Concorde at Dublin Airport

shamwari

How many times did Concorde land at Dublin Airport. I know two Air France ones landed in October 1983 & 1984 to bring the government to the Prix de l'Arc du Triomphe, and again in April 1999 we had a BA one pay us a visit.

Were there any other landings apart from these?

Run_to_da_hills

There was a lot more Concord activity in Shannon that there ever was in Dublin, even up until the late 90ies with test flights, now never again.

Fratton Fred

They used to use Concorde for short flights if they were training in a crew or captain. If you knew people in the know, you could book a flight and end up on concorde.

My old boss flew from Heathrow to Teeside (I think, somewhere up there with a long runway) because that's what they were doing. Apparantly most people on the return flight were only there because it was a relatively cheap flight on concorde.

Danbo!

Not sure when this was, but here ya go...
EDIT:April '96
INFO


Also, the '88 Visit


.

shinobi

I remember going up to see it in 1995 when it landed at Dublin with the European Ryder cup team.
Don't have any pics but theres a record of it here.

irishflyingkid

Dose anybody know any vids??

bluecode

I worked airside in Dublin airport in '96. When the Pepsi Concorde came everyone went out on the ramp to see it up close. I'd toured the prototype in Paris but this was something else. Even then it looked incredibly futuristic, ironic considering the fact that here in the future it's long gone. The Pepsi colours suited it. Also on the ramp that day was a girl who had been bodypainted in Pepsi colours. She definitely caught my eye too although I felt that she seemed incredibly vulnerable out there. But even she was outshadowed by the real star.

EchoIndia

Some photos of Concordes at DUB here:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=concorde+dub&w=24101413%40N03&z=e

Mac 3

Here are some photos I took in SNN back in 1999

Immelman

Slightly off thread but I came across this article on the investigation on the Paris accident, which make for some very interesting reading.
http://www.askthepilot.com/untold-concorde-story/

mickdw

It visited shannon (G-BOAF) in 2001 and did many landings, touch and goes etc for crew training purposes prior to it return to service after the french crash. This aircraft was the first to be modified following the crash with the kevlar lined tanks, new tyres, wiring changes etc together with new interior and as such was a test aircraft at that stage.

emo72

i remember seeing it in the 80s, it flew right over my house, its etched in my mind, fabulous memory.

de biz

The November 2003 edition of the The Irish Air Letter featured an article entitled"Concorde in Dublin".
The article advises that a total of seven individual Concordes visited Dublin,five AF two BA.The final visit was in May 1999,G-BOAC.Credit Irish Air Letter.
That final trip was in fact a day return charter which brought an Irish Industrialist and his guests,to celebrate his birthday in Nice(60th i think).

bernsy

Yes I believe the industrialist "Glenn Dimplex was the person involved

Tenger

de biz wrote: »

The November 2003 edition of the The Irish Air Letter featured an article entitled"Concorde in Dublin".
The article advises that a total of seven individual Concordes visited Dublin,five AF two BA.The final visit was in May 1999,G-BOAC.Credit Irish Air Letter.
That final trip was in fact a day return charter which brought an Irish Industrialist and his guests,to celebrate his birthday in Nice(60th i think).

I remember that day....saw it and nearly tripped when I realised what it was. No-one at work would believe me at the time.

I always loved taxiing alongside it, or lining up behind it as it took off from LHR, our entire aircraft would shudder..... passengers would be warned beforehand to save the nerves of some.

L1011

bernsy wrote: »

Yes I believe the industrialist "Glenn Dimplex was the person involved

Glen Dimplex isn't a person's name... Martin Naughton I think is the name of the owner.

bernsy

yeah that was him

oceanfroggie

I was airside in 1984 when Air France Concorde was on the ramp. I had just landed in a light aircraft, ground directed me from the former intersection of then rwy 23 and 35 to the old stand 11, which meant taxing behind the AF, however I noticed from heat haze the AF engines were running at idle and questioned the wisdom of taxing only meters behind four Olympus engines. Irritated ground controller ordered me to expedite as there was a 737 stuck behind our anemic little stick insect.

I hesitated at my holding point again querying the ground controller on the safety of taxing such a small aircraft behind the running AF engines. Controller growled 'expedite' - pause - then different voice on COM told me I was quite correct not to taxi behind the running AF and advised the situation would change shortly. The heat haze behind the 4 Olympus engines increased the mirage effect as they spooled up for taxi, the majestic AF was preparing to depart on a publicity flight full of journos to mark the opening of new AF route to Dublin. She turned 90 degrees and then stopped on the ramp.

A very French accent on COM using our callsign said "Chaarlie Zulu es zat OK for youx now, yes!" after which ground cleared us to stand 11. After parking up we stood on the ramp to watch AF Concord taxi and take off on former RWY 23. The sound was something I will never forget. 100s of engineers from nearby hangers walked onto the ramp edge to watch the great white eagle roar thunderously into the west Dublin sky, before she did a tear drop 180 and beat back up the runway on a reciprocal heading before climbing out at an incredible angle four afterburners briefly lit. Awesome memory. Glad I stuck to my guns with GND though or we'd have been blown off the ground by the AF even at flight idle.

pclancy

Great story You saved Charlie Zulu from being barbecued, good for you for sticking up for your own judgements.

bernsy

I was outside the fence at the 23 threshold where they took off, I'll never forget the AF pilot asking " can we do a flyby - zere are zo many people watching" . It was fantastic-the good ole days at the 23 treshold

Elmar Fudd

I took this in October '84, I think it landed in Dublin in '83, '84, maybe '85.

madalig12

I was in New York the other week and visited the Air,Sea and Space Muesum, it was brilliant I paid the wee bit extra for the Concorde tour and it was well worth it. The guy giving the tour knew next to anything you could think to ask. He mentioned that there is one in Manchester which you can tour aswell. It was news to me! Just in case people here didn't know.

mickdw

Yes G -BOAC is in manchester. Its in good condition in a dedicated hanger. I went to see G-BOAF at filton before they closed it. Must have a look at the manchester one.

foxcoverteddy

Did any of the concorde get scrapped or are they dotted around the world's museums?
When I lived in south London we used to get Concorde come over the house on it's run in to HRW.
My very best recollection of Concord was in a village not too far from the factory at Filton when Concord prior to going into service, came over at a very lo0w altitude, the noise was incredible but at thge same time beautiful

mickdw

Of the british fleet, there were 7 production concorde that were in commercial service. Only five were in service following return to flight after the air france crash.

G boaa - used as a parts plane early on. Had wings chopped off and transported to museum in scotland and is on display there.

G boab - this is the other one that didnt fly following paris crash. Is parked outside at heathrow since it landed following paris crash.

G boac - at Manchester on display. Pretty much intact.

G boaf - at filton, bristol. Was on display but closed and aircraft had some repairs carried out.

The other 3, d, e, and g are located at new york, seattle and barbados although im not sure which ones are where.

MugMugs

They've all been completely decomissioned though, I'd imagine?

Never able to take flight again?

madalig12

I would not say they are not able. The guide said it was the cost of fuel that was the reason they stopped flying. He said that a delay from the passenger loading area to the runway would burn up two tons of fuel:eek:

mickdw

In relation why they stopped and any future flight, Airbus are the main players there.
Firstly british airways ran concorde in profit wheress the air frsnce operation was a shambles by comparison. The aircraft had life left in them and british airways wanted to continue although im not sure how strong the will of the management was at that time. The decision was taken in france to stop the concorde division as it was a liability on air france balance sheet. Airbus who were providing technical back up then decides they could not continue to service british airways alone unless they doubled the yearly cost. This pushed BA over the edge as it would not then be financially viable with the increased costs. Airbus are the only technical partner deemed competent on concorde and without them the aircraft cannot get off the ground.
A future flight possibility for passenger travel - no hope.
Possibility of one aircraft being airworthy as display aircraft - very unlikely. It would require alot of things to come together. Off the top of my head. BA would need to have the will to put one back in the air. This is not currently the case. A technical partner other than Airbus would need to be on board. This would be difficult as airbus are holding all the cards here really. This might be easier to achieve if only being used as a display aircraft.
Additionally, BA had various stocks of parts at the time of retirement. These were sold off and as such are no longer certified for use. There are also specialist fluids that are no longer produced although I think there is a large supply in storage at producer. Then you have rollsroyce engines who would need to be invloved.
Overall, if for example the uk prime minister wanted one in the air, it could be done by pulling all sides together and throwing a couple of hundred million at it. A few volunteers are never going to get one off the ground.
As they stand, the aircraft have been decommissioned to varying degrees.
One had wings chopped.
Some reports suggest that concrete was poured into fuel tanks on some aircraft but I dobt know how true that is.
Most have had all fluids drained meaning all systems would require a full rebuild if being used again. Regardless, even for a display flight role, a full rebuild of such systems would be happening anyway.

rainbowdash

One of the first concordes is on display in Duxford airfield, just north of Stansted.

Anybody ever have a few hours to kill before a flight home from Stansted could pop up there in their hire car.

It was grounded long before the crash, it was a prototype and it did a lot of the testing.

Mac 3

Pic of concorde in Shannon..

kona

The Concorde in New York is in bad shape, brake servos missings, nothing's blanked up, there's a good bit of corrosion on it too, IMO would take an awful lot to get it flying, years and millions id guess, I saw it last week.

Isn't there one of the af with a c of a? Something to do with the investigation? One thing is for sure, if one is to fly again, it would need to be soon before the experience of the mechs n engineers n pilots is lost.

mickdw

Very valid points re the experienced people who flew concorde.
I believe air france F - btsd, one of the younger ones has had its systems kept alive to a degree. This was all well and good if it was to be returned to air within a short time of being grounded. Now after 10 years, im not sure if its any advantage to it.
The very last build BA, G boaf at filton was considered a good prospect for flight but it is soon to be trapped in bristol (if not already) as the airport was to close and half the runway redeveloped for housing.

madalig12

Here is the NY one.

mickdw

Looks ok for a display aircraft.
Is it complete internally? Are interior tours allowed?

Tropheus

The one in Seattle looked in pretty good shape when I was there 3 years ago. However, it's outdoors so that probably won't last too long. I'll post pictures later.

kona

mickdw wrote: »

Looks ok for a display aircraft.
Is it complete internally? Are interior tours allowed?

Yup complete inside, although it's all behind plexiglass, I've pics somewhere on it. You used to be able to stroll on but now you have to pay for a tour, think its and extra $22 ontop of the $25 admission.

It's fine for a display, but still in bad shape when your used to being around operational aircraft !! Personally I think it should be indoors, like they are trying to do with the shuttle. Unfortunately the flight deck of the intrepid is fairly packed, some of the displays there ain't in great shape either, prob costs too much. Like I'm talking bout flat tyres ,damaged paint and plastic due to sunlight etc.

The displays below the flight deck are mint.

madalig12

mickdw wrote: »

Looks ok for a display aircraft.
Is it complete internally? Are interior tours allowed?

Yeah you can sit on the seats an get into look around the cockpit.

run_Forrest_run

madalig12 wrote: »

Yeah you can sit on the seats an get into look around the cockpit.

hmm, my experience matches kona's above, you certainly could not sit on seats etc. They were all sectioned off under plexiglass. The door to the cockpit was removed/open so you could look into the cockpit but not a chance of actually stepping into the cockpit.

I felt both sad and underwhelmed when viewing it, the thing should be working in an airport and not sitting in a museum.

mickdw

When I visited the one at filton, the access was great. The forward cabin was open to us, we sat in the seats, had a talk and had photos taken beside the working mach displays. We were in cockpit where we were allowed sit in one of the rear seats. Great access outside too, allowed to walk all around the underside of the aircraft. But yes, its more sad than anything when you realise that all BA concorde touched down back in 2003 in perfect condition and could never fly again.
If BA chiefs wanted a display aircraft in air, it would happen. Maybe in future, there will be a change of heart there. Im sure airbus could be persuaded to help too if BA were buying a few new planes off them.

afatbollix

I was at Brooklands in London at the weekend for a event I just had a quick look as I was busy.



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They have so much to see there. So I didnt even start looking around Im going to go soon and have a proper look around.

McWotever

I visited G-BOAC in Manchester four years ago and took the "Technical Tour". Which lasted bout 90 minutes and was more or less access all areas with a talk from an aeronautical engineer instructor.

The tour included a talk seated in the cabin and a trip to the flight deck which included sitting in the captains seat. 3 of us went and we sat in the left hand seat and engineers seat. The guide sat in the right hand seat but I'm sure if we asked he would of obliged us to let us sit there for a picture. But I think it took alot of effort for him to climb in there in the first place.

There was no problem pressing or switching switches or pushing the throttles etc.

That was all before they built the hangar for her so I don't know if it is still as accessible.

The technical tour also included a tour of other aircraft there including a Trident and prototype RJ145???. They now have a Nimrod too (comet).

Well worth travelling for the day.

Tenger

McWotever wrote: »

I visited G-BOAC in Manchester four years ago and took the "Technical Tour". Which lasted bout 90 minutes and was more or less access all areas with a talk from an aeronautical engineer instructor.......

That was all before they built the hangar for her so I don't know if it is still as accessible.

The technical tour also included a tour of other aircraft there including a Trident and prototype RJ145???. They now have a Nimrod too (comet).
Well worth travelling for the day.

I only spotted the Nimrod there last week. Definitely need to organise a day tour over the summer.

here's pics of the BA Concorde G-BOAD in NYC. As mentioned above you can enter the forward cabin but the seats are covered in thick plexi-glass. The cockpit and rear cabin are viewable but have waist high barriers to prevent access. These pics are form a few years ago. I was there last summer and the exterior paint is showing wear and tear,also the aircraft is not longer accessible freely. Paid tours only.

Concorde- front by tearbringer, on Flickr


Concorde-aft cabin by tearbringer, on Flickr

Davidth88

afatbollix wrote: »

I was at Brooklands in London at the weekend for a event I just had a quick look as I was busy.



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They have so much to see there. So I didnt even start looking around Im going to go soon and have a proper look around.

OMG , that old BA colour scheme suited The Concorde so much better !!

foxcoverteddy

It is only a thought but has anyone given any time to starting a save the concorde fund, it seems to be one of the most iconic means of transportation and from all the comments most of them are going to ruin.
Would it not be a good thing if aircraft enthuiasts got together and saved at least one concorde?
You never know some of the very rich ones might cough up, Bono, Sir richard, is there anyone else Michael the dancer

flazio

Didn't Branson try already to save Concorde?

mickdw

foxcoverteddy wrote: »

It is only a thought but has anyone given any time to starting a save the concorde fund, it seems to be one of the most iconic means of transportation and from all the comments most of them are going to ruin.
Would it not be a good thing if aircraft enthuiasts got together and saved at least one concorde?
You never know some of the very rich ones might cough up, Bono, Sir richard, is there anyone else Michael the dancer

There are various groups involved in trying to save concorde, from fighting for proper concorde display facilities to fighting for return to flight. Look up save concorde group, heritage concorde, Project flagship for a bit of background.
UNfortunately there is alot of politics involved. These groups are struggling to gather any traction re funding for proper exhibit buildings for concorde never mind getting funds together for a proper tilt at returning one to the air. When a group of engineers got working on the manchester one last year, they had literally zero funds. Drums of hydraulic oil had to donated, tools borrowed etc.
There was another group who had handling of 400k approx that was supposed to go towards a visitor centre but the money was pissed away on salaries, consultants etc - the usual story.
It needs a proper backer in the form of government heritage funding or British airways funding to even be considered possible to get one flying for shows etc. With the economic conditions, its hard to see many millions being pumped into it.
Also have a look a concordesst.com for info mostly on the return to flight back in 2001 following the paris crash.

andy_g

flazio wrote: »

Didn't Branson try already to save Concorde?

No he tried to buy 3 from BA and he was rejected

Gatling

Maybe somebody could ask Mr O'Leary nicely

foxcoverteddy

is the truth of the matter that Concorde was actually coming to the end of it's life, with the paris incident it appears to have come sooner than later.
Fully restored today would it still be a viable option, or is one of those if only projects?
I think personally that there should be at least one preserved example for future generations to see.
So what happened to the french concorde's? No one mentions them.

MugMugs

foxcoverteddy wrote: »

So what happened to the french concorde's? No one mentions them.

F-BVFA is in the Smithsonian in Washington.
F-BVFB is in Sinsheim in Germany and rests with a TU-144
F-BVFC was retired back to Airbus in Toulouse
F-BVFD was retired in 82 and used as a donor.
F-BVFF is on display in CDG
F-BTSC was involved in the Continental/CDG incident and destroyed.
F-BTSD is on display in Le Bourget

mickdw

foxcoverteddy wrote: »

is the truth of the matter that Concorde was actually coming to the end of it's life, with the paris incident it appears to have come sooner than later.
Fully restored today would it still be a viable option, or is one of those if only projects?
I think personally that there should be at least one preserved generations to see.
So what happened to the french concorde's? No one mentions them.

But huge money was spent following the crash on updates, safety mods, new interiors so even at that stage british airways were surely pkanning to another 10 years in commercial service. They brought 5 aircraft through that upgrade process and returned them to service.
It was all down to Air France finances and politics. BA also generally say that 9/11 was a severe blow to concorde. That was also the date of the first flight into jfk following the refit in preparation for return to commercial service. They were carrying just staff as a full exercise and all went perfectly only to find that the world had changed completely when they touched down. Not only was aviation changed that day but many regular concorde customers were killed also. So really given the effort put into returning to service in 2001, neither airline had any issues about the life of the aircraft.
The only hope now is for a heritage flight aircraft and that is a distant dream too.