So it's just over 20 years since Concorde had its last flight.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121512358#Comment_121512358

Did it pass ye on the runway?

FR85

Go onto Spotify or YouTube and search for Caption John Hutchinson, he flew it for 15 years and the man is fascinating to listen to, his passion for the aircraft hasn't dwindled with his age keeping in mind he retired from BA in the early 90's.

He does lectures all around the place on his life, civil and military career and Concorde which I would love to catch. He also has a book called The Wind Beneath My Wings, again a brilliant read.

Captain John Tye is another name to Google as he has done similar.

davepatr07

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121512225#Comment_121512225

Have to say The Museum of Flight in Seattle is well worth a visit, you get to see inside B707 JFK used as AF1 and also see the B747 prototype (but not go inside). I was based in Vancouver for 6 months at the time so took a trip on a Greyhound bus as a birthday present across the border and did the Boeing Factory tour as well. The BA concorde there had fairly long queues to go through it, Cockpit and passenger seats at the time were not accessible. Le Bourget is great too especially if you like anything to do with Space as well as aviation in general... For me I think Le Bourget pips it for the experience, you get to see and board 2 Concordes (Air France passenger version and a prototype test) which is a bonus.

dastardly00

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121506861#Comment_121506861

If you're ever in New York city, you can get a tour of a BA Concorde at the Intrepid museum. I did it a few years ago, it was class!

PropJoe10

Was on one at the Intrepid museum in NYC about a decade ago. Wonderful piece of engineering for its time. It'd be so cool if one could be restored to flying condition for exhibitions and the like. The cost would obviously be massive but they're a part of aviation history that should never be forgotten.

FR85

Need to check if it is still there, I saw recently it was lifted onto a barge and floated off down the Hudson for some maintenance. Not sure if it's back. I too did the tour, very cool indeed.

dastardly00

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121512476#Comment_121512476

A quick Google says it's currently still off-site and won't be back on the Intrepid until Spring 2024

Astral Nav

I was lucky enough to fly on it at M2. It wasn't claustrophobic, think a CRJ or 146/RJ cabin with great food and wine. It was for a 3.5 hour flight and most travelled light.

There is a story of a socialite lady in London who wanted a specific box of chocolates flown from NY asap (possibly the other way). Concorde didn't do cargo do she bought a seat for the chocs. No idea if it's true.

It's true end was when Airbus (the manufacturer successor) decided that it would no longer support parts. The French gave it a minimalist send off, in fairness the Brits did it proud.

Bear in mind that 250 or so of its regular clients died on that terrible day in September 2001.

A remarkable machine, designed not to be beautiful but to fly at Mach 2 and yet it was incredibly beautiful.

cson

Lucky to have an example in my local museum (Udvar-Hazy in Virginia).

An incredible machine but I think the use case for it these days is limited given the accomodations in the newest gen aircraft and the fact you can stay connected from the US to Europe with the progression of inflight wifi quality, J pax accommodations and the composite aircraft helping with lower pressurization.

I think its pretty incredible you can do US east coast to DUB in damn near 5hrs if the jetstream is cooperating.

Tenger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121512402#Comment_121512402

We would be in the departure queue on the taxiway parallel to the departure runway. (Usually RWY 27R after taxiing from the old 'green mile' on T1)

Thus as it accelerates along the runway it would pass us at a distance of less than 200 metres.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121508275#Comment_121508275

There's no doubt there would have been a lot less fuss about the noise in the US back then if it'd been a Boeing.

mickdw

No doubt.

x567

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121520654#Comment_121520654

I was also one of the lucky ones. The thing that sticks in my mind even more than the excellent food, wine & service was, having contorted myself into a position where you could just about look out of the tiny window, just how deeply indigo blue the sky above was at 60,000-odd feet; and how you could see the slight curvature of the earth from that altitude. Amazing machine…

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121524519#Comment_121524519

Oh wow. So jealous. Would loved to have got to fly it but born too late for that 😞 .

I was only in my early 20s when that crash happened in 2000.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121521755#Comment_121521755

Awe very good

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121520654#Comment_121520654

Oh wow. Jealous.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121520654#Comment_121520654

Nitpick: it only held 100 passengers and it was a charter flight, so for most of them it was planned to be a once in a lifetime trip...

Tenger

I still regret not taking advantage of the special fare that BA offered to airline staff back before it retired.

Concorde to JFK, home on a regular B747.

Hey2.Hey2

... for £600 per person (1996).

Done it twice - with 2 different wives :)

Was working in what they called TBC (Technical building C) which was near the end of the runway (London side). 2 or 3 floors of offices over 8 floors of car park. Grandstand view of take off when wind was from the East. Not PC these days (or even then) but the yellow smoke trail was impressive!

ETA: 2 floors ... https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4696348,-0.4232747,3a,56.8y,358.27h,99.3t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2OSrGAuyqJPtKI4bfOKD7A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121507030#Comment_121507030

IIRC this led to the 'longest' unofficial putt ever. apparently padraig harrington or one of the lads putted a ball into a cup down the entire length of the cabin, which means the ball probably travelled many kilometres in the process.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121525783#Comment_121525783

Yep remember reading that a lot of the passengers were just normal Joe soaps flying on it for the first time, which made it even more poignant.

pureza

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121520654#Comment_121520654

I also flew on it in 2002 back from jfk

We were in the rear cabin which was quieter and also had the mach clock on the divider in front

There was no difference between the cabins

We were served afternoon tea with champagne

The toilet was tiny,I had to crouch

I also distintly remember 2 things,the blue hue of the curvature of the earth and the captain coming on not long out of jfk saying he was onto Irish Air traffic control already and updated our eta

We boarded directly from the concorde lounge in jfk

You could book or upgrade to concorde very easily with BA miles at the time,now known as avios

It's a myth to say you had to be rich

Not many paid the published prices for those flights or do today for first/business either nor a fraction of them

Posy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121525783#Comment_121525783

I think @Astral Nav might have meant that a lot of Concorde frequent flyers were killed in the 9/11 attacks in September 2001. 🤔

Hotblack Desiato

Whoops I just assumed it was referring to the Paris crash. Airlines of all types suffered badly after 9/11, a lot of people in the US avoided flying if they could (and road deaths went up as a result)