It would be a fantastic photo of 3 concordes stacked ready to land.

bet they are putting the parking prices up for the day..!!

Duck_Pond

Thought I'd share this with you - pic of her taking off down the runway on Monday evening from Birmingham International.



Awesome.

drumsterphil

iTrader: (1)

Great Pic - and sums up the majesty of that airplane.

One thing always stuck with me in that Concorde is always referred to in singular. You never say 'there goes A Concorde', you say 'there goes Concorde'. It's almost like a living, breathing thing that deserves so much more respect thatn it's getting from BA and this government.

Perhaps if BA's CEO was english then he might understand how proud we are of this plane and what it means to us.

I will miss it passing overhead. Even now I still go outside to look up and try and catch a glimpse of Concorde as she flys overhead.

I hope Virgin somehow manage to get hold of them and keep the dream alive and that she flys across the Atlantic again.

Phil

rik-1

We put protection orders on trees.
We grade and list old buildings.
Surely we should keep one Concorde flying.

owbow

anyone taking a trip up to watch them on friday?

once in a lifetime experience, personally i've never seen Concorde in the flesh...

Owain

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I always wanted to go on concorde.

ALL passenger jets are pathetic in comparison. If I had the money....I'd buy them....or build my own fleet of replacements if BA / AF want to be stubbon bar stewards and not sell them.

The problem is....if they are laid up now rather than sold...even for a few months - they need massive amounts spending on them to re-commision them due to corrosion of the turbines and seals perishing etc.

Concord really does show how crap modern aircraft are....slow, uncomfortable, and not much more efficient or enviro freindly. The only reason why they are more viable is that they carry far more passengers. They are physically the same as airliners made 30 years ago- as old as concorde itself...just with more electronic gadgetry.

Personally I hate long-haul flights. Why would anyone with the money want to spend 10+ hours on an plane when they can spend just 3 hours.

IMO airplane technology has stood still for 30years. No major breakthough in design has emerged. We are flying in dinosaurs. Look at the advancement in commercial airplanes in 30years prior to 1970, going from dakotas to DC10's to 747's.

It's about time the industry pulled their finger out and got something decent flying that can at least cruise at over mach 1



[Edited by ALi-B - 10/22/2003 7:59:32 AM]

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I wonder if the yanks could convert a B1-B to be a passenger airliner?

NotoriousREV

Does anyone know if one will be coming into/leaving Manchester this week?

NotoriousREV

Bugger, yes, today at 11:40! *Jumps in the car*

Duck_Pond

NotoriousREV - if the timing is anything like it was for B'ham, then she will still be zooming round the skies of Manchester at 11:40.

I watched her soar majestically over Warwick Castle at about the time she was supposed to have been touching down in BHX.

Can't think why the pilot would be making the most of the flights...

jase555

Anybody Near the flight area going to be taking some pictures, and could post or email

going nowhere near Glasgow so I am knackered on that front

thanks in advance

jase

chiark

Damn shame, and clarkson's article is superb. Branson and BA go way back - he might as well not even have bothered asknig, but then he wouldn't have got publicity...

The thing that amazes me is that in all these years it has not been bettered. Nothing's realistically come close! And the fact about the friction causing 1 foot of expansion always makes me marvel.

An engineering triumph sunk by commercial idiocy. Do BA not realise the marketing value of that bird?

Blackscooby

There aren't many things which can get everyone to the windows in our office at work. I reckon the whole building was watching Concorde on its departure tonight as it swept in a huge arch over South Manchester.

A truely magnificant site which we'll never see again.

A tragic loss of such a beautiful aircraft.