goodbye Concorde
 

This isn't the LP so there just might be someone out there who has actually flown on Concorde. I never have - always wanted to - thought I might one day. And now it's too late.

My mother-in-law flew the Concorde almost twenty years ago. She said it was grand! Now she is gone, like the Concorde. Well, actually, I think the dear thing is probably up there on the heavenly Concorde, seeing the beautiful curve of the earth, watching us mortals below....Cheers to you, Nana, and the Concorde!

Where did I see the headline this morning -- the New York Times, was it? It said BA gets ready for final Concorde flights. I didn't read it, but I thought they had done the last one. Are they still flying?

Three Concordes are flying into Heathrow this afternoon for retirement. Sad as it may be, it is not going to affect my life as I was never likely to use the plane. It reminds me of a quote when there was public wailing in Britain when Rolls Royce was sold to the Germans - "Why is there such an outcry when the only time that most people will ride in a Rolls Royce is on their way to their funeral?".

Alice: Was about to post the same heading you did. Just saw the last Concorde take off from JFK on GMA. I too had hoped one day--guess it wasn't meant to be.

Just saw the 3 fly over my building! Got digital footage and photos. Wistful moment watching as the last one dipped into the golden sunset.

Lovely.

Of the 14 Concordes made, BA and Air France had 7 each. BA still has 7 but obviously AF has less (they actually still have 5).
5 of the BA Concordes are going to:
* Intrepid Air and Space Museum in New York.
* Manchester Airport viewing park
* Museum of flight in Seattle
* Barbados - possibly at Grantley Adams Airport
* Filton (near Bristol) to be displayed in the proposed Bristol Aviation Heritage Museum
That leaves 2 others. I did hear that they may keep one airworthy for air displays and rides but that's unlikely.
Air France are selling off more than 150 items such as pilot's leather seat. BA have been offered £7M for one of the nose-cones.

Watched the thee of them today from the roof of our building - they looked beautiful as ever - even though they were quite a way away. Ran downstairs and watched the landings on TV.

Took some pictures, but they are not a patch on the ones take as part of the Golden Jubilee flyover with the Red Arrows. She flew pretty much directly overhead.

Sad, say day.

AR said "Sad as it may be, it is not going to affect my life as I was never likely to use the plane. It reminds me of a quote when there was public wailing in Britain when Rolls Royce was sold to the Germans - "Why is there such an outcry when the only time that most people will ride in a Rolls Royce is on their way to their funeral?"."

My sadness today is not that I was ever likely to fly concorde, but that the civil aviation world has completely neglected the opportunity to build on the fantastic technological advancements of Concorde - light years ahead of its time. If there'd been progress and lessons learned then perhaps oneday we could all have benefited from improved air travel. So much for progress. Where's everyone's ambition gone?

Unfortunately Kate, money is rarely sentimental. Concorde can (sorry, could) only carry 100 passengers. It actually needed 50 before it broke even on every flight. The trend is now for bulk carriers and not speed, hence the next generation super jumbos. The first class passangers even have a bed these days. One wonders, though, what would have happened if Boeing had managed supersonic passenger airflights first and not the Anglo-French?

Kate,
Ever hear of the Space Shuttle?

I always considered the Concorde a little gimicky. Sure, it's faster, but the pricing made it totally impractical and now it's out of business.

I have flown the Concorde 6 times round trip (I used to work for the fashion designer Todd Oldham) to both London and Paris. It really was no big deal, but because you boarded from the private Concorde lounge and there were only "A-level" people boarding with you (no business class, no coach), it did feel like being in the dining room at the Groucho Club or Costes. My current employer does not send me first class, only business, and sometimes coach, so I would love to try one of those sleeping pods on BA in first class.

In my opinion, the Concorde was great for business travellers who had to be in London in 3 hrs. It was not that luxurious, and the seats were small (it reminded me of sitting in a dental chair), but the Champagne did flow freely and it was funny to see a Vogue editor passed out in the WC.

Joan Collins and Christie Brinkley were among the invited guests.

Things which are worthwhile somehow seem to endure, and things that aren't don't.

Intrepid: are you talking about the Concorde, or Joan Collins and Christy Brinkley? :D

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and memories. Maybe it was a technological dead end - but it was a beautiful thing - and I suspect it was just too, too far ahead of its time. And something similar will emerge - 2010? 2015? Who knows? And to AR:
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One wonders, though, what would have happened if Boeing had managed supersonic passenger airflights first and not the Anglo-French?
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Precisely!

remember as well that the Vikings arrived in the UK AFTER the Romans!

I flew it twice, to Barbados; to leave London on a cold December morning and arrive in Barbados at exactly the same local time; just magic. You felt as though you were part of a really exclusive club. There where lots of families with children on those flights. Just read a letter from Richard Branson in the Economist; he says he made an offer of 5 million pounds for them, and would have flown the Concorde commercially to NY, Barbados and Dubai. He was planning to sell most tickets at high prices, but sell some seats on every flight for lower prices too so that more people could experience it. Pity they didn't give him a chance.

re Branson
what exactly was the reason for not selling to him? BA isn't exactly in the best state moneywise so I just don't get it.

Branson didn't get it either. I can only think that the long rivalry between the two companies has something to do with it.

Mary1:

As a simple rule of thumb about Branson: if he's behind something, it's an incompetently-managed stunt.

He's responsible for overwhelmingly the worst railway company in Europe: and by any standards, the service he provides on that railway is far, far worse than when those services were operated by bureaucrats.

He's the main protagonist in trying to squeeze RyanAir out of Charleroi (because when a real entrpreneur competes with him, the little mummy's boy can't take the pressure).

And Concorde was just another stunt. The Concordes couldn't be maintained because Airbus Inustrie simply refused to continue providing maintenance facilities. So Branson's plan was to run Concorde, for GBP1 below BA's first class fare, until the aircraft were within an ace of falling from the sky. Using the fact that - say - a year's rental of these planes for 5 million was pretty good value, if you stood a reasonable chance of recouping most of the investment as souvenirs at the end of the process.

This had nothing to do with sustaining technology. It was a way of continuing his fantasist pissing contest with BA (in which he's the only contestant), while acquiring the raw material for thousands of tacky souvenirs.

If he devoted one millionth of the time to running the monopoly railway he controls in much of England, he might stop being a national laughing stock.

And if you're not careful, I'll tell you what I really think.

I wrote already in the forum today that there are some strange things happening with the posts. Flanneruks reply to me first came with Tulips as the posters name. I was about to ask Tulips why he/she had such opposing posts when the name changed to flanneruks.
To flanneruks- he makes a good enough job with Virgin flights- I don't see why he couldn't be given a chance. Can't comment on his trains as I haven't tried them!

Agree about the rail, but I have to say, the first time I flew Concorde to Barbados (and business class BA back) Virgin had just started flying to that destination. Imagine my surprise to receive a letter saying that BA had reduced its fares to Barbados, and we had to pay less than what we originally booked for. That was a first for me (an airline reducing its fares AFTER I had booked), and it would not have happened if Virgin had not started flying there.