Ingo Bauernfeind - Concorde - Supersonic Icon - 50th Anniversary Edition-Bauernfeind Press (2018)

ConCorde 50th Anniversary Edition
Supersonic Icon
BAUERNFEIND
PRESS
Concorde_CC.indd 1 31.05.19 10:28

Front cover images images:
Spencer Wilmot (top)
Johnathan Safford (bottom)
Back cover images:

Adrian Meredith (top row; second row: right)
Air France (second row: left)
Bob Ware (second row: centre)
Vicentiu Ciorlaus (bottom)
All images except where noted: © Ingo Bauernfeind
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ISBN: 978 3 98159 84 1 4
1st Edition / Copyright © Bauernfeind Press 2018
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Contents
Forewords 4
A Celebration of Concorde 8
Acknowledgements 9
Building the Dream 10
The Design of a Marvel 54
The Age of Concorde 70
Concorde as an Icon 112
Memorable Moments and Anecdotes 144
Au Revoir and Farewell 152
Return to Flight? 170
A Supersonic Future? 186
Significance and Legacy of Concorde 202
Sources 208
[© Jean-Philippe Lemaire]

Foreword
by Captain John Hutchinson, British Airways (ret.)
If anyone had said to me in even more remarkable. The

[© Adrian Meredith]
1955 when I started my fly- flight test programme must

ing training in the Royal Air surely have been the most
Force that just twenty-two intensive of any civil air-
years later I would be flying liner and it is an eloquent
an airliner at supersonic testimony to the risks in-
speeds, I would have told volved that the prototype
them they were mad. Yet Concordes had escape
that is the reality of what hatches built into them for
happened to me when I the crew because there
was posted onto the British was great uncertainty as
Airways Concorde fleet in to what might happen if,
the early summer of 1977. say, an engine failed whilst
It illustrates perfectly the flying at Mach 2 at 60,000
remarkable developments feet.
in aviation that took place The British team, head-
in the twentieth century. ed by Sir George Edwards,
From the Wright brothers’ had some outstanding
first successful controlled people including, amongst
flight on 17 December many others, Sir Stanley
1903 to the maiden flight Hooker (father of the Olym-
of the Concorde prototype pus engine), Sir Archibald
on 2 March 1969 was a Russell and Ted Talbot. My
span of just over sixty-five admiration for this brilliant
years. It truly was an amaz- team of boffins knows no
ing century in which the bounds; compressibility of
human race seemed willing air at supersonic speeds
to rise to the challenges of presents profound chal-
new technologies in a way lenges which were over-
that we seem to have lost come by innovative and
today. And I haven’t even imaginative solutions. They
mentioned space explora- created an aeroplane that
tion or lunar landing pro- was as beautiful to fly as
grammes. she was to look at and
Concorde was the prod- which, in sustained su-
uct of a highly successful personic flight, performed
Anglo-French partnership quite effortlessly. So effort-
and in terms of her per- lessly in fact that a friend of
formance she achieved Sir George Edwards went
all that the manufacturers on a Concorde flight in
claimed. When one consid- the early days and on his
ers the materials and com- return home complained
puter technology that was bitterly to Sir George about
available to those aerody- how ordinary the flight had
namicists and engineers been. To which Sir George
this achievement becomes replied: “Ah yes; that was
4 Foreword

the hard part: to make it ing aeroplane to manage. cated group of people, do- to chat about her interest in
seem so ordinary.” I be- If you were not on top of ing a job that required real aviation. Eventually I asked
lieve it was the architect your game she could make engineering skills. I would when she had first seen an
Sir Hugh Casson who once a complete fool of you. like to record my thanks aeroplane. Oh, she said,
described Concorde as a If something went wrong and appreciation to the en- it was when one of the
piece of twentieth-century when flying at twice the tire Concorde team and to Wright brothers landed at
sculpture. That defines her speed of sound at 60,000 all those passengers who Savannah, Georgia in 1908.
perfectly: she was a fusion feet the problem had to be flew on her over the years Then, with some trepida-
of art and technology into a dealt with effectively and for enabling me to fly this tion, I asked her when she
sublime and iconic whole. decisively; it was essen- wondrous aircraft for fif- had first flown. Her reply: “I
I have often been asked tial that all members of the teen glorious years. first flew with Louis Blériot
what she was like to fly. I flight crew knew exactly I am delighted to have in 1911.” My jaw must have
would say that Concorde what their roles were and been asked to write the fallen to the floor; there is
was an immensely power- had to work flat out until foreword to this book be- no response to a comment
ful, finely tuned and very the problem was resolved. cause, above all else, it is like that. Here I was talking
responsive thoroughbred. The Concorde fleet was a celebration of Concorde to a woman who had gone
Trimmed up properly, she comprised of a close- and all that she meant in her lifetime from flying
could be flown with the knit team consisting of to those who knew her. with Blériot at 23 miles per
use of thumb and fore- flight-deck crew, cabin I would like to leave you hour to flying with me in a
finger alone. She was in- crew, ground engineers, with a final thought, the Concorde at 23 miles per
credibly easy to fly. In the refuellers, check-in staff, story of a flight I did to minute. It humbles me to
mid-1980s various forma- dispatchers, flight plan- Washington in 1978. I had think that I have spoken
tion flights were organized ners, load-sheet staff been contacted by British to and shaken hands with
– some with the Red Ar- and a whole host of other Airways a few days before someone who has spo-
rows and one famous one ground staff. Everyone in- the flight to tell me that an ken to and shaken hands
when four Concordes flew volved was captivated by elderly American woman with the Wright brothers
in formation with each oth- this beautiful aircraft and was going to be one of my and with Louis Blériot. It
er. There was some con- worked their socks off to passengers and that she says it all about aviation in
cern about how easy it was make the operation the was a passionate lover of the twentieth century. She
going to be to do this from great success that it be- aeroplanes. She had been stayed up on the flight deck
a handling aspect as well came in British Airways. It the first person to buy a for the landing into Wash-
as concern about the jet is always dangerous to cite ticket on United Airlines ington and announced as
wake and how that might any one group for special when they started up in the she got off that she was
affect other aircraft in the mention as the operation 1920s and had been their never going to fly again:
formation. These concerns was dependent on the pro- guest of honour at a 50th now that she had flown on
proved groundless and it fessionalism of everyone birthday celebration which Concorde, the supreme
led over the years to many involved but I feel I must had taken place a year or achievement of passenger
formations being flown single out the ground en- two before this Concorde flight, she had done it all.
with the ‘Reds’ whose own gineers. They were the un- flight. Would I please look People never spoke
tribute to the magnificent sung heroes of Concorde after her? On the flight to about the Concorde or a
Concorde was to create who were very much in Washington, after the meal Concorde: she was simply
their own ‘Concorde for- the background but with- service was over, I asked Concorde, the ultimate fly-
mation’. Having said all out whose expertise and the cabin crew to bring ing experience. I do hope
this, although she was skill the aeroplane could her up onto the flight deck. you enjoy this book as
very easy to fly, she was a not have flown. They were Having got her installed in much as I enjoyed flying
demanding and unforgiv- the most remarkably dedi- the jump seat, we started the beautiful white bird.

Foreword
by Captain Béatrice Vialle, Air France
Flying Concorde was a My Concorde experience

[Courtesy of Béatrice Vialle]
dream that every pilot was short but enormously

cherished, more or less se- intense. It all began in early
cretly. She was the aviation 2000 when I was a co-pilot
flagship in both design and on the Boeing 747. Having
technology. Unrivalled to had the good fortune of
this day for her technical having two children, born
performance and aesthet- in 1994 and 1997, after
ics, she will remain for eter- nine years as first officer
nity a pilot’s grail. on the B-727, A-320, and
Having started my flying B-747, I had made a de-
career, somewhat mod- cision in 1994 to remain a
estly, in 1984 at Air Littoral first officer on the B-747
on a small turboprop air- rather than taking up the
craft called the Bandeiran- position of captain
te, I had the opportunity We regularly make career
– during the Cannes Film choices and obviously our
Festival and the Monaco first choice at the time was
Grand Prix – to park my always Concorde. By 2000
plane next to the magnifi- I had therefore become a
cent bird in Nice. Obvious- veteran co-pilot on the se-
ly, my admiration for Con- niority list, which allowed
corde prompted me to ask me to be considered for
the pilots for permission to the position of co-pilot on
board, just to have a look. Concorde. To this day, I still
Although security rules remember the phone call
then were far less strict from Concorde’s chief pilot
than they are today, the asking me whether I was
crew declined. My disap- available to do a familiar-
pointment was boundless. ization flight on the aircraft.
I promised myself then, I always felt this dream was
that if one day given the unachievable but I realized
opportunity to fly the air- then that it might become
craft, I would offer such a a reality.
wonderful experience to all A year earlier, an urgent
my colleagues who wanted mission for Air France had
to see this legendary air- allowed me to fly to New
craft. I did this motived by York on board Concorde;
the same spirit with which I I was delighted that I’d
agreed to contribute to this be making such an unex-
book by writing a foreword pected flight, along with
– to share my passion for the ‘happy few’. What a
this aircraft with you. joy it was to have access
6 Foreword

to the aircraft, to discover stallation of Kevlar liners timing, permanent anticipa- lovers on board. Some
its narrow cabin and even in the fuel tanks. Thanks to tion, optimal concentration of them had saved a life-
– during the flight – to be this elaborate modification, and it took me all my time, time to make their dream
invited to the cockpit and Concorde regained her air- until the end of the flight, to – to fly twice the speed
finally admire all its very worthiness certificate and really appreciate that I had of sound, Mach 2 – come
specific controls. Despite therefore the chance of re- enjoyed my transatlantic true. For the last time in its
being just a spectator, I turning to the air. crossing in Concorde. Air France career, I landed
was happy already. Having maintained our During my Concorde the almost-mythical aircraft
My Concorde conversion skills with simulator train- years, with such access to at Roissy where a huge
course began in May. What ing throughout this period, the exceptional technologi- crowd was gathered. I feel
was totally new to me was we were eager to see her cal prowess of the aircraft, extremely privileged, hon-
to learn about flying faster take off so proudly again which made piloting such a oured and proud to have
than the speed of sound. and eventually be able wonderful experience, ev- been the only female Con-
It was absolutely fascinat- to fly her. However, on 11 ery flight was special. It says corde pilot at Air France.
ing to discover all the new September 2001, I was in everything that the entire After the end of Con-
phenomena encountered Châteauroux for my first Concorde team – the tech- corde in May 2003, anoth-
during supersonic flight and hour of offline flight train- nicians, ground crew, airline er challenge awaited me:
the complex challenges so ing (without passengers) to staff and air crew – was becoming captain on a
brilliantly mastered by Con- learn how to operate this always totally committed Boeing 747. Therefore, the
corde’s engineers. After very special aircraft, and to ensuring that each flight massive disappointment
acquiring this knowledge, how to take off and land. was as perfect as possible of Concorde’s retirement
the simulator phase and Obviously, my joy for hav- for the passenger. This syn- opened new doors: anoth-
training for the procedures ing completed this very ergistic search for perfec- er position with Air France,
of the three flight domains first flying hour at the con- tion was so enriching and and more responsibilities
– subsonic, transonic and trols of this beautiful ma- rewarding that it increased for the rest of my career.
supersonic –began, as well chine was totally shattered tenfold the pleasure of fly- First, I became a captain
as all the various abnormal by the tragic events in New ing such an aircraft. on the classic Boeing 747,
measures that might re- York which again led to the I was very happy to be then on the Boeing 747-400
quire implementation. question: Would Concorde able to offer my parents and now on the Boeing 777.
Unfortunately, just after ever resume her flights to a return flight from New Concorde was the result
the final simulator exam, New York? York, at my side, making of extraordinary coopera-
the Concorde accident oc- A month later Concorde this incredible and almost tion between France and
curred. We were all deep- was to overcome this ob- inaccessible experience of Great Britain. Today, Airbus
ly devastated, and our stacle. After my four hours supersonic flight a reality owes a great deal to this
course was interrupted of offline flight, I had the for them. This was the best project that was so futuris-
before we had a chance to opportunity to make my way for me to express my tic and daring for its time.
fly the aircraft. For a year, first Paris–New York cross- gratitude for their support Indeed, most of the tech-
we attentively followed ing in Concorde in early during my studies and to nological innovations de-
the progress of restoring October 2001. The flight re- share with them my pride. veloped for Concorde are
Concorde’s airworthiness mains forever etched in my My last flight was very now standard in modern
certificate, which included memory. The workload was moving. We were flying a aircraft.
the development of new enormously intense. The supersonic loop over the Concorde will forever re-
Michelin tyres and the in- aircraft required flawless Atlantic with Concorde main an aviation legend.

A Celebration of Concorde
For more than half a centu- embodiment of hope and virtually every obstacle. As get. With her top speed of
ry, Concorde has captured optimism in the second half a result, Concorde proved Mach 2 or twice the speed
the imagination of people of the changeful twentieth that two proud nations, of sound, Concorde was
from all over the world. To century. Concorde was France and Britain ‒ once faster than a rifle bullet,
this day, she is an extraor- one of the most ambitious centuries-long rivals ‒ thus traveling a mile every
dinary feat of engineering, technological endeavours could come together to rise 2½ seconds. While flying
as well as a unique blend of the 1960s, only second above technological, polit- at 60,000 feet, at the edge
of power, grace and beau- to the American and So- ical, cultural, financial and of space, you could see
ty. Just as the great ocean viet space programmes. language barriers to build the sky turn deep blue with
liners once ruled the waves Very much like the Apol- an extraordinary aircraft the view of the curvature of
as symbols of French and lo programme, Concorde that made a huge contri- the earth, and enjoy superb
British engineering excel- suffered worrying setbacks bution in paving the way service, champagne and a
lence, Concorde flew the during her development as for successful international cuisine rivalling the world’s
flag after first taking to the well as a tragic accident cooperation such as Airbus best restaurants. In her
skies in 1969 ‒ the same during her operational ca- and the European Space spectacular career, Con-
momentous year when Neil reer. Nevertheless, these Agency (ESA). Moreover, corde turned heads wher-
Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin sobering moments never Concorde was the first ever she appeared, admired
set their feet on the moon. derogated from the un- aircraft to be born in two by millions of enthusiasts
Concorde was not only a shakeable belief of Apollo’s countries. worldwide and serving as
technological triumph and and Concorde’s fathers in Flying with her was a thrill an inspiration for future
design icon, she was an their ability to overcome nobody would ever for- aeronautical engineers.
“She’s brought cities together, brought “Concorde will never really stop
people closer, and reminded us all that flying because she will live on
we can do extraordinary things.” in people’s imagination.”
British Airways Jean-Cyril Spinetta, former Air France chairman
8 A Celebration of Concorde

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Acknowledgements
Like the development and Willbold, Sylvain Ramadi-

manufacture of Concorde, er, Philippe Créach, Sarha
this book is the result of Foumba and Agnes Car-
international cooperation. mes; British Airways/Brit-
I am sincerely indebted to ish Airways Museum: Gay-
the dozens of Concorde na Fitzgerald, Barry Ballard
professionals and enthusi- and Howell Green; Rolls-
asts who consented to be Royce: Peter Collins.
interviewed and submitted Special thanks and grat-
their personal experiences, itude go to: Musée de l’air
recollections and personal et de l’espace, Le Bourget:
material. Catherine LeBerre, Chris-
Therefore, I would like tophe Goutard, Alex Jolivet
to express my special and Philippe Gebarowski;
gratitude to John Hutchin- Technik Museum Sinsheim:
son, Béatrice Vialle, Pierre Hermann Layher and Sim-
Grange (APCOS), Gérard one Lingner; Brooklands
Duval, Jim Davies (British Museum Trust Ltd: Allan
Airways Museum), Patrick Winn, Julian Temple and
Sevestre, Ian Kirby, Phil- Michelina Caliendo-Sear;
ip Cairns, Ricky Bastin, Air & Space Smithsonian
Adrian Meredith, Suzanne magazine: Linda Shiner;
O’Donoghue, Iona Fergu- Smithsonian Institution:
son, Annick and Claude Dr Robert van der Lin-
Moyal, Nicole Méneveux, den; Aerospace Bristol:
Alain Verschuere, Frank Zoe Watson; Museum of
Debouck, Jean-François Flight, Seattle: Ted Huetter;
Louis, Alain Rolland, Ka- Musée Delta, Paris: Alex-
Commemorating the fiftieth work can make a contribu- tie John and Nigel Ferris andre Pozder; Manches-
anniversary of her maiden tion to keep the Concorde (Mach 2 magazine), Ian ter Airport: Runway Visitor
flight, this volume is a cel- dream alive, I would be Dick, Richard Thomas, Park; Intrepid Sea, Air &
ebration of Concorde, her most grateful. To say it with Johnathan Safford, Ben Space Museum, New York;
charisma, her uniqueness, the words of Concorde Wang, Bernard Charles, Musée Aeroscopia, Tou-
and her legacy ‒ as told by passenger Ben Wang: “So Jean-Philippe Lemaire, louse; and British Ministry
those French and British fasten your seatbelt, sit Guy Cervelle, Michel Thori- of Defence.
professionals who skilfully back, relax and let’s shoot gny, Aris Pappas, Caroline Many thanks also to
flew her, served aboard her into the stratosphere!” Cadier, and many more. Marcus Linke for the cov-
and kept her flying. If this The following contrib- er design and the desktop
uted vital information: Air publishing, Matthias Nien-
France: Susanne Freitag/ haus for translation, Marc
f2 KREATION; Air France Feldermann for assistance,
Museum: Jean Signoret, Chris Cocks for editing,
Bernard Pourchet. Airbus: and all the photographers
Cassian Koshorst, Char- who have contributed to
Ingo Bauernfeind, lotte Dutilh, Hans-Ulrich this book.
Honolulu, Hawaii, 26 November 2018
(15 years to the day since Concorde made her very last flight)

BUILDING
THE DREAM
“Concorde was definitely well ahead of her time. Structurally

she was amazing – she was all machined out of solid metal.”
– Mark Claridge, former BA technician
10 Headline

KAPITEL-HD
11

Early Studies
The Anglo-French Con- the construction and use
corde was the culmina- of piston-powered fighters,
tion of decades of aircraft bombers and many other
design and research work aircraft types, British and
conducted under war and German engineers devel-
peacetime conditions, oped and tested various
leading to an aircraft that jet and rocket engines.
is still an inspiration to de- The world’s first flight of a
signers around the world. jet-powered aircraft took
The desire to fly as fast as place in August 1939, when
possible is as old as avia- the Heinkel 178, powered
tion itself. Since the ear- by Hans von Ohain’s HeS
ly days, when the Wright 3 turbojet engine, took
The German Heinkel 178 was the world’s first jet-powered Brothers and other pio- to the skies. The British
aircraft, taking to skies in August 1939. neers took to the skies, Gloster E.28/39 made her
[U.S. Air Force] speed has become one of maiden flight in May 1941,
the defining factors for air- powered by Frank Whit-
craft designers and pilots tle’s W.1, followed by the
– not only for prestige but American Bell XP-59 in
also for practical reasons: October 1942, built with
saving time when travelling two GE Type 1A turbojets.
from one place to another While propeller-driven air-
has always been a human craft designed prior to or
endeavour. during World War II could
The history of supersonic not reach speeds much
flight can be traced back to beyond 450 mph (725 kph),
World War II, at a time when the advent of jet and rocket
aviation technology was technology promised fly-
making rapid advances ing as fast as the speed of
due to the need to design sound ‒ also known as su-
more sophisticated aircraft personic speed.
Take-off of Britain’s first jet aircraft, the Gloster E.28/39 in than the enemy. Besides
May 1941.
[Royal Air Force, MOD, Crown Copyright]
The Speed of Sound

Watch Video: The speed of sound is the distance a sound wave prop-
Genesis agates through an elastic medium. At 20°C (68°F), the
of speed of sound is about 343 metres per second (1,235
Concorde kph, 767 mph), or a kilometre in 2.9 seconds, or a mile
in 4.7 seconds.
Please see instructions
on page 2.
12 Early Studies

BUILDING THE DREAM
Concorde’s British Ancestry

During the war, after the victorious Allied powers –
tide had turned against United States, Great Brit-
Germany, the Luftwaffe be- ain, and the Soviet Union –
came desperate to defend with most of them shipped
the homeland against the to America and Britain
armadas of Allied bomb- for further testing and as-
ers dominating the skies sessment. Moreover, nu-
over Europe. As a result, merous renowned German
advanced interceptors engineers and designers
such as the jet-powered continued their careers
Messerschmitt 262 or the working for U.S. and Brit-
rocket-propelled Mess- ish aircraft manufacturers,
erschmitt 163 were de- and in some cases in the
signed to counter the Allied USSR. Two of these were
bombing raids, the latter the aerodynamicists Diet-
even capable of a speed rich Küchemann and Jo-
After the war, British, American, and Soviet high-speed
of about 620 mph (1,000 hanna Weber who joined research institutions retested the Me 262 to gain experi-
kph). Built in small num- the aerodynamics depart- ence for their own supersonic aircraft designs. Some Me
bers and introduced late in ment at the British Royal 262 and Me 163 pilots claimed to have exceeded Mach 1
the war, these aircraft had Aircraft Establishment in in straight-down dives during the war.
[U.S. Air Force]
no impact on its outcome. Farnborough in 1946 and
At the same time, the Royal who were both later natu-
Air introduced its Gloster ralized as British citizens.
Meteor which was suc- During the war, howev-
cessfully used to intercept er, British engineers also
German V-1 flying bombs worked on a secret jet air-
and whose early post-war craft named Miles M.52
variants were capable of as a response to German
reaching speeds in excess developments. In order to
of 600 mph. Unlike Allied reach unheard-of speeds
aircraft builders, German of 1,000 mph (1,600 kph)
designers and engineers during level flight, it involved
using state-of-the-art wind a very high proportion of
tunnel technology for de- cutting-edge aerodynam-
termining the best aerody- ic research and innovative
namic shape, construct- design work. Before test- Prototype of the rocket-powered Me 163 designed to
ed various arrow-shaped flight stage, however, the intercept Allied bombers.
aircraft with delta wings M.52 was cancelled shortly [Bundesarchiv, Photo 146-1972-058-62 / CC-BY-SA 3.0]
(named after the trian- after the end of the war due
gle-shaped Greek letter to budget cuts on military
‘delta’) and experimented spending. It was, however, During the war, the de- rier with U.S. Air Force
with some even more rad- revived as a series of three sign and the research test pilot Chuck Yeager at
ical designs. After Germa- unmanned rocket-powered gained from the original the controls. It was drop-
ny’s surrender in May 1945, 30-percent scale mod- M.52 was shared with the launched from the bomb
various operational jet- and els of the original manned American company Bell bay of a B-29 bomber and
rocket-powered fighters, full-scale M.52. These un- Aircraft which built the reached Mach 1.06 (700
bombers, prototypes and manned scale models were rocket-powered Bell X-1. mph, 1,100 kph). A year lat-
tons of blueprints for un- air-launched from a modi- On 14 October 1947, it er, a radio-controlled M.52
finished aircraft designs fied de Havilland Mosquito became the first aircraft reached Mach 1.38 (1,060
became war prizes for the mother ship. to break the sound bar- mph, 1,700 kph) after
13

an earlier attempt prior to approaches and exceeds
Chuck Yeager’s historic the sound barrier, thus be-
flight had failed. However, coming supersonic. The
the first supersonic flight by wing’s rearward sweep en-
a jet-powered aircraft that ables the aircraft to fly at
took off under its own pow- (high) subsonic, transonic
er and landed safely after- (close to the sound barri-
wards was undertaken by er) or supersonic speeds.
British pilot John Derry in a Moreover, the delta-wing
The unmanned Miles M.52 could reach Mach 1.38 but had de Havilland DH 108 ‘Swal- shape provides the larg-
to be air-launched from a mother ship. low’ on 9 September 1948. est total wing area in order
[Royal Aircraft Establishment / Crown Copyright]
Three of these aircraft were to create lift for the entire
built and all crashed one af- wing, thus giving the air-
ter another, killing their pi- craft a very high overall
lots, among them Geoffrey manoeuvrability. Despite
de Havilland Jr in 1946, the its advantages at high
son of the company found- and supersonic speeds,
er. Next came a succession the delta wing has a high
of various research aircraft drag due to its low-aspect
designed to investigate the ratio causing a significant
challenges of supersonic reduction in lift at slower
flight. speeds, in particular during
Compared to subsonic take-off and landing. In or-
A de Havilland Mosquito on the ground with a Miles M.52
model in place below the fuselage. aircraft, lift is created by dif- der to generate enough lift
[Royal Aircraft Establishment / Crown Copyright] ferent means in aircraft fly- during these critical stages
ing supersonically. In order of a flight and not to crash
to attain the appropriate to ground, the pilots of ear-
amount of lift without un- ly delta wing aircraft were
acceptable drag, the wings forced to take off and land
have to be very short, fairly at high speeds compared
stubby, and not too long to conventional swept-
and thin. Although such wing aircraft. Designers
a short wingspan works and engineers at the Roy-
fine at supersonic speeds al Aircraft Establishment in
(1,350 mph and more), the Farnborough tried to find a
trade-off is usually a lack of solution for this problem.
In 1947 the American pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound lift at low speed occurring Dietrich Küchemann and
barrier in his drop-launched rocket-powered Bell X-1 aircraft. during take-off and also Johanna Weber who had
[U.S. Air Force]
landing. been members of the team
Intense research and responsible for the high-
flight testing led to the con- speed-wing concept were
clusion that one of the best concerned about the wing’s
aerodynamic shapes for drawback at low speeds.
high-speed flying incorpo- Therefore, a number of test
rates a delta-wing shape. aircraft were construct-
Given a sufficiently large ed to fully investigate this
angle of rearward sweep, problem and modify the
the delta wing’s main ad- existing delta-wing design,
vantage is that its front is the most notable of them
not affected by the shock the Handley Page 115.
In 1948 British pilot John Derry made the first supersonic
flight in the jet-powered de Havilland DH 108 ‘Swallow’ wave formed at the air- Further research and
after taking off under its own power. craft’s nose as the aircraft wind-tunnel testing showed
[U.S. Navy]
14 Early Studies

BUILDING THE DREAM
The Handley Page 115 served as a testbed for low-speed The HP 115 was able to demonstrate rapid changes of
research in support of the Concorde development pro- bank, while still safely retaining control at speeds as low
gramme. as 69 mph (111 kph).
[© Airbus] [© Airbus]
The RAF Avro Vulcan

bomber designed in the
1950s was a successful
delta-wing design that even
served as a flying testbed
for Concorde’s Olympus
engines. An aircraft de-
signed with a delta wing is
more robust than an aircraft
of similar size with swept
wings, as well as having
more internal space for fuel
tanks in the wings.
[RAF/MOD 45133331]
15

A Concorde model in a wind tunnel seen from the rear. The two masses of rotating air above the wings are called ‘wing
vortices’. The Office National d’Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales (ONERA), France’s national aerospace research
centre, discovered the increase of lift due to vortex at low speed and high angle of attack on the delta wing in 1951.
[© Airbus]
An aircraft with a delta wing running for most of the fuse- Wind tunnel testing has been indispensable for aircraft
lage’s length at a high angle of sweep is capable of a development since the early days of aviation.
good aerodynamic performance at low speeds as well as [© Airbus]
sustaining a low drag in supersonic flight due to its rela-
tively shorter wings which are swept back at a high angle.
[© Airbus]
that a delta wing generates surface, thus significant- er distance, thus creating Küchemann’s team, it
large vortices over the wing ly increasing the lift at low more lift. demonstrated that a highly
at low speeds and high speeds. Küchemann and In 1954, the Fairey Delta swept delta wing indeed
nose-up angles. A vortex on his team came to the con- 2 became the first British allowed take-offs and
a wing can be described as clusion that a larger sweep purpose-built supersonic landings at relatively low
a cone of swirling air which angle would result in a research aircraft and the speeds by generating suffi-
stretches from the wing’s more robust vortex above world’s first capable of cient lift. However, in order
front to its rear. These vor- the wing, and that a longer reaching Mach 1.5 (1,000 to generate that vortex lift
tices increase the speed wing would enable the vor- mph). Incorporating some for safe flight operations at
of the air on the wing’s top tex to operate over a great- of the research work of low speeds, the pilot had
16 Early Studies

BUILDING THE DREAM
The Fairey Delta 2 was the first aircraft fitted with a droop With a top speed of Mach 2, the English Electric Lightning
nose. Both prototypes are preserved in museums. provided valuable practical experience for the develop-
[Crown Copyright] ment of a Mach 2 airliner.
[© Airbus]
Seven Lightnings in formation flight. A Lightning’s Mach meter approaches the top speed of
[© Airbus] Mach 2.
[© Airbus]
to point the aircraft’s nose see forward and down. 2 prototypes was modified basis for Concorde. After
significantly skyward, and The concept of a ‘droop to serve as a testbed for the the rebuilt Fairey Delta 2
was thus unable to see the nose’ would become one development of the ‘ogee had been renamed BAC/
runway in front of him. This of Concorde’s significant delta’ (S-curved) wing de- Fairey Type 221, the suc-
posed a particular problem features contributing to her sign. This wing was the cessful flight testing with
during landing which was characteristic appearance. next developmental stage the ogee delta wing led
solved by fitting the Fairey In 1964, two years after for the proposed BAC Type subsequently to the de-
Delta 2 with a ‘droop nose’. signing the Anglo-French 223, a concept for a British cision to adopt it for Con-
It could be moved down, contract to build Concorde, commercial supersonic air- corde.
thus enabling the pilot to one of the two Fairey Delta liner that partly formed the
17

Concorde’s French Ancestry
While Britain was able to ers, engineers, and pilots war. A ramjet is a variant take-off like a rocket-as-
gain technical expertise had to wait until national of an air-breathing jet en- sist to accelerate it to a
and operational experi- liberation following D-Day gine that uses the engine’s speed where it can begin
ence for the development in 1944 before they could forward motion to com- producing thrust. Ramjets
of future military and ci- rebuild their once-proud press incoming air without work most efficiently at
vilian jet-powered aircraft aviation industry. an axial compressor or a supersonic speeds around
as early as during the war, One such engineer was centrifugal compressor. Mach 3 (2,300 mph, 3,700
France, which would even- René Leduc who already Unable to produce thrust kph) but can operate up to
tually become Britain’s had been experiment- at zero airspeed, ramjets speeds of Mach 6. In April
partner in designing and ing with ramjet technolo- cannot move an aircraft 1949, the Leduc 0.10 was
building Concorde, was gy as early as the 1930s from a standstill. There- air-launched from an AAS
not. Occupied by Germany but whose work had also fore, a ramjet-powered air- 01 aircraft (a former Heinkel
since 1940, French design- been interrupted by the craft requires an assisted He 274 bomber) and be-
The Leduc 0.21 was not capable of take-off under its own power, and had to be carried aloft and released. It could
reach a top speed of Mach 0.95 (723 mph, 1,173 kph).
[© Henri Beaubois / Coll. musée de l’Air et de l’Espace - Le Bourget B 3161]
18 Early Studies

BUILDING THE DREAM
came the first aircraft to fly selage shape at near-sonic

under ramjet power, reach- speeds. The project was
ing around 420 mph (680 cancelled in favour of the
kph) at half power. During more conventional Das-
subsequent test flights, the sault Mirage III and marked
Leduc 0.10 reached a top the end of René Leduc’s
speed of Mach 0.85 and aircraft development activ-
a rate of climb of 7,900 ities.
feet per minute (40 m/s) Meanwhile, other French
to 36,000 feet (11,000 me- aircraft manufacturers also
tres), thus demonstrating began developing high- Nord Aviation built three versions of the Nord 1402A, all
the potential of the ramjet speed aircraft, most nota- with different wing and engine variants.
as an aviation power plant. bly Dassault Aviation near [© Airbus]
Based on his experience Paris, Sud-Ouest Aviation
with the 0.10, René Leduc and Sud-Est-Aviation, both
built two examples of the based in Toulouse, and
larger Leduc 0.21 which Nord Aviation in Bourges.
was basically one cylinder In 1950, the Nord Aviation’s
placed into a larger one. swept-winged Nord 1601,
The space between the powered by two Rolls-
two cylinders was the ram- Royce Derwent 5 turbojets,
jet’s position. Like its pre- took to the skies to examine
decessor, the Leduc 0.21 the aerodynamic capabili- The Dassault prototype MD.550 Mystère-Delta, predeces-
was not capable of take-off ties of its prototype swept- sor to the highly successful Mirage III.
under its own power and wing design. Capable of [© U.S. Navy]
had to be carried aloft and a top speed of Mach 0.87
released. Designed for sub- (621 mph, 1,080 kph), the
sonic speeds only, the 0.21 Nord 1601 provided valu-
reached a top speed of able information for subse- tion for a supersonic fight- speed of Mach 1.63 (1,250
Mach 0.95 (723 mph, 1,173 quent high-speed designs. er, with Sud-Ouest, Sud- mph, 2,012 kph). Sud-Est’s
kph). In 1956, incorporat- These included the Nord Est, Dassault, and Nord design, the SE 212 Duran-
ing the experience gained 1402 A Gerfaut which was responding. The following dal, also featured a ‘hybrid’
from the 0.10 and 0.21 built to intensify the studies year, Sud-Ouest’s SO 9000 power plant consisting of a
designs, the Leduc 0.22 of delta- and swept-wing Trident took to the skies as SNECMA Atar 101F turbo-
was built as the prototype designs for high-speed air- a testbed to investigate the jet and an SEPR 75 rocket
of a future Mach 2 fight- craft. The three prototypes use of two different power engine. In December 1956,
er aircraft. Unlike its two each had slightly different plants in one aircraft rather the delta-winged aircraft
predecessors, it featured wing structures and differ- than aiming for the highest reached Mach 1.57 (1,200
swept wings and a coaxial ent versions of the same possible speed. Original- mph, 1,940 kph). Two years
turbojet-ramjet power plant ATAR 101 turbojet engine. ly built with two Turbom- later, the SE 212 Durandal’s
to enable unassisted oper- In August 1954, one Nord eca Marbore II turbojets, test programme was can-
ation. While the SNECMA 1402 A Gerfaut took to the one on each wingtip, and celled.
Atar turbojet was used for skies and broke through a SEPR 481 liquid rock- Dassault’s design, initial-
take-off, the ramjet was the sound barrier, reaching et engine fitted in the tail, ly known as the MD.550
started during flight in or- a top speed of Mach 1.28 the turbojets were later re- Mystère-Delta and later
der to reach high speeds. (989 mph, 1,586 kph), thus placed with two Dassault renamed as the Mirage I,
With top speed of Mach providing more valuable MD30 engines, a derivate was principally powered
0.97 (750 mph, 1,200 kph), information about flying at of the Rolls-Royce Viper by two Armstrong Sidde-
the Leduc 0.22 proved un- transonic and supersonic 5. With both the turbojets ley MD30R Viper turbojets
able to exceed the speed speeds. and the rocket engine acti- built under licence by Das-
of sound due to the prohib- In 1952, the French Air vated, the SO 9000 Trident sault. After reaching Mach
itive drag induced by its fu- Force issued a specifica- reached an impressive top 1.6 (1,230 mph, 1,975 kph)
19

The Sud-Ouest SO 9000 Trident could reach a top speed of Mach 1.63 (1,250 mph) and an altitude of 49,000 feet.
[© SNCASO / Coll. musée de l’Air et de l’Espace - Le Bourget MA 17088]
The Sud-Est SE 212 Durandal was powered by a jet engine and a rocket motor. Its top speed was Mach 1.57 (1,200 mph).
[© D.R. / Coll. musée de l’Air et de l’Espace - Le Bourget CY 8387]
in 1955, the delta-winged Griffon II, powered by an With regards to the ex- with all the British research
design evolved into the Atar 101E-3 turbojet and a tensive research conduct- under its belt, was the main
very successful Mirage III Nord Stato-Réacteur ram- ed by numerous aviation player on Britain’s side of
which saw service in the jet, reached an impressive manufacturers over the the project.
French Air Force as well as top speed of Mach 2.19 years in both Britain and In France, the research
in numerous other coun- (1,680 mph, 2,700 kph). At France, the question aris- and testing conducted by
tries. the controls was test pilot es as to how all this valu- various aviation compa-
In 1957, the Nord 1500 André Turcat who would able data efficiently came nies, also furthered the
Griffon I took to the skies. become the man to take together to eventually de- French experience in the
The delta-winged design Concorde to the skies on sign, build, and test Con- design of supersonic tech-
benefited from the experi- her maiden flight eleven corde. In Britain – after a nology. In 1957, the two
ence gained from the Nord years later. Although tech- series of company take- state-owned aviation man-
1402 A Gerfaut and fea- nical problems with the overs and liquidations – by ufacturers Sud-Ouest and
tured a dual turbo-ramjet, ramjet concept eventually the late 1960s aviation was Sud-Est, belonging to the
with the turbojet used for led to the cancellation of dominated by the British various companies which
taking off and the ramjet the Griffon’s flight tests, Aircraft Corporation (BAC) had made significant con-
producing additional thrust some of the data gained and Hawker Siddeley. tributions to the French
at speeds in excess of 600 from these flights were lat- When the Anglo-French knowledge of supersonic
mph (960 kph). The follow- er used in Concorde’s de- treaty to build Concorde technology, came togeth-
ing year, a modified variant, velopment. was signed in 1962, BAC, er to form Sud Aviation,
20 Early Studies

BUILDING THE DREAM
Test pilot André Turcat (fifth from right with sunglasses) and his team posing in front of the Nord 1500 Griffon II in 1957.
[© Vazken / CC BY-SA 4.0]
BAC’s future Concorde

partner. It might be sur-
prising that Dassault Avia-
tion, a leader in supersonic
technology and the manu-
facturer of the Mirage III ‒
Western Europe’s first mil-
itary jet to exceed Mach 2
in horizontal flight ‒ did not
participate in the develop-
ment of Concorde. During
negotiations as to who was
going to get what share in
the Concorde programme,
it can be speculated that
Dassault was more inter-
ested in leading the project
than being a contributor.
With this being impossible,
The design of the deltawinged Dassault Mirage III was influenced in part by the British
Dassault decided not to Fairey Delta 2. The successful Mirage was sold to numerous other countries, including
participate. Australia, as seen in this photo taken in 1980.
[© U.S. Air Force]
21

The Anglo-French Partnership
With Europe slowly recov- Comet were about twice as designers decided to build went even further by de-
ering from the horrors of fast as on advanced pis- her with swept wings and a scribing the Comet as an
World War II and Britain’s ton-engined aircraft of the conventional tail. integral part of the nation’s
pilots making the first su- day such as the Douglas After her maiden flight on economic future: “During
personic test flights in DC-6. Her four Halford H.2 27 July 1949 as the world’s the next few years, the UK
1948, the British de Havil- Ghost (later replaced with first jet airliner, planned has an opportunity, which
land company was not four Rolls-Royce Avon) for production, flight test may not recur, of develop-
only working on military turbojets ran smoothly and observer Tony Fairbrother ing aircraft manufacture
jet designs, but also on a were less noisy than pis- commented: “The Comet as one of our main export
civilian jet-powered air- ton engines and had low must have been one of the industries. On whether we
craft. Named the DH. 106 maintenance costs. More- all-time technical achieve- grasp this opportunity and
Comet, it was designed over, they enabled the air- ments. I don’t think it is too so establish firmly an indus-
as a pressurized passen- liner to fly above weather much to say that the world try of the utmost strategic
ger aircraft, with thirty-six which other aircraft had to changed from the moment and economic importance,
seats, capable of flying fly through. Despite the ad- its wheels left the ground.” our future as a great nation
across the Atlantic. With a vances with delta-wing de- (Aeroplane Monthly, August may depend.” (H. Trischler
cruising speed of 450 mph signs gained from military 1989). The British minister & S. Zeilinger, Tackling
(725 kph), flights on the test aircraft, the Comet’s of supply, Duncan Sandys, Transport, Vol. 3, 2003).
The de Havilland DH. 106 Comet was the world’s jet-powered commercial airliner.
[© British Airways]
22 The Anglo-French Partnership

BUILDING THE DREAM
The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle, powered by two Rolls-Royce Avon turbojets, was a very successful European
first-generation jetliner.
[© Air France Museum]
The first airline to order improper riveting and dan- Comet and implemented The late 1950s and early
this innovative aircraft was gerous concentrations of them in their own designs, 1960s saw the spectacular
the British Overseas Air- stress around the rectan- the Boeing 707, Douglas beginnings of the Ameri-
ways Corporation (BOAC), gular-shaped windows and DC-8, Convair 880, and can-Soviet space race –
the forerunner to British openings in the fuselage. the French Sud Aviation SE the ultimate technological
Airways. After her intro- As a result, the Comet was 210 Caravelle. The latter, challenge for designers,
duction to commercial extensively redesigned, which began its success- engineers, and pilots (new-
service in 1952, numerous with various structural re- ful commercial service in ly known as astronauts or
international airlines, in- inforcements and oval 1959, was the world’s first cosmonauts) alike. Inspired
cluding Air France, ordered windows – the latter be- jet-powered airliner devel- by the early achievements
and operated the Comet. coming standard in aircraft oped for the short/medi- in space exploration and
However, within a year of to this day. Although sales um-range market. with military jet fighters and
entering service, problems never fully recovered, sub- Based on the design bombers capable of flying
began to emerge, with sequent further develop- work and operational ex- at supersonic speeds, it
three aircraft lost after suf- ments of the Comet even- perience gained from the seemed natural that even
fering catastrophic in-flight tually culminated in the Comet and the Caravelle, fare-paying civilian travel-
break-ups. The Comet was Comet 4 in 1958 which had aircraft designers and en- lers would soon fly to inter-
withdrawn from service a productive career of more gineers on both sides of national destinations faster
and extensively tested. than thirty years. the English Channel be- than the speed of sound.
The investigation identified Competing aircraft man- gan making plans for the
various design and con- ufacturers heeded the next generation of jet-pow-
struction flaws, including lessons learned from the ered commercial airliners.
23

Concorde
Super
Caravelle Bristol 223
Model of the projected Super Caravelle. She and the Brit-

ish Bristol 223 formed the basis for Concorde.
‘Entente Concordiale’
In Britain, under the leader- and to destinations in Africa
ship of Sir Morien Morgan, across the Mediterranean.
the Supersonic Transport With the British and the
Aircraft Committee (STAC) French concepts on the
based in Farnborough drawing boards, the gov-
began to investigate the ernments of both nations
creation of a civilian su- became aware that the de- Concorde’s family tree. Derived from early military aircraft,
personic airliner in 1956. sign and manufacture of a the Bristol 223 and Super Caravelle were the analogous,
As a result, funded by the supersonic airliner would direct antecedents of Concorde.
STAC, various British avia- require an overseas part-
tion firms developed differ- ner to share the enormous
ent designs. By 1960, after costs. At the same time the ment and production costs range aircraft based on
the forced merger of most Americans were beginning for a supersonic airliner on the Type 223 and a medi-
of these firms, the Bristol to work on their own su- a 50/50 split based on the um-range version similar to
223 design was selected personic airliner called SST Bristol 223 and the Super their Super Caravelle. After
as the basis for a British (Supersonic Transport). Al- Caravelle. On 29 Novem- receiving feedback from
supersonic airliner capable though the British initially ber 1962, the agreement potential buyers it became
of carrying about a hundred intended to establish a co- was jointly signed by the clear that there was only
passengers across the At- operation agreement with British minister for avia- interest in a long-range
lantic at a speed around the United States, this did tion, Julian Amery, and supersonic airliner, leading
Mach 2. At the same time, not happen as American the French ambassador, to the cancellation of the
the French state-owned aviation firms were focus- Geoffrey de Courcel, thus smaller variant in order to
aviation firm Sud Aviation ing on designs capable of giving birth to the An- concentrate all available
was developing the design speeds up to Mach 3 while glo-French Concorde proj- resources on a transatlan-
of the smaller but simi- the British were concen- ect. Although the French, tic aircraft. Both partners
lar-shaped Super Caravelle trating on Mach 2. under the leadership of agreed to build two proto-
as a supersonic successor Finally, the governments Robert Vergnaud, the di- types – one named ‘001’ to
to the Caravelle, capable of of Britain and France came rector of civil air transport, be constructed in Toulouse
up to Mach 2 and able to together and negotiated had wanted two airliners to in France, and ‘002’ to be
carry seventy passengers the formation of a consor- be built as a result of the built simultaneously in Fil-
on routes within Europe tium to share the develop- cooperation: a larger, long- ton in Britain.

BUILDING THE DREAM
Based on the experience Force’s Avro Vulcan bomb- nies, whose work had to treaty signed in 1962, bu-
with the powerful and prov- er for several years, it was be coordinated in order reaucrats in both nations
en Bristol Olympus turbojet decided to further develop to deliver their completed often chose the subcon-
which had been the pow- this engine to power Con- parts to the main manu- tractors on political rather
er plant for the Royal Air corde. facturers in Toulouse and than practical (or time- and
Filton, resulted in a com- cost-efficient) grounds. As
Development and Construction plexity never before seen a result, there were numer-
in civil aviation history, thus ous examples in which a
When the treaty to build to achieve this Herculean requiring close cooperation company in either Britain
Concorde was signed, su- task, the British Aircraft between the French and or France received a con-
personic flight was already Corporation (BAC) and Sud British teams working as tract to design or construct
a reality – at least for a few Aviation (Aérospatiale as of they were in two different a particular device for Con-
elite pilots in a handful of 1970), the two firms driving countries. Therefore, many corde although a compa-
air forces around the world. the project, worked closely members of the Concorde ny in the respective other
What was new was the idea with more than 800 differ- project had to overcome country might be better
to fly one hundred fare-pay- ent British and French sub- the language barrier and suited for the task. These
ing passengers from Lon- contractors employing the learn either French or En- impractical decisions, in
don and Paris across the brightest designers, english to establish a solid combination with the im-
Atlantic and to other over- gineers, aerodynamicists, means of communication mense complexity of the
seas destinations in com- scientists, technicians and and information exchange. programme, caused vari-
fort and without flight suits factory workers. This enor- In order to honour the ous delays in the comple-
or oxygen masks. In order mous number of compa- 50/50 split defined by the tion of the two prototypes.
Sections of Concorde’s structure were ‘sculpted’ out of big pieces of solid aluminium (AU2GN), making them very strong.
[© BAE Systems]
25

The building process for resulted in some design were the nose and visor, tured nose and tail sections
the total number of twenty modifications requiring dif- the wings and the rear sec- were added, followed by
Concordes basically fol- ferent manufacturing tech- tion of the fuselage. the completion of the wings,
lowed the same pattern but niques. These alterations First the central fuselage the addition of further exter-
evolved between the first ranged from minor changes was assembled, with the nal parts such as the rudder,
two prototypes, the two to elaborate revisions. The wings pre-attached, from and the fitting of the landing
pre-production aircraft and most significant difference the six sections built in var- gear. Next came the fitting
the sixteen later production between the two proto- ious locations in France. of the four Olympus 593 en-
ones as prototype testing types and the later variants Then the British-manufac- gines. After the installation

BUILDING THE DREAM
As determined in the 1962 treaty, the work to design and

build Concorde was shared on an equal basis between
France and Britain as shown in this illustration. All the
French and British components were assembled at two lo-
cations: Toulouse where the French Concordes were built,
and Filton where the British sisters were produced.
[© BAE Systems]
of miles of wiring through- Philip Cairns who later progressed. This gave the ability. It was a privilege to
out Concorde’s interior, the would become a licensed whole Concorde project a be on the Concorde fleet to
airframe finally received its ground engineer for Con- certain integrity and with the very end. My philosophy
numerous instruments and corde helped build the Brit- this as a background I was was if I look after Concorde
technical equipment on the ish prototype 002 (G-SST): always aware that Con- well, she would look after
flight deck (cockpit), and “I was always impressed corde was truly a quality air- me. I loved my job and look-
the cabin fixtures such as by the amount of care and craft. This helped me to be ing back now I would do it
panelling, seats, carpets, inspections that were car- focused on maintaining this all again, I had a most sat-
toilets and galleys. ried out as the construction aircraft to the best of my isfying and fulfilling career.”
27

Air hostesses under the wooden mock-up. Concorde’s potential customers – the world’s leading airlines – are repre-
sented among the hostesses’ uniforms: TWA, Air France, BOAC, Lufthansa, Japan Air Lines, Air India, Braniff.
[© BAE Systems]
A model of Concorde during the extensive wind tunnel tests.

[© BAE Systems]

BUILDING THE DREAM
Mock-up of Concorde’s flight deck. The layout of the pilots’ instruments was (and still is) critical to flight safety.
HRH Prince Philip

visits the mock-
up of Concorde’s
flight deck in
Toulouse, 1965.
During one of the
first flights of the
British prototype
002, he would
take the controls.
Philip later became
a friend of Brian
Trubshaw, Britain’s
chief Concorde
test pilot.
[© Toulouse City
Archives, André Cros
Coll.,CC BY-SA 4.0]
29

Prototype 001 during construction in Toulouse. The fuselage and the wings have not been painted yet.
[© Rolls-Royce]
Prototype 001 nearing completion, 1967. Visitors were allowed to have a look at the aircraft.
[All images except where noted: © Toulouse City Archives, André Cros Coll., CC BY-SA 4.0]

BUILDING THE DREAM
Transport of a completed fuselage section for final assem-

bly in Toulouse.
The transportation of the various sections of Concorde to Prototype 001 during an ‘open door’ event for the general
their final assembly sites in Toulouse or Filton took place public in Toulouse, 1968.
by rail, lorry or aircraft.
31


BUILDING THE DREAM
Testing Concorde’s fuselage pressure in the water tank, probably at Filton.

[© BAE Systems]
Opposite: Pre-production Concorde 102’s droop nose and

visor (made in Filton) being checked in Toulouse. During
construction of the prototpyes (001 and 002), the glass Watch Video:
required for the fully glazed visor capable of supersonic
Develop-
flight was still under development. Therefore, the proto- ment &
types had to be fitted with small cut-out sections allowing Cons-
the pilots a limited forward visibility. The two pre-produc- truction
tion aircraft 101 and 102 were the first to be built with fully
glazed visors, thus giving the pilots a much better forward
visibility.
on page 2.
[© BAE Systems]
33

An Avro Vulcan as a flying testbed for the Olympus 593 engine (centre) which is shown here during ice trials. These tests
showed how far the build-up of ice within the intake and the first compression stages could affect the engine’s perfor-
mance. This image shows how much bigger Concorde’s Olympus engines were compared to the ones used for the Vulcan.
[© Rolls-Royce]
Assembling a pair of the Rolls-Royce/SNECMA Olympus turbojets. During Concorde’s development the Olympus en-
gine evolved from the original 593 model to the 593-610-14-28, the final version fitted to the production aircraft.
[© Rolls-Royce]

BUILDING THE DREAM
Completion of a fuselage section. Its maximum external width is 9 feet 5 inches (2.87m), the maximum height 10 feet
10 inches (3.3m).
35

Artistic depiction for Concorde’s lavatory by
Charles Butler and Associates.
Concept for a first-class cabin layout which was never

used: Concorde only had one class.
Pre-production Concorde 101 under assembly, 1969. The

French-made wings were shipped to Filton in Britain.
[© BAE Systems]

BUILDING THE DREAM
37

Concorde’s Roll-Out
Five years after the signing and magazines – to give totype 001 (‘Zero-zero-un’) posed for photographs in
of the Anglo-French trea- the world, and in partic- which had been assembled front of the aircraft. Flight
ty to build the world’s first ular the French and Brit- in Toulouse. attendant Marne Davis
commercial supersonic ish taxpayers, a chance Then the British Minister wore a futuristic-look-
airliner, the day had finally to see ‘their’ Concorde ‘in of Technology, Tony Benn, ing astronaut’s helmet to
come to officially present the flesh’. It was a very and the French Minister of match the aircraft that had
Concorde to the public. cold and clear winter day. Transportation, Jean Cha- just been unveiled. Then
The officially ceremony A French military band mant, entered the hangar the taxi-tug driver came out
took place in Toulouse on played before the official and cut the tapes across the and pulled on a special pair
11 December 1967, with ceremony began. Then the hangar doors. Representa- of white gloves, climbed up
more than 1,100 guests hangar doors started to tives from the option-hold- into his vehicle and slow-
present. This first public open to reveal the abso- ing airlines were present ly moved Concorde out of
appearance was intended lutely unbelievably beauti- along with their respective the hangar with the nose
– through TV, newspapers ful shape of Concorde pro- cabin crew members who right over the heads of the
Roll-out ceremony of prototype 001 at Toulouse on 11 December 1967. The British Minister of Technology, Tony Benn, is
at right.
[All images except where noted: © Toulouse City Archives, André Cros Coll., CC BY-SA 4.0]
38 Concorde’s Roll-Out

BUILDING THE DREAM
Concorde 001 inside her hangar before being revealed to the public. Note the logos of the airliners which had placed
their orders for Concorde.
A flight attendant poses in a flight suit-like uniform to demonstrate Concorde’s futuristic design.
39

Tony Benn (centre) and Jean Chamant (right) are ready to cut the tape, thus ‘allowing’ Concorde to be rolled out.
[All images: © Toulouse City Archives, André Cros Coll., CC BY-SA 4.0]
Tony Benn greets airline

pilots and flight attendants
posing in front of
Concorde.
40 Concorde’s Roll-Out

BUILDING THE DREAM
A French military band providing the musical accompaniment during the roll-out ceremony.
heads. The French test pi- To build these two first

lot, André Turcat, and Brian Concordes was a great
Trubshaw, his British coun- achievement and the work
terpart, attended the cer- of tens of thousands of
emony. At that point there dedicated scientists, engi-
was no doubt that any pi- neers, designers, and fac-
lot would want to fly Con- tory workers. But there was
corde. Nearly a year later, still much work to be done
on 19 September 1968, and months of painstaking
the British prototype, Con- checks and ground testing
corde 002, was unveiled lay ahead before both air-
to the public at the British craft were ready to make
Aircraft Corporation’s man- their maiden flights.
ufacturing plant at Filton in
Bristol.
Watch Video:
Concorde
Roll-Out
The French Concorde chief test pilot, André Turcat

Please see instructions (centre), and his British counterpart, Brian Trubshaw (left)
on page 2. witness Concorde’s roll-out.
41

The Maiden Flights
“As you can see, she flies and,
in addition, I can say she flies well.”
– André Turcat, pilot of Concorde prototype 001
Concorde Prototype 001

On 2 March 1969, a clear began to move down the the first steps on the moon ing with enthusiasm. As
and crisp spring day, Con- runway carrying the hopes were taken. What struck for 002, we weren’t too in-
corde prototype 001 (reg- and dreams of thousands me most was André Tur- terested. All the significant
istration F-WTSS) made of people who had contrib- cat’s comment after the first flights – maiden flight,
her maiden flight. With the uted to the most ambitious aircraft had landed: ‘As Mach 1 and Mach 2 flights
project going back to 1962, technological project in Eu- you can see, she flies and, – were flown with 001, and
for everyone involved this ropean history. After gath- in addition, I can say she we had the impression that
was an emotional day. Nu- ering speed, she lifted her flies well.’ It was definitely everything was happening
merous guests from the nose and climbed into the great events like this that at home.”
aviation business and hun- sky. This moment marked motivated me to consider a Across the English Chan-
dreds of journalists from the beginning of a love af- career as an engineer. But nel, John Hutchinson, a pi-
all over the world had ar- fair that would last for near- at that time, I did not imag- lot in the Royal Air Force
rived to witness the flight; ly three decades. Everyone ine that I one day would be who would become a Brit-
TV crews were ready to who witnessed the flight commercially responsible ish Concorde captain in the
broadcast the flight to ev- was deeply touched. After for supersonic flight.” 1970s, was also impressed:
ery continent. The flight about twenty-seven min- Pierre Grange who would “I certainly watched the
was to have taken place utes, Concorde 001 came become an Air France Con- maiden flight out of Tou-
the previous day, but heavy into view again, made her corde co-pilot in the 1980s, louse and I think Raymond
mist forced the chief pilot approach. As the wheels also remembers the maid- Baxter’s commentary [‘She
André Turcat to postpone it touched the runway, she en flight: flies, she flies.’] still makes
until 2 March. Loudspeak- deployed the tail parachute “Like all French, I was in all the hairs on the back
ers informed the waiting and engaged reverse thrust front of a TV to view the first of my neck stand on end.
crowd that Concorde 001 to slow down. Concorde’s flight of 001 in Toulouse. I It was a brilliant piece of
was ready. After firing up maiden flight made a pow- was then in pilot training commentating by him.”
her four mighty engines, erful impression on the and the room was buzz-
one after another, the ele- crew. After a safe landing,
gant craft moved down the the crew was applauded
perimeter track and turned and cheered by the crowd.
slowly to line up on the Frank Debouck, who later
runway. Meanwhile, trucks would become the Con-
equipped with noisy klax- corde manager for Air
Watch Video:
ons drove up and down the France, watched on televi-
tarmac to chase any birds sion this significant event in Maiden
away, a serious threat if aviation history: Flight
hitting the engines during “It was a moment of
take-off. After releasing great emotion and pride.
the brakes, Concorde 001 And a few months later, Please see instructions
on page 2.
42 The Maiden Flights

BUILDING THE DREAM
Before Concorde 001 could

take to the skies, she had
to pass numerous tests
on the ground, including
various taxiing trials.
[© Airbus]
Concorde 001 as seen

through one of the two
openings of the engine test
bay at Toulouse.
[© Airbus]
43

Frenchwoman Jacqueline Auriol (1917–2000) attends Concorde’s maiden flight. During her exceptional flying career
she broke the women’s air speed record several times. Later, Auriol became the first woman to fly Concorde, only to be
succeeded by two more, Barbara Harmer and Béatrice Vialle.
(All images except where noted: © Toulouse City Archives, André Cros Coll., CC BY-SA 4.0)
The crew on Concorde’s maiden flight,

from left: Michel Retif (flight test engi-
neer in the cockpit), André Turcat (cap-
tain), Henri Perrier (flight test engineer in
the cabin with the test equipment) and
Jacques Guignard (flight test pilot in the
right seat next to Captain Turcat).
[© Bernard Pourchet]

BUILDING THE DREAM
Concorde 001 during the moment of her very first take-off. British TV commentator Raymond Baxter excitedly shouted:
“… her nose comes up to thirty degrees …”
“… she is airborne … she flies …” With these words André Turcat took Concorde to the skies for her first flight which
lasted just twenty-seven minutes.
[© Airbus]
Concorde lands safely, deploying the tail parachute and engaging reverse thrust to slow down.
[© B. Pourchet]
45

André Turcat and his crew disembark Concorde 001 after their historic maiden flight to receive congratulations from the
ground crew.
[Both images: © Toulouse City Archives, André Cros Coll.,CC BY-SA 4.0]
During the subsequent press conference, a very pleased André Turcat enthuses about Concorde’s great performance on her
maiden flight.

BUILDING THE DREAM
Concorde Prototype 002

Just weeks after Concorde airspeed indicator. As 002 halfway down reached V1 the RAF station at Fairford,
001 had taken to the skies, had been cleared for flight [speed], rotated and lifted fifty miles to the north-east
her sister 002 (G-BSST) fol- before each of the two pre- into the air. ‘Smokey Joe’ as the Filton runway was
lowed suit on 9 April 1969. vious taxi runs, Turbshaw was airborne, a tremen- too short for the require-
The event took place at the decided that – if his instru- dous sight and sound, and ments of the subsequent
airfield at Filton, Bristol, ments worked reliably – on the beginning of an adven- test flights. Therefore,
where the same crowd of the third run he would take ture which has seen me fol- RAF Fairford had been
spectators and journalists off with Concorde 002 for low the aircraft ever since, equipped as the main Con-
gathered to witness the the first time. Nigel Ferris in the absolute knowledge corde flight test centre.
maiden flight of the second who had helped to build that I had seen her built Despite the failure of both
prototype. The crew for 002 was there on that and had some insight into radar altimeters, and the
that flight was chief pilot memorable day: how it was done. A true crew being thirty-five feet
Brian Trubshaw, co-pilot “The crew went on privilege, with awe and above the landing gear,
John Cochrane, and engi- board, began their pre- wonder that such a beau- Trubshaw landed flaw-
neer Brian Watts. Before flight checks, started the tiful and advanced aircraft lessly. After disembarking,
the successful flight two engines and moved out to should show off, I felt, just the crew was greeted by a
high-speed taxi runs with the end of the runway fac- for me.” cheering crowd. Both An-
a speed up to 120 knots ing west. Then she began Twenty-two minutes after dré Turcat and Brian Trub-
had been aborted due a to roll, the back boilers taking off from Filton Trub- shaw had made aviation
failure flag on the captain’s [reheats] kicked in, and shaw made his approach at history.
A French postcard commemorating Concorde’s maiden flight on 2 March 1969.

[© Bernard Pourchet]
47

Thousands of spectators welcome Concorde 002
as she arrives at Fairford on her maiden flight.
48British Airways]
[© The Maiden Flights

BUILDING THE DREAM
The British prototype, Concorde 002, also known as Concorde 002 lands at Fairford after twenty-two minutes.
‘Smokey Joe’, takes to the skies at Filton for the first time [© Airbus]
on 9 April 1969.
[© Airbus]
Supersonic Pioneers
André Turcat
On 2 March 1969, André Turcat (1921–2016) became the first person ever to fly Con-
corde. A test pilot of international standing, he joined Sud Aviation in the early 1960s
and was made the director of flight testing and Concorde’s chief test pilot. More than
just an aviator, Turcat later went on to become deputy mayor of Toulouse and a mem-
ber of the European Parliament.
[© Toulouse City Archives, CC BY-SA 4.0]
Brian Trubshaw
On 9 April 1969, Brian Trubshaw (1924–2001) became the first pilot to fly the British
Concorde prototype 002. The director and general manager of flight operations of the
Filton divison of BAC, Trubshaw was responsible for the British Concorde’s flight tests.
Like Turcat, he was an experienced and respected test pilot and had been Vickers’
chief test pilot before joining BAC. He gained a deserved reputation for absolute calm
under pressure when he safely landed the Vickers VC-10 prototype after he’d lost con-
trol of an elevator that was flapping violently due to the failure of a hinge bracket.
[© Toulouse City Archives, CC BY-SA 4.0]
49

Testing
Over the next few years, The ground test proposed Concorde to com- of engine testing, its test
Concorde was subjected gramme included the con- binations of severe stress programme became the
to the most extensive test struction of two complete and extreme temperatures. most extensive for a civil-
programme of any aircraft airframes which were in- Before certification, more ian aircraft: 22,000 hours
in the history of civil avia- stalled in full-scale test- than 20,000 simulated fly- took place in flight with
tion. When she received rigs. The first one was ing hours had been com- 8,000 hours at supersonic
her certification of air- built at the French estab- pleted. In order to test the speeds, and the remainder
worthiness in December lishment in Toulouse for numerous aircraft systems in ground test beds. The
1975 she had flown more static tests; the second at and components, vari- tests demonstrated the en-
than 5,500 hours includ- the Royal Aircraft Estab- ous additional rigs were gine’s ability to be started
ing 2,000 hours at super- lishment in Farnborough, built. In September 1975, at extremely cold and hot
sonic speed. This intense Hampshire, to examine the Concorde’s engine, the temperatures and to with-
programme of endurance effects of flight operations Olympus 593, received its stand the impact of dust,
flying was completed in on the aircraft’s structure certificate for supersonic hailstones, and even birds.
September 1975, after 750 over a long period of time. passenger service. With
hours in the air. Various fatigue tests ex- more than 54,000 hours
Concorde in front of the engine test bay in Toulouse during a performance test of her Olympus engines.
[All images: © Toulouse City Archives, André Cros Coll., CC BY-SA 4.0]
50 Testing

BUILDING THE DREAM
Concorde in front of the engine run detuner to reduce noise and exhaust fumes.
Concorde prototypes 001 (right) and 002 (left) together in 1971. Although identical, prototype 001 (F-WTSS) can be dis-
tinguished from her twin sister 002 (G-BSST) by the different paint scheme on her vertical stabilizer.
51

Flight test engineer Henri Per-
rier in the French prototype’s
cabin with the test equipment.
During the early test flights
the crew had to wear pressure
suits, oxygen masks and para-
chutes. For emergency bailouts
the prototypes and preproduc-
tion aircraft featured downward
escape hatches. Bailing out at
Mach 2 at 60,000 feet, however,
leaves any chance of survival at
slim to zero.
[All images: © Airbus]
Watch Video:
Testing

on page 2.
The French pre-production aircraft Sierra Alpha (F-WTSA) at Fairbanks, Alaska, for cold temperature trials, 1974. She
was the first aircraft to have the final production shape and dimensions of Concorde.
52 Testing

BUILDING THE DREAM
Sierra Alpha (F-WTSA) was used for the development of new engines, and in a considerable number of rolling runway
tests for, amongst other things, the certification of the new carbon brakes, the water deflectors and thrust reversers.
When Sierra Alpha attended the opening of the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport in 1973 she became the first Concorde to visit
the United States.
On later test flights crew

members dispensed with
pressure suits, oxygen
masks and parachutes as
they had developed a cer-
tain trust in their aircraft.
53

THE DESIGN
OF A MARVEL
“The first time I saw Concorde gave me the feeling

that I was boarding a ‘racing beast’.”
– Patrick Sevestre, former AF ground engineer
“Concorde has an aesthetic that, although born from

the necessities of supersonic flight aerodynamics,
is a true work of art.”
– Philippe Gebarowski, Concorde passenger
54 Headline

KAPITEL-HD
55

Concorde’s distinctive and beautiful shape is the result of the masterful work of her engineers and extensive wind tun-
nel testing.
[© Spencer Wilmot]
In order to design an air- poration, Bristol Siddeley 0.95 to Mach 1.7. At Mach showed him that was not
craft that could fly hun- Engines (Rolls-Royce) and 1.7 the reheats were select- the case. He remarked that
dred passengers comfort- Snecma which succeeded ed off and Concorde was had he cancelled reheat at
ably at speeds previously to produce the formidable the only aircraft that could Mach 1.7 in his Phantom
only achieved by military Concorde design. Even- continue to accelerate and F-4 it would have felt like
fighters, the Anglo-French tually, two final assembly climb to Mach 2 at 50,000 he had hit a brick wall. No
teams had to overcome lines were built, one in Fil- feet and then continue to other aircraft could do what
numerous technical chal- ton and one in Toulouse. climb at Mach 2. On one Concorde did and the big-
lenges. To create the best Ian Kirby who worked as flight, a U. S. Marine pilot gest breakthrough was the
aerodynamic shape and a flight engineer for twen- sat next to me in the jump design of the intake sys-
a powerplant capable to ty-two years on Concorde seat. When I told him I was tem that, in the cruise, pro-
achieve the desired speed for British Airways, summa- about to turn off the reheats duced over 50 per cent of
operating in the extreme rizes her unique capabilities he asked if we were going the total thrust.”
conditions of supersonic by recalling on of his flights: to slow down. Concorde
flight, extensive research “Concorde was the meet-
and development work was ing of theory and practice
necessary. This work and to produce a machine that
Watch Video:
the subsequent production was beautiful to look at and
were spread across Brit- did its unique job where all Flying
ain and France. It was the others failed. That is charis- Concorde
combination of the exper- ma. Concorde used reheat
tise of Sud Aviation France, to increase thrust for the
the British Aircraft Cor- acceleration from Mach Please see instructions
on page 2.
56 The Ogee Delta Wings

THE DESIGN OF A MARVEL
The Ogee Delta Wing

Because of Concorde’s in- gave acceptable lift and
credibly top speed of Mach drag at all speeds, including
2 (1,350 mph), her fuselage take-off and landing, and
and wings were designed to provided a large internal vol-
a very different shape com- ume for the fuel. The shape
pared to traditional airliners. with its clever curves pro-
Numerous individual shapes duced the lift required at all
had to be tested using var- speeds. Former Air France
ious wind tunnel models Concorde pilot Gérard Du-
before the designers made val explains: “When we
the decision in favour of reduced speed during the
the ‘ogee delta’ wing which approach before landing we
gave Concorde her iconic had to increase the pitch i.e.
shape. To minimize friction, the angle of attack to main- narrow enough to prevent to control the pitch and roll
the airframe had to be nar- tain the lift. As the angle of excessive drag. Concorde of the aircraft. Fuel tanks
rower and far more tapered attack increased the vortex- did not use separate ai- were located throughout
at the front and back than es appeared, got stronger lerons and elevators but the wings and fuselage. To
subsonic airliners. and created additional lift.” combined them in the form keep the aircraft levelled at
The almost triangular While flying at supersonic of six ‘elevons’ (a word that high speeds, the fuel man-
‘ogee delta’ wing, with its speeds, Concorde’s wing combines elevator and ai- agement system adjusted
S-curved leading edge, design was long, sleek and leron) that worked together the weight distribution by
Concorde’s
‘ogee delta’
wing, with
its S-curved
leading edge.
Ogive curves
and surfaces
are used in
engineering,
architecture
and wood-
working.
[© Air France
Museum]
57

Concorde did not use separate ailerons and elevators but combined them in the form of six ‘elevons’ to control the
aircraft’s pitch and roll.
pumping fuel between dif- Ian Kirby is still impressed aircraft. On the approach it increased. It was also very
ferent tanks to move the by the wings’ formidable was on the back side of the responsive in roll but had
centre of gravity forward or design: “The flight charac- drag curve, meaning that far more inertia in pitch.”
back. teristics were like few other as you flew slower the drag
58 The Ogee Delta Wings

Concorde’s delta wing ran for most of the fuselage’s length. It was capable of good aerodynamic performance at low
and high speeds.
[Top: © Bob Ware / bottom: © Vicentiu Ciorlaus]
59

The Engines and Air Intakes
Concorde was designed reheat; this extra power
with four Olympus 593 en- was used on take-off and
gines, mounted in pairs. again to send the aircraft
Each of these was capable through the sound barrier
of producing 32,000-pound and onwards up to Mach
thrust, and with the use of 1.7 from where Concorde
reheat each could reach would continue to accel-
38,000-pound thrust. Philip erate up to Mach 2.02.
Cairns, a former licensed The engine however was
ground engineer for twen- one of three components
ty-seven years at British in the propulsion unit, the
Airways, explains: others being the intakes
“Besides the Soviet Tu- and the primary and sec-
polev Tu-144, Concorde ondary nozzle. The intakes thrust as did the primary needed to enter them at a
was the first airliner to have provided 25 per cent of and secondary nozzles. subsonic speed of around
The engine itself was a twin 350 mph. But given the air-
spool engine; the low-pres- craft’s top speed of 1,350
sure shaft ran through the mph, the air would have
high-pressure shaft. The entered the engines too
engine was extremely well fast for them to work effi-
designed and very tough. ciently. In order to control
The environment it lived in the speed of the incom-
was quite hostile, as it con- ing air, each of the four
tinued to work very hard engines was fitted with a
through the whole flight. specially designed air-in-
The intakes were responsi- take system – a complex
ble for this as they still pro- series of ramps that auto-
duced quite a relative high matically moved to just the
pressure at the engine face right position to keep the
compared to other com- air travelling into the engine
mercial aircraft engines. at 350 mph independently
The four engines were from Concorde’s speed.
closely monitored during The movements of these
flight by the flight engineer ramps were controlled by
and the intakes played an a digital computer system
important role in the flight adjusting them constant-
of Concorde as turbine en- ly in order to adapt them
gines can only ever accept to changes in speed and
air at 0.5 Mach (half the conditions. The intakes
speed of sound).” produced just over half the
For Concorde’s four en- thrust of the powerplant
gines to work best, the air when cruising at Mach 2 to
Each Olympus engine was capable of producing

32,000-pound thrust, and with the use of reheat each
could reach 38,000-pound thrust.
[© Rolls-Royce]
60 The Engines and Air Intakes

Concorde’s wing shape and the position of her Olympus engines and air intakes.
[© Art Brett]
2.04. The engines ran fast-

er in the cruise than they
did on take-off. Gérard Du-
val points out: “Concorde’s
air-intake system was a
revolutionary design and a
closely guarded secret due
to its very high efficiency.”
Concorde’s air-intake system not only

controlled the speed of the air entering
her engines but also generated some
of the thrust to reach and maintain its
incredible top speed.
[© Gérard Duval]
61

Left: The prototype Concorde 001: close-up of engines, with the scalloped thrust reversers prominent.
Right: Production aircraft F-BTSD with the revised design of ‘eyelid’ variable nozzle/thrust reverser.
Concorde’s four powerful reheats light up as she climbs after her take-off. Each produced an extra 6,000-pound thrust.
[© Johnathan Safford]
62 The Engines and Air Intakes

The Fuel System

Concorde’s fuel system were arranged in a way that This was done by an auto- ing air, and also used in the
was huge and complex, would help the aircraft’s matic system and was set heat exchangers for various
thus fulfilling various tasks trim and also in a way that up before flight, and was tasks … Refuelling Con-
as Philip Cairns explains: would move the centre of monitored throughout the corde was an art form and
“Concorde’s fuel system gravity rearwards and for- flight by the flight engineer. most engineers enjoyed
is huge, there are thirteen ward again. In supersonic Tanks 1, 2, 3 and 4 fed their doing it. A full fuel load on
fuel tanks numbered 1 to cruise the fuel would be respective engines, i.e. No. Concorde could be 96,000
11. The reason for this is towards the rear, helping to 1 engine would be fed by kilograms or 96 tonnes.
that tanks 5 and 7 each trim the aircraft so it would tank No. 1 and so on. You Most fuel loads to cross the
have an extra tank num- always look to be climbing, could cross-feed to the oth- Atlantic were usually over
bered 5a and 7a, these which in fact it was. Com- er engines as well. Fuel was 90 tonnes with a lighter load
tanks would then feed their ing back into land the fuel used for cooling the aircraft, coming back due to prevail-
parent tanks only. The tanks would be moved forwards. the hydraulic oil, the cooling winds.”
Right: After the tragic crash of Sierra Charlie (F-BTSC) in 2000, the Concorde fleet was
fitted with Kevlar liners inside their tanks to reinforce their robustness.
Bottom: Concorde required engineers slender enough to squeeze inside the fuel tanks
for maintenance and repair work.
[both: © British Airways]
63

The Droop Nose
“It was a necessary piece of aircraft design for Concorde,
so the pilot could see where he was going when
landing and taxiing around the airfield.”
– Philip Cairns, Concorde ground engineer
An integral part of Con- corde’s speed through the

corde was her celebrated air. The principal tubes
‘droop nose’ appearance. were located on the under-
The aircraft needed a long, side of the aircraft’s fuse-
thin and streamlined nose lage. Philip Cairns explains
to cut through the air in the various positions of the
front of it in order to reduce droop nose:
drag when flying at super- “This was new feature
sonic speeds. During take- for an airliner to have, but
off and landing, Concorde it was so essential for Con-
needed to fly at a very corde because the way she
steep angle in relation to landed her nose would be
the ground, thus ensuring pointing up, so to get a
that the wing could gener- good view of the runway
ate enough lift at the low the nose would be lowered with the retractable visor. Former Air France Con-
speeds required. In order to fully down to 12.5°; when Another feature which was corde pilot Pierre Grange
enable the two pilots in the taxiing the nose would be good for the crew was remembers: “[During the
cockpit to see the runway raised to 5°, and finally when the aircraft took off approach] the nose – and
in front of them during take- when she was on the stand and all the landing gear was with it the visor – was low-
off and landing, Concorde’s the nose was brought up retracted; the last piece of ered as late as possible
nose could be lowered, or 0° and the retractable visor the nose to go up was the as it produced additional
‘drooped’ down. Inserted would be put back to fully visor, and when this hap- noise [on the flight deck].”
by the bayonet fitting into up. The droop nose was pened the flight deck be- The visor had a thin heat-
the nose was the reserve fully up in ‘super cruise’ came very quiet as all the ed gold film between the
pitot which measured Con- [supersonic flight] along wind noise was cut out.” layers of glass to help de-
mist the windows and give
the pilots a clear view, thus
preventing dazzle and act-
ing as a shield to harmful
ultraviolet and infrared ra-
diation.
Concorde’s droop nose and

visor fully up for supersonic
flight.
[© Vicentiu Ciorlaus]
64 The Droop Nose

Concorde’s nose and visor lowered to 12.5° for approach/

landing and taxiing.
[© David Apps]
Top: Concorde’s visor up; bottom: Concorde’s visor down.
[© Both images: © Jean-Philippe Lemaire]
Take-off and subsonic flight

(nose 5° – visor down)
Subsonic flight
(nose up – visor down)
Supersonic flight
(nose up – visor up)
Approach/landing and taxiing

(nose 12.5° down – visor down)
To enhance Concorde’s aerodynamic profile and protect

the windscreen, a visor was raised which also cut the
wind noise on the flight deck.
[© Suzanne O’Donoghue]
65

The Fuselage
At high speeds, Concorde’s al to expand, thus allowing
airframe got very hot. This the aircraft to ‘grow’ by up
heating was the result of to ten inches (25.5 cm).
friction between the out- Every surface, even the
side air and the skin of the windows, was warm to
fast-moving aircraft. This the touch even after land-
caused the fuselage’s met- ing. Therefore, it was a
challenge for Concorde’s tures. Another challenge

designers to develop a fu- was how to ensure that
selage and wings that were windows could stand up
able to withstand the tem- to the heat and potential
peratures and pressures hazards of travelling at su-
created by this high-speed personic speeds when or-
environment. The chang- dinary glazing would have
es in temperature caused shattered. Concorde’s
the airframe’s structures to cabin windows are signifi-
expand and contract, so cantly smaller compared to
they were designed with the windows of subsonic
intentional gaps and ways aircraft. This would have
for various parts to move in reduced the speed of de-
relation to each other. Even compression in the event of
the paint on the outside a complete window failure
was flexible so that it could while the flight crew could
not flake off. Compared to have made an emergency
subsonic airliners, Con- descent down to 15,000
corde had a thicker skin feet (4,600 m). The glass
and extra reinforcements. for the cockpit and cabin
The aircraft was built from (passenger) windows had
a type of advanced alu- to be tested at extremes
minium alloy, enabling it that no civilian aircraft had
to survive high tempera- ever experienced.
To minimize friction, Concorde’s airframe had to be

narrower and far more tapered at the front and back
than subsonic airliners.
66 The Fuselage

The Landing Gear

Philip Cairns who had been engineer, further explains:
working on Concorde’s “Both main gears retracted
landing gear, remembers inwards into their bays and
what made set it apart from would be shortened by pull-
those of subsonic airliners: ing the shock absorber up
“It consisted of four re- into their main bodies during
tractable pieces of under- the retraction process.”
carriage: the nose landing Philip Cairns: “The nose
gear, two main landing landing gear consisted of
gears and a tail bumper two wheels and would re-
gear, all operated by the tract forward into its bay.
hydraulic system … Each Once all the gears were
of the two main landing up and locked, the landing
gears had four wheels on gear doors would shut.”
their respective bogies. Former flight engineer That was also the reason for used heavy lifting devices
Each wheel had its own Ian Kirby adds: “The land- the small tail bumper gear.” to accomplish these tasks
brake unit which was hy- ing gear had to be long so Philip Cairns: “You could at base which made it a bit
draulically operated and that at touchdown, with the get very dirty working on easier. The main and nose
electrically controlled.” nose at high attitude, the the undercarriages. We landing gears were always
Patrick Sevestre, a former backsides of the engines did numerous wheel and fitted with ground locks
Air France Concorde ground did not touch the ground. brake unit changes and when the aircraft arrived.”
[© Bob Ware]
[© Dre Peijmen]
Concorde with fully extended landing gear. The left inset photo shows the tail bumper gear, the right a fully extended
main gear. [Large photo: © John Powell / johnnypowell.net]
67

The Flight Deck
Although Concorde’s flight was the primary signalling ‘Yellow’ hydraulics being and lateral accelerometers
deck (cockpit) looked very system, next came ‘Green’ the backup. This in a nut- to automatically correct for
similar to those in subsonic signalling, followed by the shell was the control sys- engine failure at high speed.
airliners of the day, she fea- ‘Mech’ signalling. ‘Mech’ tem that provided move- The computer looked at
tured several innovations means mechanical which ment around the roll, yaw what the pilot was request-
as Philip Cairns explains: was levers, cables, cable and pitch axis. It generally ing, looked at what the air-
“The flight controls were tensioner, pulleys, rods, worked extremely well and craft was doing, looked at
designed to be very accu- bell cranks, and a mixing was deemed a very reliable where the flying controls
rate and robust. The ele- chassis. ‘Blue’ and ‘Green’ system for the performance were positioned and then
vons and rudders would signalling was purely elec- that Concorde required.” decided how much to move
be moved by the 4,000- tric wiring. More commonly Ian Kirby describes the each flying control surface.
psi hydraulic systems and known as fly-by-wire, I be- fly-by-wire more in detail: Concorde’s flight deck was
controlled electrically, as lieve Concorde was the first “… the signal from the small and probably had
well by a mechanical sys- civil airliner to have this sys- pilot to the controls was more controls and dials
tem which still used the tem. The ‘Blue’ and ‘Green’ by electrical signaling and than any other aircraft and
hydraulics. They were or- hydraulic systems provided a computer. The computer many of the controls were
ganized in the following the muscle to move the provided automatic stabi- multifunctional. The auto-
way: the ‘Blue’ system elevons and rudders, with lization about all three axis matic landing system was
Concorde’s flight deck with its analogue instruments. The captain’s seat is at left, the co-pilot’s (first officer) at right.
[© Bob Ware]
68 The Flight Deck

The rear part of the flight deck with the flight engineer’s seat in the foreground. The jump seat for a guest is at left.
superb and gave us con- “… it provided the pi- five seats. The two addition- gineer on one trip found that
fidence that even in very lots with brilliant forward al seats were called 1st su- he was too hot during the
adverse conditions it would views and seats that were pernumerary seat and 2nd flight, so he took his hat off
put us safely on the ground powered up and down supernumerary seat. An in- and tucked it in this handy
in the middle of the runway. and forward and aft. They teresting feature was the re- gap at the end of his pan-
The flight simulator, or stim- were powered because armost end of the engineer’s el. When Concorde landed
ulator as it was often called, of emergencies and could panel; this is the place to in New York, he went to re-
gave a reasonable repre- be moved out of the way be able to view and touch trieve his hat but could not
sentation of how the aircraft if necessary. The flight en- something remarkable. At remove it as the aircraft had
worked. It was nowhere gineer also had a powered Mach 2, Concorde is quite contracted and closed the
near perfect but served us seat, and could move it to a warm aircraft and she can gap.”
well for training and recur- suit all inflight conditions, grow up to ten inches in Pilot Pierre Grange adds:
rent checks. There is no i.e. take-off or working his length. At the end of the en- “The flight control system
way a ground-based simu- panel. He could also turn gineer’s panel you can put allowed us to fly pleasantly
lator can give the full feel of his seat through 90° to face your fingers in the gap there manually all all speeds up
flight and definitely not the forward. The flight deck had and move them back and to Mach 2. On one flight,
acceleration of a Concorde four seats available with forth. When the aircraft has André Turcat was on board
on take-off.” another seat that could be landed and cooled down and told us that he and his
Philip Cairns describes used in the entrance to the you cannot get your finger- team had well taken care of
the flight deck’s layout: flight deck, making a total of tips in the gap. The flight en- this.”
69

THE AGE OF
CONCORDE
“It is a magnificent achievement that today British Airways are

starting their first Concorde service. It is the outcome of fourteen
years’ close collaboration on design, production and testing be-
tween the British and French aircraft industries. I congratulate
all those who have contributed to today’s achievement and I wish
every success to this beautiful aircraft now going into service.”
– HM Queen Elizabeth II
70

71

Naming
In order to honour the An- on, which resulted in an up- During her development of the entire project. Howev-
glo-French cooperation roar in Britain. Finally, during Concorde’s designers and er, the Anglo-French agree-
which made a supersonic the rollout of the Concorde engineers overcame nu- ment included a clause
airliner possible in the first prototype 001 in Toulouse merous technological chal- that if either side wanted
place, Timothy Clarke, the in 1969, Tony Benn, Brit- lenges but costs spiralled to cancel the programme
son of BAC Filton’s publicity ain’s Minister of Technol- to about five times the initial this gave the other party
manager, suggested nam- ogy, made the announce- estimate. During the ear- the right to claim damages.
ing the aircraft ‘Concorde’, ment that the decision had ly 1970s, while the general Therefore, it was speculated
based on the French word been made to accept ‘Con- public in France and Britain that the possible financial
concorde which has an En- corde’ as the official name was still showing keen inter- burden of cancelling could
glish equivalent, concord. but that the ‘e’ stood for est in the ‘airliner of the fu- have been bigger than the
The meaning of both words Excellence, England, Eu- ture’, the British parliament costs of continuing. Despite
is agreement, union, or har- rope and Entente, thus able began expressing concerns the escalating costs the two
mony. After the British had to pacify the critics who did over the project’s soaring nations decided to resolve
changed it into ‘Concord’, not want to see the French expense, and even began their differences and carry
the French put the ‘e’ back ‘e’ on the aircraft. considering a cancellation on.
An Air France flight attendant advertises the age of supersonic air travel.
[© Air France]
72 Sales Tours

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
Sales Tours
While still being used for During the following year, France. Prototype 002 was around the world, the proj-
test flights, both France Philip Cairns, who would the real star of this won- ect suffered several blows.
and Britain sent their pro- later become a Concorde derful trip as she showed Concorde’s sonic boom
totypes on demonstration ground engineer at British the world what she could made supersonic air trav-
and sales tours around the Airways, participated in the do. Everywhere we went el overland practically im-
world in order to attract British sales tour of Iran, In- the public were very recep- possible without causing
more potential buyers. In dia, Singapore, Japan and tive; the press reports were complaints from people,
1971 the French-built Con- Australia: “I was very for- understandably mixed as thus ruining her unique
corde 001 made her first tunate to be chosen to go they tried to find the right selling point, particularly in
transatlantic flight via the on this fantastic trip. There words to describe this new the United States. More-
Cape Verde islands, Cay- were many highlights for ‘Queen of the Skies’.” over, various events fur-
enne and Sao Paolo, finally me including my first and Although Concorde ther dampened Concorde
arriving in Rio de Janeiro second flight on Concorde, had overcome the An- sales prospects. One of
where she received a warm the first one from Tehran glo-French budgetary them was the 1973 oil cri-
welcome and made sev- to Bahrain and the second disagreements and was sis that resulted in soar-
eral demonstration flights. from Beirut to Toulouse in admired by people from ing fuel prices. Many air-
Prototype 002 overflies Singapore during the 1972 sales tour.

73

Sonic Boom
An aircraft travelling faster than the speed of shockwave so at first you shockwaves go back to
through the air produces sound, it produces a son- hear nothing, and then you normal, which produces
sound waves. If it is travel- ic boom. This boom is hear the boom they create. the second boom. You
ling slower than the speed the ‘wake’ of the aircraft’s Concorde produces a dou- then get the double boom,
of sound (Mach 1), then sound waves. All of the ble boom: the front pres- which sounds like boom
sound waves can propa- sound waves that would sure cone produces the boom.
gate ahead of the aircraft. have normally propagat- first boom, and then as the
If the vehicle breaks the ed ahead of the plane are aircraft tail passes through
sound barrier, thus flying compressed to form one this pressure cone the air
lines which had previously 747 could transport three With several production British and French gov-
shown interest in operating times more passengers aircraft already under con- ernments decided to ‘sell’
Concorde now become than Concorde, was much struction and no buyers in the Concordes then under
very cautious about aircraft more fuel-efficient, and sight, Concorde’s future construction to both air-
types with a significantly had a much wider range, looked bleak. Both Britain lines, which actually meant
higher fuel consumption being capable of flying to and France, which had in- that British Airways and
than subsonic airliners. nearly every destination vested in a project whose Air France got their aircraft
Another devastating event across the globe including ambition at the time was basically for free. There-
was the introduction of overland routes. In such second only to the Ameri- fore, the price to develop
new wide-body aircraft, times of economic uncer- can and Soviet space pro- and build Concorde was
most notably the Boeing tainty, the 747 looked like grammes, now looked at completely paid for by Brit-
747 which began her op- a significantly less risky their national airlines. Brit- ish and French taxpayers.
erational service in 1970. investment. Therefore, one ish Airways and Air France, Eventually, both airlines
Airliners like her made sub- airline after another which then still state-owned, ap- would each operate a fleet
sonic commercial air travel had placed (non-binding) peared to be the only two of seven Concordes.
far more cost-efficient for orders for Concorde can- potential operators for
the airlines. The Boeing celled them. Concorde. Therefore, the
The official handover of the

first Concorde to British
Airways on 15 January
1976 at Heathrow Airport.
[© Steven Fitzgerald]
74 Supersonic Rivals

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
Supersonic Rivals
Nigel Ferris, contributing Union: “The Anglo-French the Soviets and Americans gained this authority, while
editor to the Mach 2 Con- Government agreement to both decided to proceed in the United States Boeing
corde magazine, takes a build a supersonic trans- with their own SSTs, and and Lockheed began their
look at Concorde’s com- port (SST) was signed on design contracts were is- studies, namely the Boe-
petitors from both the Unit- the 29th November 1962. sued for these proposals. ing 2707 and Lockheed
ed States and the Soviet At about the same time, In the Soviet Union Tupolev L-2000.
Boeing 2707
“The American victor was withstand the high tempera- in each nacelle between the other factors, the project
Boeing. Their original de- tures over the airframe – as paired engines. The Boeing was cancelled in 1971.
sign was for a Mach 3 a result of the airflow over 2707 would have had full- The swing-wing concept is
swing-wing aircraft, for the structure undergoing length leading-edge slats not uncommon. Examples
250–300 passengers. This compression. By contrast, and trailing-edge flaps. of supersonic aircraft with
was considerably bigger the maximum temperature The complexity of design- swing wings include the Eu-
than Concorde, and would allowed for Concorde at ing and manufacturing ropean multirole aircraft Pa-
have been the longest air- Mach 2 at the pitot tube on hinge and pivot points for navia Tornado, the Ameri-
craft ever produced, and as the nose was 127°C. Titani- the swing wings, their abil- can bombers Rockwell B1A
envisaged would have been um, however, is more diffi- ity to withstand supersonic and B1B Lancer, as well as
able to supercruise at Mach cult to machine than Con- cruise, and their strength the former Soviet bomber
3. In order to achieve such a corde’s aluminium alloy, (and cost) led Boeing to Tupolev Tu-160.”
feat, the aircraft would have and much more expensive. revert to a more conven-
had to have been made pri- Concorde, however, did use tional fixed-wing design.
marily of titanium, able to some titanium, as a firewall However, due to cost and
Cockpit section and droop nose of the Boeing 2707 mock-up on display at the Museum of Flight, Seattle.
[© Ted Huetter, Museum of Flight] Inset: Drawing of the Boeing 2707.
75

The Tupolev Tu-144
“The Tu-144 (NATO code- on, resulting in this flawed the part of Britain and or ‘espionage’ will never
name ‘Charger’) first flew design. Various differences France. The Tu-144 proto- be fully known. The Tu-144
on 31 December 1968 – from Concorde were read- types utilized afterburning occupies a special place in
beating Concorde’s first ily observable. The wing turbofans, which meant, aviation, as does the Boe-
flight on 2 March 1969. It shape did not include the due to the size, higher in- ing design – although the
is well documented that complex curves and cam- duced nacelle aerodynamic latter was only ever seen as
this was a lesser design bers of Concorde’s design. drag. Later models – after a wooden mock-up.”
than Concorde, however; The main undercarriage much redesign – featured “At the Paris Air Show in
at the time there were sto- had six main wheels per efficient ‘canards’ on the 1973, both Concorde and
ries of industrial espionage bogie, as opposed to just nose behind the cock- the Tu-144 were on show.
whereby the British and four on Concorde – this pit to improve low-speed The French Air Force sent
French allowed ‘doctored’ was due to superior tyre handling characteristics, up one of their fighters to
blueprints to be passed and brake technology on repositioned engine na- photograph the aircraft
celles, and undercarriage showing the ‘canards’. As
retraction. The Tu-144 had a result of the French fight-
to employ partial reheat to er flying too close to the Tu-
maintain supersonic cruise 144, the Soviet pilot had to
(supercruise is defined take emergency action to
as maintaining superson- avoid collision, putting the
ic speed without reheat). aircraft into a pitch-down
Concorde employed twin attitude. This resulted in a
spool axial flow turbojets, surge in all four engines,
with computer-controlled leading to flame-out, so
intakes, throttle amplifiers, the pilot initiated a further
primary and secondary downward pitch attitude in
nozzles, without the need an attempt to windmill-start
for continued reheat. The the engines. This failed,
aircraft went into service, and as a result the Tu-144
but only completed 102 went into a 1g negative
flights in total: fifty-five as dive. This overloaded the
passenger-carrying, the structural integrity of the
rest as cargo. Whether her aircraft, and the left outer
non-success was due to wing broke off, causing the
design, lack of profitability, aircraft to crash.”
Concorde on display at the Paris Air Show in 1973 with In order to beat Concorde, the Tupolev Tu-144’s design
the Tupolev Tu-144 still on the ground. When the latter was rushed. However, she flew three months before
performed later that day it crashed without any survivors. Concorde. To this day, she holds the speed record as the
[© Aris Pappas] fastest supersonic airliner with a top speed of Mach 2.35.
[© Aris Pappas]
76 Supersonic Rivals

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
Although the Tu-144

(right) had a droop nose
like Concorde (left), it
did not have a retract-
able visor.
[© Tu-144: Jim Ross,
NASA / Concorde: British
Airways]
77

The Inaugural Commercial Flights
Invitation to Concorde’s inaugural commercial flight. [© British Airways]
At 11:40 on 21 January 1976 aviation saw a giant leap forward when Air France Concorde F-BVFA and British Airways
Concorde G-BOAA lifted off at the same instant, thus inaugurating Concorde’s commercial service life. It had taken
more than twenty years to make this memorable day happen. Both aircraft were the first of their fleets to be fully pre-
pared for commercial service. F-BVFA had made her maiden flight on 27 October 1975 and had been delivered to Air
France six weeks later. G-BOAA had first flown on 5 November 1975 and was delivered to British Airways in January
1976. Prior to her maiden commercial flight, Concorde had received praise from various people:
“Soon there will only be two breeds “I look forward to introducing

of airlines – those who have the Concorde into service and
Concorde and those who have not making a success of it,
… We are confident of filling up and I am sure it will be.”
our Concordes.”
– M. Pierre Giraudet, President of Air France – David Nicolson, Chairman of British Airways
78 The Inaugural Commercial Flights

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
Concorde personnel from

both airlines worked close-
ly together to coordinate
the departures so that the
two aircraft could take off
simultaneously. A tele-
phone link was set up be-
tween the control towers
at Charles de Gaulle and
Heathrow airports, where
the air traffic controllers
would give a thirty-second
countdown over a spe-
cial frequency. Norman
Todd, captain of G-BOAA
(flight BA300), and Pierre
Chanoine, commanding
F-BVFA (flight AF085) and
soon-to-be captain, would
release their aircraft’s
brakes at exactly the same
instant to begin their take-
off roll and would stay in
touch as their aircraft were
being pushed back. While
the Concorde crews car- G-BOAA taking off for her inaugural commercial flight to Bahrain. Note the Pan Am
ried out their pre-departure Boeing 707 in the background – carrying Kathy Rhodes who later shared how she
checks, the first passen- experienced this significant moment in aviation history.
gers, including fee-paying [© Adrian Meredith]
passengers, press and
VIPs, assembled in the de-
parture lounge. Watched near silence. It took a few exhaust change to a much distance, but soon it was
by more than 200 million seconds for the sound to darker colour and saw the gone. So it was back home
television viewers around travel from those power- glow of the reheats subside to watch it all again on the
the world, both Concordes ful Olympus engines to as they were selected off evening news.”
began to roll, accompanied my location. When the and power reduced. At the Kathy Rhodes, who
by the distinctive sound of sound did arrive it was same time the aircraft re- worked as a senior purser
the four powerful Olympus like no other aircraft. Per- duced its pitch attitude and on a Pan Am flight from
engines. As both aircraft haps the nearest was the continued at a reduced rate London to Boston, wit-
flawlessly took off and be- VC-10, which also had an of climb. It took a while for nessed G-BOAA’s take-off
gan retracting their under- exhaust that was super- the sound reduction to be for Concorde’s inaugural
carriages, the age of su- sonic. G-BOAA came past evident in the carpark, but I flight from her Boeing 707
personic air travel became with a very satisfying roar am sure those living under at Heathrow:
a reality. and a faint yellow/brown the flight path appreciated “It was a routine morn-
Ian Kirby, who later be- haze from the exhaust. the reduction sooner. Sud- ing: standard transport
came a senior flight officer The rotation seemed fair- denly it was nearly all over to the airport, briefing,
on board Concorde, expe- ly slow but ’AA was soon as ’AA merged into the dis- boarding, and taxiing for
rienced G-BOAA’s take-off airborne, initially at a fairly tance. The aircraft turned take-off. Near the end of
from a carpark at Heath- gentle angle and then at a south and then east as it our taxi we halted. We sat
row: much increased angle and was bound for Bahrain. for a while. I was about
“I watched as ’AA start- a very rapid rate of climb. From the carpark we could to check with the cockpit
ed to accelerate, initially in I noticed the haze of the see and just hear it in the when the captain came on
79

Captain Norman Todd (centre), Captain Brian Calvert (right) and Senior Engineer Officer John Lidiard on G-BOAA’s
maiden British Airways flight to Bahrain on 21 January 1976. Air France’s inaugural flight crew consisted of Captain
Pierre Dudal, the airline’s chief Concorde pilot, soon-to-be Captain Pierre Chanoine and Chief Flight Engineer André
Blanc. [© British Airways]
the PA and announced the my jump seat and looked this sleek, modern super- good view, before we had
reason for the delay. We out both sides of our 707, sonic jet that was bring- to buckle in for take-off.
were second behind Con- the aircraft that brought jet ing new horizons to the We could not see Con-
corde for take-off and had travel to the world. There world. I asked the captain corde take off from the
to wait for clearance. The wasn’t any view of the if he could manoeuvre our cabin, but the roar of those
plan was for the French Concorde from either side, plane so that our passen- mighty engines could be
Concorde to take off from but I could see the Royal gers could see Concorde. felt throughout. What an
Paris at the same time Family lined up along the He obliged, angling the exhilarating experience –
the British were to take tarmac to witness this his- aircraft so Concorde was and our passengers were
off from London’s Heath- toric take-off. I went up to visible out the right side. all thrilled to be part of it.”
row airport. The French the cockpit and from there We let our passengers British Airways G-BOAA
were running late. I left had a wonderful view of roam the cabin to get a went supersonic 1 hour
80 The Inaugural Commercial Flights

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
and 20 minutes after her was from. When I said Bah- limits for cabin crew, my service both airlines could
take-off, as she flew out rain, even though most peo- response was that if we’d provide. His Excellency
over the Adriatic Sea, be- ple had no clue where Bah- been on Concorde, we Faisal al Mutawa, Kuwait’s
fore reaching Mach 2. She rain was, they immediately might well be on our way ambassador to France,
passed over Lebanon, Syr- recognized the name as the back by now.” praised Concorde with the
ia and Saudi Arabia, then first country where Con- Meanwhile, Air France following words:
down the Gulf to land at corde flew. So in a sense it Concorde F-BVFA com- “She is undoubtedly a
Bahrain at 15:17 GMT – was great PR for Bahrain.” pleted her much longer very impressive aircraft
just 3 hours and 37 minutes When the British Airways flight, from Paris to Dakar which could perfectly fit in
after beginning her take-off Concorde landed at Bah- in Senegal and then across a multinational Arab airline.
roll at Heathrow. Ali Janahi rain, Kathy Rhodes was the Atlantic to Rio de Ja- Remarkable by its safety
recalls her arrival: midway across the Atlantic neiro in Brazil, finally arriv- and speed, Concorde is in-
“I remember the first Con- on her flight to Boston in ing at 19:00. As evening deed the expression of the
corde flight was to Bahrain, her Pan Am Boeing 707: fell, the world passed into a genius of France and Great
and that made Bahrain well “The flight engineer not- new era of speed and style, Britain.”
known to the world. When- ed that if we’d been on allowing ordinary people to
ever I spoke to people in Concorde, we’d be there fly faster and higher than
Europe, Asia or anywhere by now. Since this was most military pilots, while
else, they asked me where I prior to reasonable duty enjoying the best luxury
Menu for the first flight from Bahrain back to London on 22 January 1976. [© British Airways]
81

Scheduled Flights
cause of Concorde’s sonic cided for the reasons set
boom. Without New York, forth in detail in the opinion
there weren’t too many lu- to permit British Airways
crative destinations left to and Air France to conduct
which Concorde could fly. limited schedule commer-
Also, many New Yorkers cial flights into the United
demonised Concorde not States.”
only for her sonic boom, Although New York had
her noisy engines but also banned Concorde locally,
for environmental issues. that ban came to an end on
During the early 1970s the 17 October 1977 when the
environmental lobby was US Supreme Court finally
becoming increasingly vo- decided in favour of Con-
cal, expressing the concorde. Despite numerous
cern that the exhausts of a noise complaints, the noise
global fleet of hundreds of report concluded that
supersonic airliners flying several subsonic aircraft,
at 60,000 feet could do ex- including the US Presi-
treme damage to the ozone dent’s Air Force One, then
layer. a Boeing 707, was actu-
On 21 January 1976 Brit- ally louder than Concorde
ish Airways began its com- during take-off and landing
mercial service on the Lon- and at subsonic speeds.
don–Bahrain route and Air Scheduled service from
France on its Paris–Rio de Paris and London to New
Janeiro (via Dakar) route. York began on 22 Novem-
The Paris–Caracas route ber 1977. Within minutes
(via the Azores) began in of each other, French and
April. With New York still
closed to Concorde, the
US Secretary of Transpor-
tation, William Coleman,
Advertisement announcing Air France’s commercial Con- gave her permission to fly
corde service.
to Washington Dulles Inter-
national Airport. Both air-
lines simultaneously began
a thrice-weekly service to
After Concorde had re- banned Concorde land- Dulles in May 1976. How-
ceived her certificate of air- ings in the United States, ever, due to low demand,
worthiness in 1975, British officially due to citizen Air France cancelled its
Airways and Air France set protest over sonic booms, Washington service in Oc-
their sights on the US east so preventing Concorde tober 1982, while British
coast, in particular New flying the most coveted Airways continued it until
York as it was considered route across the Atlantic. November 1994. In Febru- Flight attendant Nicole
the number one destination Moreover, large countries ary 1977 Secretary Cole- Méneveux disembark-
ing Concorde Fox Delta
for Concorde’s future busi- such as India and Austra- man lifted the US ban of
(F-BVFD) after the historic
ness travellers. However, lia refused to grant Con- New York’s John F. Ken- flight to New York on 22
the US Congress had just corde overflying rights be- nedy Airport: “I have de- November 1977.
[© Nicole Méneveux]
82 Scheduled Flights

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
British Airways and Air France Concordes at Washington Dulles International Airport in May 1976.
British Concordes landed best time of her career, she ing our minister of trans- bound crossing of the
at John F. Kennedy Airport. recalls the first commercial port, Air France’s general North Atlantic, from Paris
Fifteen years after signing Concorde flight from Paris manager, business leaders, to New York, in a Breguet
the Anglo-French ‘Entente to New York: “This day was the press, and about thirty XIX in 1930. Monsieur Bel-
Concordiale’, Concorde a memorable day in the his- passengers realizing their lonte had witnessed such
had finally triumphed over tory of commercial aviation, dreams of flying Concorde. vast progress in aviation
one of her major odds. and I had the opportunity We were very impressed technology since his mem-
Nicole Méneveux worked to participate in the event. by the presence of a grand orable flight. The take-off
as a Concorde flight atten- Before take-off, I was very eighty-one-year-old gen- was very emotional and
dant for Air France from excited but we had to stay tleman: aviation pioneer we were literally glued to
1976 to 1992. Cherishing focused to offer a perfect Maurice Bellonte who had our seats. By 11:22 we had
these sixteen years as the service as we were carry- performed the first west- reached a height of 28,000
83

Advertisement for Air France’s service from Paris to Rio de Advertisement for British Airways’ service from London to
Janeiro. Singapore.
[© Air France Museum] [© British Airways]
feet [8,500m] and as we in order to land exactly in

passed the Normandy the same moment as the
coast we enjoyed a breath- British Airways Concorde
taking view of the cliffs at which was making its first
Étretat on one side and La flight from London to New
Pointe du Hoc, where the York that day. It was a sub-
U.S. Rangers had landed lime moment when the two
during the Allied invasion white birds majestically
on 6 June 1944, on the rolled toward each other on
other. We then accelerat- the tarmac and met nose to
ed to Mach 2 and served nose, as if kissing, in front
the meals prepared by the of the Big Apple. I had tears
master chefs. in my eyes and I wasn’t the
“After going into our de- only one. We finally had
British Airways Concorde Alpha Delta (G-BOAD) painted
scent we landed three min- won the battle against all in Singapore Airlines livery on her port side and in British
utes later than scheduled the noise protesters and Airways livery on her starboard side.
[© Aris Pappas]
84 Scheduled Flights

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
contrary to what had been

announced ‒ and what we
feared ‒ there were no Con-
corde opponents waiting to
throw tomatoes at us. So,
was this just another rou-
tine day for Concorde? No,
it was the first commercial
flight from Paris to New
York.”
Although the Concordes
of both airlines were iden-
tical, there was one other
critical distinction as Frank
Debouck points out: “The
essential difference was
the shorter distance be-
tween London and New
York than between Paris
and New York. Therefore,
the flight for the British was
a little bit easier than for
the French as each transat-
lantic Concorde flight was
considered ‘short on fuel’.
British Airways had two
daily flights to New York,
Air France had only one.”
In 1977, British Airways
and Singapore Airlines
shared Concorde Alpha
Delta (G-BOAD) for com-
mercial flights between
London and Singapore via
Bahrain. This route was an
extension of the existing
London–Bahrain route. Al-
pha Delta was painted in
British Airways livery on her
starboard side and in Sin-
Concorde check-in in 1978. British oil tycoon Fred Finn receives his ticket. With 718 flights,
gapore Airlines livery on her he is the most-travelled Concorde passenger. Pascal Le Borgne, a French businessman,
port side. After a dispute logged more than 400 trips to become Air France’s most frequent Concorde flyer.
with the Indian government [© British Airways]
in which Concorde was not
allowed to fly at supersonic
speeds in Indian airspace,
the route was eventually Concorde service twice in the discontinuation of (from Mach 2.02 to Mach
declared not lucrative and weekly to Mexico City via this route as the last flights 0.95) in order to enable
therefore discontinued in Washington, DC, or New were almost empty. The Concorde to overfly Florida
1980. York City. The worldwide flight from Washington or subsonically and avoid cre-
Between 1978 and 1982 economic crisis during that New York and Mexico City ating the (prohibited) sonic
Air France operated a period, however, resulted included a deceleration boom. When the aircraft
85

86 Headline

KAPITEL-HD
On 18 October 1982, two Concordes, one from Air France,

and the other from British Airways, made a dual simulta-
neous landing at Orlando International Airport. This was a
publicity stunt organized by Disney World to hype the ar-
rival of the sponsors of exhibits at Disney’s newly opened
Epcot Center’s British and French pavilions.
87

Musicians welcome an Air France Concorde in Mexico City.
reached the open water and Washington Dulles In- Braniff was forced to end 2003, during the summer
to cross the Gulf of Mexi- ternational Airport, flown its operation as the only and winter holiday season,
co she could re-accelerate by Braniff flight crews. Air US Concorde operator in British Airways flew once
back to supersonic speeds. France and British Airways 1980. From 1984 to 1991 a week to Grantley Adams
In 1978 the US airline Bran- crews then took over for British Airways Concordes International Airport in Bar-
iff International Airways be- the continuing supersonic operated a thrice-weekly bados in the Caribbean.
gan leasing various Con- transatlantic flights to Lon- service between London
cordes for subsonic flights don and Paris. With these and Miami via Washing-
between Dallas Fort Worth flights generating no profit ton Dulles. From 1987 to
Charter Flights
During the 1980s, British atlantic route from either aircraft often sitting idle in helped to build Concorde,
Airways and Air France had London or Paris to New London or Paris, it became flying with her became a
to look for new ways to York or Washington and possible to charter Con- reality as the ticket prices
make Concorde more prof- back. To make the best out corde – now anyone with for an one-hour supersonic
itable and to secure her op- of this route, Concorde’s the money could now hire flight experience (‘super-
erational future as her early marketing teams decided a whole Concorde and take sonic loops’) only cost a
years had not proven eco- to make her very exclusive her wherever they wanted. fraction of the transatlantic
nomically viable. The only and put up the prices in or- For many ordinary peo- round ticket. The charter
regular route she could fly der to generate sustainable ple in France and Britain, market exploded as en-
successfully was the trans- profits. With some of the whose tax money had trepreneurs, Concorde fan
88 Charter Flights

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
clubs, and travel agents

cashed in on the new de-
mand. Those charter flights
took Concorde to over 350
destinations around the
world, thus enabling Con-
corde to be used for the
trip of a lifetime.
Frank Debouck remem-
bers: “In addition to the
regular flights to New York, I
developed numerous char-
ter flights – these included
supersonic looks taking off
from Paris, the 1999 speed
world tour, promotional
events including the Pep-
si flight, many prestigious
around-the-world tours as
well as exotic destinations
such as the Arctic Circle,
Ushuaia, Easter Island, or
Santiago de Chile. All in all
we flew to more than 150
destinations on charter
flights with Air France Con-
cordes. During these flight,
many personal encounters
left quite an impression on
me, including a very unique
flight with fifty British chil-
dren and their fifty grand-
mothers to meet Santa
Claus in northern Finland.
Both Air France and British
Airways often made nu-
merous charter flights for
the same customers and
we were very respectful of
each other.”
For many enthusiasts,
Concorde herself become
the destination. This inno-
vative and lucrative use of
Concorde became a major
marketing tool for both Air
France and British Airways.
Pierre Grange, a former Air
France Concorde co-pi-
lot remembers his charter
flights: “I flew Concorde
from 1984 and 1989, at a British Airways and Air France certificates confirming a supersonic flight aboard Concorde.
[© British Airways / Air France Museum]
89

During Concorde’s twenty-seven years of commercial service, there were only two female pilots – Barbara Harmer (left) for
British Airways, and Béatrice Vialle (right) for Air France.
[Left: © British Airways / Right: © Béatrice Vialle]
time when charter flights a wealthy clientele. At state visits. All these char- we flew to unusual plac-
were numerous and very the time there were also ter flights were very special es for Air France such as
different. They ranged from the presidential flights as compared to regular flights Bali, Sydney, Las Vegas, or
the ‘supersonic loops’ to François Mitterrand always as the passengers were Kathmandu.”
21-day world tours with used Concorde for his extremely enthusiastic and
Special Flights
Besides carrying heads of shows such as the Farn- and Britain. The aircraft Olympic Games in Albert-
state and business lead- borough, Paris-Le Bourget, were also used for adver- ville, France, 1992) and for
ers, Concorde sometimes and Oshkosh AirVenture, tising purposes (includ- observing solar eclipses
made special flights for as well as national parades ing for Pepsi), for Olympic (including 1973 and 1999).
demonstrations, and air and celebrations in France torch relays (XVI. Winter
90 Records

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
Records
Concorde not only looked the New World, the US- al Airport in 31 hours, 27 with more than 600,000 su-
like a record-breaking air- based charter firm Con- minutes 49 seconds. This personic – many more than
craft promising speed, she corde Spirit Tours char- flight included six refuelling all of the other superson-
also delivered numerous tered Air France’s Sierra stops at Toulouse, Dubai, ic aircraft in the Western
records in civil aviation. On Delta (F-BTSD) and cir- Bangkok, Andersen Air world combined. On her fi-
13 February 1985, a Con- cumnavigated the world in Force Base on Guam, Ho- nal flight to the Museum of
corde charter flight flew 32 hours, 49 minutes and nolulu, and Acapulco. Flight in November 2003,
from London Heathrow to 3 seconds, from Lisbon, On 7 February 1996 Brit- British Airways’ Alpha Golf
Sydney, Australia, in 17 Portugal. This westbound ish Airways’ Alpha Delta (G-BOAG) set a New York
hours, 3 minutes and 45 record flight included six (G-BOAD) made the fast- City–Seattle speed record
seconds, including refuel- refuelling stops at Santo est transatlantic airliner of 3 hours, 55 minutes and
ling stops. Domingo, Acapulco, Hono- flight from New York JFK to 12 seconds. Due to the
Concorde also set the lulu, Guam, Bangkok, and London Heathrow in just 2 restrictions on supersonic
official ‘Westbound Around Bahrain. On 15–16 August hours, 52 minutes and 59 flights over US territory, the
the World’ as well as the 1995, Sierra Delta also set seconds from take-off to Canadian authorities grant-
‘Eastbound Around the the eastbound record un- touchdown (aided by a 175 ed Concorde permission to
World’ world air speed der Concorde Spirit Tours mph or 282 kph tailwind). overfly sparsely populated
records. On 12–13 Octo- charter. This promotional On 2 March 1999, exactly Canadian territory for the
ber 1992, commemorat- flight circumnavigated the thirty years after her maid- majority of the journey.
ing the 500th anniversary world from New York John en flight in 1969, Concorde
of Columbus’ landing in F. Kennedy Internation- had flown 920,000 hours,
Concorde flying at twice the speed of sound – Mach 2. In comparison: the early British Airways Mach meter (top),
[© Gérard Duval] and the latest Mach meter in use until 2003.
[© Left: © Adrian Meredith / Right: © Johnathan Safford]
91

The Captain’s Eye View
“What pilot – from the flyer of a light aircraft to the most
braid-decked jetliner captain – has not dreamed of one day
piloting Concorde? Some of us have realized this dream:
Concorde is our field marshal’s baton. To those who are still
hoping for the day when they will fly Concorde, we can say
that this is a fantastic machine with a revolutionary wing
which will bring them, too, new sensations and the same
feeling of pride at taking a giant step up the ladder of speed.”
– Pierre Dudal, former AF Concorde chief pilot
A supersonic journey be- described by Captain An- “The highly experienced comes together. The simu-
tween London and New drew, general manager, British Airways crews cho- lator is ‘flown’ to New York,
York, as seen from a Con- flight technical services, sen to fly Concorde have Tokyo, or anywhere in the
corde flight deck, was British Airways, in 1977: to go back to school be- world, while problems of
fore they can operate this every kind are thrown in
beautiful supersonic air- and dealt with.
craft in service. Each crew Only when the coveted
consists of a captain, who ‘Concorde’ endorsements
has probably been flying are entered in their licences
for about twenty-five years, are the pilots and flight en-
a co-pilot and a flight engi- gineers qualified to operate
neer. on the routes. But they will
They spend two to three still be under supervision
months on Concorde con- until British Airways is sat-
version courses at the air- isfied that each has suffi-
line’s Technical Training cient experience to operate
Centre. The crews learn on his own.
how to manage the aircraft About ninety minutes be-
and its equipment safely fore take-off, the captain
and efficiently, and how and crew check the pro-
to identify and deal with posed routing in the brief-
malfunctions. This usual- ing room. The weather at
ly involves no more than destination – say New York
switching over to a stand- – is forecast to be cloudy,
by system – most are du- with a lowish ceiling of 300
plicated and many are trip- feet and poor visibility of
licated. one mile for arrival. This is
The next stage is the no problem at all with the
flight simulator – a Con- dual autopilot that will land
corde in every respect but the aircraft safely in much
Concorde pilots during their regular simulator training, 1970s. one. It never leaves the worse conditions. Weather
Over time, these machines become more sophisticated. ground. Here the picture at Montreal is good.
92 The Captain’s Eye View

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
London has a westerly

wind and Runway 28 left
will be used for take-off.
The noise abatement pro-
cedure is studied and the
captain looks again at the
route. Climb at subsonic
speed to Hartland Point,
then accelerate and climb
to 51,000 feet on route ‘Al-
pha’, which runs south of
Ireland and Newfoundland,
and then reduce speed
some 350 miles from New
York. A climbing cruise is
planned to save fuel – nor-
mal fuel reserves allowing Concorde showing her graceful lines. Photos like this were used as a backdrop for ad-
vertising images promoting exclusive automobiles such as the BMW M1 in 1978.
diversion from New York
[© Air France]
to Montreal are available –
and there is a full load of
passengers.
The fuel figure is con- culate swiftly the required and balance sheet is wheels. Climbing rapidly
firmed and the crew leaves track and the distance and brought to the captain. at this speed, the captain
for the aircraft to begin the time to that point. They Doors are closed and the calls for climb power be-
checks. While the flight en- provide a signal to the pi- first engine is started. It fore the first houses are
gineer supervises fuelling, lots’ instruments which is 11 a.m. in London and reached. This reduces
the co-pilot begins a sys- show whether the aircraft you are due in New York in community noise effective-
tematic check of the air- is right or left of track, and three hours forty minutes – ly while providing an ade-
craft systems. Soon the en- to the autopilot, so that the at 9.40 a.m. New York time. quate and safe climb. Over
gineer returns to the flight aircraft flies automatically Once all checks are Woodley radio beacon at
deck to carry out his part from one waypoint to the completed and cleared for 4,000 feet, the air traffic
of the check. Meanwhile next. take-off on the runway, the controller clears the aircraft
the captain has loaded the The captain will also set captain opens the throttles to climb to 26,000 feet to
en-route waypoints into up conventional radio aids and releases the brakes. Hartland Point.
the three inertial naviga- for the first part of his de- Four green lights tell the The visor is raised. There
tion systems (INSs). Each parture. He knows that crew that reheat is oper- is an amazing noise cut-off
inertial system has its own he can expect a Brecon ating. This provides extra when this is done and the
very accurate gyros and One departure – the stan- power. Your feel the tre- flight deck becomes very
accelerometers that de- dard routing to the west mendous thrust as the four quiet. Speed is increased
tect any movement of the – “Climb straight ahead af- powerful engines acceler- to 460 mph [735 kph] for
aircraft. These movements ter take-off to pick up the ate the aircraft swiftly and the climb. The captain se-
are passed as signals to 263° bearing of the London smoothly down the runway. lects the autopilot – 26,000
the three INS computers VOR (radio direction-find- At 200 mph [320 kph] the feet on the automatic
that calculate automatical- ing beacon) and, at seven captain begins to raise the height capture – 400 knots
ly speed and track, wind miles’ range from London nose and at 230 mph [370 on the airspeed hold – INS
effect, and the aircraft’s DME [distance-measuring kph] the aircraft leaves the guidance – and Concorde
position to a tenth of a mile. equipment], turn right to ground and climbs away. is on its way with fully au-
When the captain loads Woodley beacon and make Acceleration is rapid and tomatic control, but always
into each INS computer the good a track of 275°. Cross the initial noise abatement under the watchful eye of
latitude and longitude of Woodley at 4,000 feet.” speed of 290 mph [465 the crew.
the various points along the The passengers are kph] is reached as soon as Passing the coast, clear-
route, the computers cal- boarding and the weight the co-pilot has raised the ance is received to accel-
93

At 200 mph [320 kph] the captain begins to raise the nose and at 230 mph [370 kph] Concorde leaves the ground and
climbs away with rapid acceleration.
[© Art Brett]
erate and climb to 51,000 Once supersonic, the a window it is cool. Climb- is selected on the autopi-
feet. The flight engineer has flight becomes rock ing slowly as weight re- lot. As you join the ILS [in-
already begun to transfer steady. Disturbances are duces, the aircraft reaches strument landing system]
some fuel to the rear trim left behind as you climb the deceleration point 350 radio beam, the captain
tank to compensate for the well above the clouds into miles from New York and calls: “Gear down – land-
movement of the centre of the stratosphere. The sky now at a height of 58,000 ing check.” The nose and
lift as speed increases. takes on that darker hue feet. visor have been lowered
At 26,000 feet and cruis- familiar to astronauts. Far New York weather is still to give good vision during
ing at Mach 0.93, the below, the subsonic air- fairly misty, but this pres- the approach and the au-
captain increases power. liners are moving out on ents no problem. Throttle topilot steers the aircraft
Almost immediately you their eight-hour flight to back and the Concorde de- accurately down the beam,
are through Mach 1 – the New York. Concorde swift- scends towards the Deer watched carefully by the
speed of sound – and be- ly passes each one and is Park radio facility, where crew.
ginning the climb. In the soon 500 miles from Lon- all New York procedures Over the threshold,
cabin the passengers will don, starting the climbing begin. Fifteen minutes later throttles close for a fully
notice nothing as Concorde cruise at Mach 2. The high the New York controller has automatic landing. Gen-
passes Mach 1. Concorde speed has heated the nose instructed the aircraft to tly select reverse thrust
moves effortlessly into and leading edges of the leave Deer Park, heading and brakes, then taxi in to
supersonic speed, to the wings to 125°C. Outside 210° for a landing on Run- the BA terminal only three
mode of flight for which it the passenger windows way 4 right. hours forty minutes after
was designed and where it the surface temperature is The final radios are set leaving London.”
performs so beautifully. 100°C, but when you touch and checked. ‘Land’ mode
94 The Captain’s Eye View

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
A Concorde captain and a member of the ground staff chat after the aircraft’s arrival. The relationship between
Concorde’s crew and the ground staff was very close.
95

Mach 2 Passenger
by Ben Wang, United States
“We flew faster than the sun and I

gained an extra hour in my life!”
Being a child of the 1970s told myself I had to fly on the British Airways Lounge (with Pam) followed; it was
and interested in aviation, her … it was now or nev- Pavilion to check in for my so relaxing that I thought
it was hard not to notice er. In early May, I booked flight. From the Concorde I was going to fall asleep.
Concorde. Who wouldn’t the special one-way World Room I then went down- At the bar I ordered a Chi-
want to fly on her? I al- Traveller economy Con- stairs to the Molton Brown nese prawn salad and then
ways wanted to. When corde ticket for 1 July. Spa. A shower room was grabbed a table. When our
Concorde’s retirement was After arriving at London instantly available and after aircraft, Alpha Golf (G-BO-
announced in April 2003, I Heathrow Airport I entered a shower, a back massage AG), arrived at 16:50, there
The e-ticket receipt for Ben

Wang’s flight on Concorde.
In comparison: in 1977, the
one-way fare from London
to New York was £430, in
2003 it was £4,600.
[© All photos: © Ben Wang]
The Concorde Room at the Lounge Pavilion. The main seating area inside the Concorde Room shortly
before departure.
96 Mach 2 Passenger

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
Alpha Golf (G-BOAG) at the gate. Today, she is preserved at the Museum of Flight, Seattle, United States.
was a definite air of ex- ting photos taken in their seatmate pointed out, even 1 minute 16 seconds after
citement in the Concorde seats, in the aisles, and of though the seats were new, brake release, engine pow-
Room. Enthusiastic, cam- the cabin speed displays there were many clues we er would be cut 90 percent
era-laden tourists mingled showing ‘Welcome to Con- were in an aircraft from the and the angle of attack
with seasoned business- corde’. I looked at the small 1970s. For example, on would be reduced. He ex-
people who just wanted to double-layered window. the overhead service units plained this was perfectly
catch a few winks or get The inside window was the reading lamp and the normal and there was noth-
some work done on their about the size of a normal flight-attendant-call push ing to worry about. Then at
laptops. I just stood at the airliner window, but the buttons just looked old and 8,000 feet, we would go
window and stared at my outside one was only a bit yellowed. The audio ad- back to full power before
ride of a lifetime. larger than a passport. justment knobs were rotary reaching 26,000 feet for
The boarding announce- The cradle seat seemed style. our subsonic cruise. Once
ment for BA 001 Concorde comfortable to sleep in fully Captain Andy Mills an- over the ocean, we would
finally came. I took my seat reclined, but I didn’t try it. nounced we would be tak- go to full power with reheat
12D, grabbed my camera The armrest was extremely ing off on Runway 27R and [afterburners]. We took po-
and told my seatmate I was narrow. When you folded explained the noise abate- sition on the runway and
going to get photos of the it up, it twisted away into ment procedures (“to make held for a while … the an-
cabin. People were get- the seat … neat. As my us more neighbourly”). At ticipation was killing me.
97

During our takeoff roll at ly that noticeable unless I drive, running around with tire flight. The first pair of
18:53, the engines sound- was looking at the things our dinner service. One reheats came on, and I got
ed exactly as I’d heard closer to the runway. We flight attendant served a feeling of being pushed
when watching Concorde rotated and condensation champagne while anoth- from behind. Then the next
take off at New York JFK: appeared over the wing. er served mineral water. pair came on, got another
like a fighter jet … pure Cool! The power was very Canapés followed. The kick from behind, and with
power. And loud, too! I sat quickly cut back and we captain came on and ex- it a feeling of acceleration.
up in my seat for a bet- pitched down significantly. plained the reheats would Within seconds, we are
ter look outside to see us Shortly thereafter, cabin be coming on again as we through the sound barrier
speeding down the runway. service started. The menu went through the transonic and over Mach 1.
Although I knew we were was passed out and the region. I thought this was The ride was very
going fast, it wasn’t real- cabin staff went into over- the coolest part of the en- smooth and there was no
Ben Wang poses next to the Mach meter at twice the speed of sound.
Appetizers: Lobster and tabbouleh salad. Entrée: New season lamb cutlets with thyme and herb
pancake wrapped in brioche, served with ginger and
redcurrant compote.
98 Mach 2 Passenger

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
Concorde touches down after an transatlantic flight. With her bullet speed, she could cross the Atlantic in less than half
the time that her subsonic contemporaries could.
sonic boom to be heard quick break from their meal back and looked through rived at 22:27 (local time in
in the cabin (but I already and grabbed their camer- both my windows using the New York was 17:27).
knew that). In fact, we went as for photos of the speed bottom frame as a point of I had left London at 18:30
to Mach 1 so quickly that I displays. At 20:02, we were reference. However, it was and I was now in New York
had missed the exact mo- still climbing when we very apparent across the at 17:30. We had flown
ment because I was look- made our choice of cheese aisle, through the windows faster than the sun and I
ing at the wrong side of the or dessert. I went with des- on the opposite side. had gained an extra hour
display – the side showing sert – vanilla and white The descent was very in my life! Later I asked
temperature and speed in chocolate créme brulée, steep and we were quick- Captain Mills what he was
miles per hour. When I saw cassis compote and bran- ly back down to Mach 1. going to fly after Concorde.
cameras flashing I looked dy snap – with a cup of Sometime after 22:00, the He responded dryly: “They
over to the other display tea. As the duty-free cart speed displays went off, re- want me to fly a ‘bus’.” We
and realized we were moved up the aisle, one placed with, ‘Thank you for all chuckled. Another per-
through the sound barrier. man bought pretty much flying Concorde’. At 22:18, son asked: “Isn’t that a bit
Now cold appetizers – lob- one or two of everything on the gears came down and of a downgrade?” The cap-
ster and tabbouleh salad – offer, including the coveted we touched down four tain replied: “They should
were served. 1976 Concorde limited edi- minutes later. Total flying just put me out to grass,
After reaching 42,000 tion Scotch whisky. time elapsed was 3 hours as I only have six months
feet at 19:25, I think the At 21:39 and at 57,000 29 minutes. The thrust re- to go to retirement.” Of
reheats went off at Mach feet, Captain Mills came versers were very loud and course I did not forget to
1.69, because I felt a on and explained we were there was a lot of braking pick up my flight certificate.
bump. Another flight atten- beginning our deceleration motion. I had to grab my The flight back home
dant took my order for the and reaching our highest al- notepad and camera from from New York to San José
entrée. I chose the lamb. At titude. The curvature of the the seat next to me so they Airport, California, on a
19:50, almost an hour after earth was not readily visible wouldn’t slide off. We made Boeing 757 was five and a
takeoff, we finally reached from one window. It was a short taxi to the gate at half hours’ long. Needless
Mach 2. Everyone took a more apparent when I sat Terminal 7 where we ar- to say, it felt like an eternity.
99

A Guest in the Cockpit
“They say if you concentrate you can just feel a tiny lurch –
matched in the cockpit by a blip on the instruments – as the
aircraft punches its way through the sound barrier at Mach 1.”
For most people a trip on front at the business end of instruments before him, although the fault was mi-
Concorde was the epito- of Concorde flight BA003, throwing this switch and nor, it would be safer ‒ and
me of luxury and speed. squeezed into the tiny tweaking that knob, remind- quicker ‒ to call the standby
For those who never got cockpit – this was before ing me of an organ player ‒ aircraft [a second Concorde
the opportunity of flying on September 11, of course – with several keyboards. ready to be used in case
her, Paul Jeffries takes you with Captain Stuart Bates, Most modern aircraft the scheduled one suffered
through the supersonic ad- First Officer Paul Bandall have computers to monitor technical problems]. Con-
venture. and Senior Flight Engineer the multitude of technical corde G-BOAB took over
“Flying on Concorde Alex Jones, to get a differ- goings-on but Concorde’s her sister’s duties.
was for most people who ent view. 1960s design meant every- I strapped myself into the
did so a once-in-a-lifetime And what a view it was thing was strictly manual. jump seat and pulled on a
thrill, an unforgettable ex- ‒ at least, what I could see “Generally, it runs like clock- set of headphones ‒ my
perience, something that a of it. Perched on the jump work,” Alex added, “with ticket into the strange world
few were privileged to do. seat I was surrounded by a the occasional exception.” of air-traffic-control-and-
Let’s face it, the only oth- myriad of dials, switches, Unfortunately, the occa- flight-crew-tech talk. Sitting
er way to tear through the lights and levers that cov- sional exception would be so far forward there was
skies at twice the speed ered virtually every surface that evening when an over- relatively little noise from
of sound was to become of the cockpit. I tried to heat light for one of the four the engines as Stuart and
a fighter pilot ‒ except you make myself even small- engines illuminated during Paul hauled back on the
wouldn’t be able to sup er for fear of accidentally taxiing. Within minutes of throttles. But releasing the
champagne as you relaxed brushing against one of the aircraft returning to the brakes was like letting go of
in leather-bound luxury. I the controls and perhaps stand, engineers were in- a furious cat and we thun-
took my opportunity a few setting off alarm bells that vestigating the problem. dered down the runway at
years back as a courier for would trigger my expulsion “We have some of the most over 200 mph, eating up
British Airways World Car- from the cockpit faster than dedicated engineers on this the tarmac at a dizzying
go, carrying documents an ejector seat. aircraft,” said Stuart after rate, the terminal buildings
to New York in return for a Looking ahead, between discussing the problem with and hotels either side dis-
Concorde ticket at a snip. Stuart and Paul as they licensed aircraft engineer appearing into a bumpy
For just £200 I would join ticked through the last of Ian Fox. “I trust the guys on blur. My stomach was in
hot-shot executives, celeb- their pre-flight checks and the ramp implicitly.” my mouth and then in my
rities and the generally well- fired up the feisty Olympus Ian worked with British boots as we rocketed into
heeled and fly British Air- engines one by one, I could Aerospace at Fairford in the night sky, our passage
ways’ supersonic flagship just see the taxiway in the the 1960s and early 1970s no doubt viewed by people
to the Big Apple, returning grey distance before Con- during Concorde’s devel- gazing up in awe ‒ just as I
by subsonic Boeing 747. corde’s drooped nose. opment and knew the air- had done ‒ at the blue-or-
The supersonic trans- “Concorde is a lovely craft from nose cone to tail- ange glow of the reheats.
atlantic dash is a story aircraft but it keeps you on fin. He and his colleagues Climbing sharply, Con-
told many times before, your toes,” Alex told me as carried out a number of corde’s drooping nose
so I’d arranged to ride up he checked the plethora checks and decided that was raised and the air-
100 A Guest in the Cockpit

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
craft’s windscreen shield
[visor] whirred upward and
snapped into position. We
were ready to go super-
sonic. The reheats were
on, pumping gallons of
fuel into the fiery exhaust
nozzles on each engine,
moon rocket-style, tearing
the air with a roar like an
Apollo space launch and
thrusting us on towards
the speed of sound. The
instruments charting Con-
corde’s increasing altitude
and velocity (and plunging
outside temperature) were
mirrored in the cabin by
displays on the bulkheads.
They say if you concen-
trated you could just feel a
tiny lurch ‒ matched in the
cockpit by a blip on the in-
struments ‒ as the aircraft
punched its way through
the sound barrier at Mach
1, around 675 mph. The
afterburners stayed on un-
til Concorde had reached
between Mach 1.4 and 1.7;
from there the speeds built
slowly to Mach 2 ‒ around
1,350 mph.
The higher the altitude,
the thinner the air and the
less resistance it produc-
es; the colder the air, the
more power is produced.
Concorde flew at between
53,000 and 58,000 feet off ‒ enough to carry a Boe- would sip their way through nology that made it possi-
where the temperature ing 757 well into Europe, some 1,800 cases of cham- ble to carry a hundred pas-
could drop to minus 70°C. explained Alex. Yet most pagne each year, accom- sengers across the Atlantic
But there was a tight oper- of Concorde’s passengers panied by heaps of caviar faster than a jet fighter, it
ational ‘envelope’, in which were sublimely unaware and smoked salmon. There was the pilots who flew it
the best performance was of such a feat of aviation was a lot of fine living to get and the engineers who
obtained by optimizing al- engineering being played done in a little over three looked after it. It was the
titude, air temperature and out, quite routinely, around hours ‒ around half the time thrill of experiencing one
fuel burn rate. them. Instead they were re- it took to fly to New York on of civil aviation’s greatest
Interestingly, it took 10.7 laxing and soaking up the a normal aircraft. achievements, and it was
tonnes of fuel for Concorde first-rate inflight service. But it’s not the luxury that the satisfaction of being
to reach Mach 1.65 when At the height of its career, made flying on Concorde able to say: “Yes, I flew on
the reheats were switched Concorde’s passengers so special. It was the tech- Concorde.”
101

A Subsonic Experience
by Aris Pappas
to Dallas, where Concorde et on a scheduled 727 for on the route, whose regular-
could overnight, make an the Concorde experience. ly scheduled flight time was
early departure, and be in Braniff was trying to at- two and a half hours.
place for the first morning tract high-rolling business The meal service was
flights across the Atlantic. people headed to London exceptional. The air was
An agreement was reached or Paris, so they didn’t smooth, but I found Con-
between the three airlines skimp on the service. Con- corde to feel a bit stiff. Per-
for either a French or a Brit- corde passengers had their haps the short delta wings
ish Concorde to continue own lounge at Dallas, where did not flex a lot, but it was
on to Texas every evening, they could enjoy some pas- not enough to notice if you
With a mighty roar Con- with a fully qualified Bran- tries and, of course, cham- weren’t an airplane fanatic
corde streaked down the iff crew. Flight 54 was the pagne. At the appointed trying to soak up every as-
runway, her reheats lit and Braniff flight that would re- time we were taken out to pect of the experience. I’m
first-class-plus passengers turn the aircraft to Dulles in the aircraft where I was a not sure of our cruising al-
comfortably anticipating time for its daily labors. bit surprised at the relatively titude, but as promised we
a short flight. The beauti- One problem had to be cramped conditions. Seat- were able to watch as we
ful white livery on the air- overcome: Federal Avia- ing was four across in a cab- passed 727s well below us.
plane identified it as an Air tion Authority restrictions in that while clean and neat, And, our cabin Mach meter
France airliner, and it would required U.S. airlines to fly pretty much resembled the got up to .97, just short of
eventually carry most of only U.S.-registered aircraft. ubiquitous 727 and DC-9. the speed of sound.
its passengers to Paris. The solution was unique Not uncomfortable, but not The only aspect of the
But this May 1979 flight and a plane-spotter’s dream opulent either. First class on entire flight that passengers
wasn’t an Air France flight. … or nightmare. The French any Boeing 747 was signifi- were likely to notice, beside
It was Braniff International and British aircraft were for- cantly more impressive. the roar at take-off, was the
Flight 54, an early morn- mally reregistered to Braniff The captain welcomed us landing. Concorde’s delta
ing departure from Dallas, every evening at Dulles and aboard and warned us that wing required an especially
Texas to Dulles Airport, then brought back to British when the afterburners were high angle of attack as the
Washington DC. The flight and French registry every closed during climb-out the airplane slowed for landing.
and cabin crew were both morning. This arrangement sudden reduction in noise You definitely could tell that
Braniff, and Concorde was required a change in the would make it sound like the you were leaning way back
sporting a U.S. registration outside registration on the engines had quit. He then in your seat because you
number, N94FD. aircraft, where a stick-on told us that we would be had to look almost over
How did this come ‘N’ covered the ‘G’ or ‘F’ on flying higher and faster than your shoulder to see out
about? Enterprising exec- the fuselage. Voila! F-94FD other aircraft on the route, the cabin window.
utives at Braniff had no- became N94FD. although with what sound- When we landed at Dull-
ticed that the final flights of The fares were quite rea- ed to me like regret, he also es, as expected, the crew
the day, by the British and sonable for the short flight. told us that we would not be welcomed us to Wash-
French Concordes, were re- According to The New York flying faster than the speed ington DC, thanked us for
maining overnight at Dulles Times, the one-way fares of sound, thanks again to flying Braniff and wished
because it was too late for to Paris and London were restrictions of the Federal everyone traveling on to
a return trip to Europe and $1038 and $987 respec- Aviation Administration. We Paris a good journey. To
the planes needed to be in tively. But the fare from would, however, be flying my embarrassment, I was
place for morning depar- Dallas to Dulles was only roughly 100 mph faster than the only passenger to get
tures to London and Paris. $169. It was that economi- the Boeing 727s. In fact, our off at Dulles. So much for
But, there was enough time cal bargain that allowed me flight would be about half an my sharing experiences
left in the day for a flight to upgrade an existing tick- hour less than the other jets with the high rollers!
102 A Subsonic Experience

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
Each Concorde had a total of hundred passenger seats in The cabin layout of Air France’s Concordes during the 1970s.
two cabins. [All photos © Aris Pappas]
Close-up of the cabin’s overhead lights and the air ventilation No matter if you flew at subsonic or supersonic speeds,
system. Concorde’s meal service was always exceptional.
103

Working as Cabin Crew on Concorde
“If I close my eyes I can still feel the thrust and noise of the engines as
we hurtled down the runway and the realization that I had made my
dreams come true to fly and be part of cabin crew on this historic aircraft.”
– Suzanne O’Donoghue – Concorde cabin crew
For many flight attendants, I definitely had the travel ger than two years of ser-
or cabin crew, it was the bug; the other was that vice. I received my letter of
ultimate experience and my sister had just become acceptance and started my
personal fulfilment to work a cabin crew member for adventure flying on Con-
on board Concorde and British Airways. For years corde.”
be part of such a special I had watched Concorde Suzanne remembers
and loved aircraft. Many flying in and out of Heath- what it took to be a good
felt very privileged to even row and gazed in awe at cabin crew member: “You
apply for one of the few her grace and beauty as had to be quick! You need-
positions available. Among she leapt into the sky with ed to have a good sense of
these candidates was Su- her burners glowing red. I humour, and enjoy working
zanne O’Donoghue who eventually got my chance in cramped, hot condi-
had started her flying ca- in 1995 when BA started tions. You had to be able
reer with British Airways in to recruit for new cabin to adapt, be friendly and of
October 1984 on long-haul crew on board Concorde, course you had to have a
Boeing 747 aircraft. It had I applied and went through beaming smile at all times.
been her life time ambi- the selection process with The camaraderie between
tion to fly on Concorde, so many other hopefuls. The the crew members was
when she had the chance process was quite intense, lovely – it was like being
to work on her, she couldn’t we had to sit formal inter- part of an extended family
believe her luck: views in front of a panel, where we all looked after
“I decided to become a write about why we should each other, we all knew
flight attendant for two rea- be selected, be immacu- we were part of something
sons: I had just completed late in uniform and have an very special.”
six months’ backpack- unblemished flying career
ing around Australia and with British Airways for lon-
Watch Video:
Commer-
cial Flight
to
Suzanne O’Donoghue was New York
a Concorde crew member A sign of Concorde pride – Suzanne’s
for three years. British Airways name badge. Please see instructions
[© Suzanne O’Donoghue] [© Suzanne O’Donoghue] on page 2.
104 Working as Cabin Crew on Concorde

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
Working on board Concorde

“A typical day on Con- immaculate for the passen-
corde would be checking gers waiting in the lounge.
into Compass Centre Crew Concorde passengers
check-in desk and going would have their coats tak-
to the briefing room where en from them in the Con-
you would meet the other corde lounge and it was the
crew on board the flight ground staff who brought
that day. We had six crew the coats to the aircraft for
members on board, so it us to safely stow them in
was always informal as the wardrobes before the
we all generally knew each passengers boarded. Even
other. The Concorde uni- the suitcases were placed
form was the same as oth- in zip-lock bags so that
er fleets except the name they wouldn’t get dirty in
badge; we also had to wear the aircraft hold.
the uniform hat for board- “We would then assume
Throughout Concorde’s career her service and food met
ing and disembarking. The our boarding positions to the highest standards, adding to the exclusivity of a
in-charge crew member welcome the passengers, Concorde flight. [© Adrian Meredith]
would inform all the crew and turn the music on as
of any important informa- the passengers started to
tion that we needed to board. It was always known tablecloths and fine china, bottle openers, address
know, e.g. special passen- that certain passengers linen and napkins with but- books, photo albums etc.
gers that we had or special liked to sit in the front three tonholes in. Usually the cold All of this would have to be
meals on board. We would rows of the aircraft. The front starter would be seafood, completed in under three
then choose our working cabin seated forty passen- followed by a choice of main: and a half hours which was
positions for the flight. The gers and the rear cabin six- fillet of prime beef or game. sometimes a challenge
flight deck usually joined us ty, both cabins receiving the Salad was also always of- if you had a full aircraft of
and gave us a flight time, same service. When board- fered. Then it would be the hundred passengers.”
weather report and ETA [es- ed all the passengers would cheese selection served
timated time of arrival] into be offered vintage cham- with vintage port. Dessert
our destination. Once we pagne or soft drinks, hot would be a fresh fruit salad.
were all properly informed, towels, menus and news- After this we would serve tea
paperwork signed and papers. We would then take and coffee with petit fours
money collected for the a drinks order to be served and mints. The wine list
duty-free sales, we would straight after take-off. Then was all vintage. I remember
all climb onto the crew it would be push back and one of our longer-serving
bus and be taken directly the safety briefing where crew members saying that
to the awaiting aircraft. As you would feel the excited he wanted to come back
soon as we boarded we anticipation as Concorde as a Concorde sink when
would check our safety prepared for lift-off. he died, as we had to pour
equipment and the catering “We were airborne with- any open bottles of wine
trolleys for the meals and in thirty seconds, it felt like and champagne down the
canapés, all checks being taking off in a space rocket. sink before landing. We also
given to the in-charge crew Once airborne we would offered cigars in the days of
member; we would also start the drinks round served onboard smoking.
make sure that drinks were on silver trays followed “Once completed we
served to the flight crew. by canapés of caviar with would offer duty frees. Be-
We would make sure that mother-of-pearl spoons. fore landing the crew would
Flight attendants posing with their be-
the toilets and cabin had “After a second round of hand out Concorde gifts
loved Concorde. She was not just a
been properly ‘dressed’ so drinks we would start to lay to the passengers which work place, she was a place of dreams.
the seats and cabin looked up for the meal service with could be silver hip flasks, [© British Airways]
105

“The smile and enthusiasm of our passengers as they
disembarked after landing was always a real reward for us.”
– Annick Moyal, Air France Concorde cabin crew
Annick Moyal joined Air scribes her working day of champagne and caviar Burgundy wines. Before
France in 1973. Five years on board: “After our brief- toast points. Then lunch or the tragic events of 9/11
on, while working as a ing we would check the dinner would follow, which security standards were
flight attendant on long- passenger list to be aware for example could be paté different, so our passen-
haul flights to East Africa of our ‘guests’ of the day. foie gras, lobster or cav- gers were allowed to visit
and the Indian Ocean, her For security reasons, some iar. Our passengers were the flight deck.
supervisor asked her to of them – businessmen, offered special menus by “As soon as the descent
join Concorde: “My train- bankers, politicians – had well-known French chefs, began we handed out cus-
ing started in 1978 as Air checked in under assumed prepared on the ground by toms forms and addressed
France needed additional names. The list also provid- the Air France catering de- various individual passen-
flight attendants for the ed information about var- partment dedicated to our ger requests such as find-
newly established route to ious passenger requests Concorde clients. We only ing a helicopter to get from
New York. An exact cabin such as special menus or had to warm them up in the JFK Airport to Manhattan or
mock-up was our ‘class- certain passengers’ hab- galley ovens. Vegetarian, chartering a private aircraft.
room’ for two weeks. In its we should be aware of. Indian, kosher, or Muslim Before touching down in
a few words, we learned We would meet our regular dishes were available and New York, we would se-
how to move the trolleys and new passengers in the served upon request. After cure the cabin and as soon
and serve our passengers lounge which was a nice the meal, we would offer as we had landed, we re-
in such a narrow working way to greet them. various French cheeses. turned the coats we had
space. Our training mot- “After take-off we would Concorde carried France’s collected before the flight.
to was ‘l’Excellence à la start our service by offer- best products including The smiles and enthusiasm
Française’.” Annick de- ing our passengers a glass marvellous Bordeaux and of our passengers as they
Flight attendants on the Air France Concordes could

choose between different uniform colours. The first
uniform (1976–85) was designed by Patou, the second From the mid-1990s to Concorde’s retirement in 2003,
(1986–94) and the third (1994–2003) by Nina Ricci. This male Air France flight attendants wore spencer jackets
photo shows the second uniform. while serving meals.
[© Air France Museum] [© Air France Museum]
106 The Age of Concorde

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
disembarked after landing the American group ‘The

were always a real reward Green Stamps Company’
for us. Concorde helped (Sperry Hutchinson), in
me get together with my charge of one of its sub-
husband Claude. I was in- sidiaries. With reinsurance
troduced to him during a being an international
dinner party at a New York business I had American
restaurant, and I met him and European clients and
again as a passenger on had to travel across the
Concorde two years later.” world to various financial
Claude Moyal remem- markets: I had two offices
bers his flights: “Although in the United States (New
I wasn’t one of Concorde’s York and Los Angeles), and
most important passen- two in Europe (Paris and
gers, I certainly was one London). To stay a step
of the most frequent flyers, ahead of my competitors
with about 200 flights. My I used to take Concorde
professional career had to New York where my
been closely connected to head office was located.
the Anglo-Saxon business After a few days of work-
community: I used to work ing there I would go on a
in the reinsurance sector regular (subsonic) flight
which is widely unknown to Los Angeles. When fly-
to the general public as the ing with American airlines,
business negotiations take their captains would al-
place between insurance ways inform us passengers
professionals and their that there was a Concorde
reinsurance counterparts taking off for everyone to The last cabin design of the Air France Concordes was
– the reinsurance experts see as she seemed to en- created by French designer André Putman in the mid-
1990s. Putman, who flew with Concorde several times,
are the financial backers joy the privilege of being also designed the seats and the cutlery.
of insurance companies. allowed to depart before all [© Air France Museum]
During the later phase of other commercial flights.
my career, I worked with Being a Frenchman, one
can imagine how proud I “But by the end of the

was listing to the captain’s day, I would drop dead in
enthusiastic praise about my bed! Although my body
Concorde... I felt as if I had would wake me up in the
built that aircraft! I would middle of the night at 3:00
stop by at my Paris office New York time, this at least
at 8:30, arrive at CDG Air- would give me the oppor-
port for departure at 11:00 tunity to make my man-
and touch down at JFK at datory phone calls to my
9:00 local time (15:00 Paris Paris office at 9:00 Paris
time). There, I would work time. This was a time when
until 16:00 (22:00 Paris video conferencing was
time) and then go to my not common yet. My inter-
apartment where I would continental travellings last-
call my L.A. office. Being ed approximately twelve
on two continents on the years, until 1987. The fol-
Annick Moyal with her husband Claude. She worked as a same day was a privilege lowing year I got married to
Concorde flight attendant from 1978 until 1989. only Concorde could offer. Annick.”
[© Annick Moyal]
107

A Supersonic Challenge
“She was complex and full of surprises. Sometimes the fleet
would be as good as gold, other times all five would play up.
I sometimes wondered if they talked to each other!”
Flight Engineers
At one time there were Hero’. Although the list boat days of the 1930s. their peak in the 1980s, Air
hundreds of them at Air of potential recipients is Concorde’s retirement in France and British Airways
France and British Airways. long, one group of people 2003 witnessed more than each had numerous flight
But with the march of tech- frequently made an ap- just the end of commercial engineers.
nology, the number of flight pearance at the top: flight supersonic travel. She was Their working day started
engineers on board com- engineers ‒ or engineering the last jet at Air France and about an hour before take-
mercial aircraft dwindled officers to give them their British Airways with flight off, when they would car-
until they were only needed correct titles. They have engineers working in the ry out a strictly organized
on Concorde. There are a been an integral part of cockpit, so her retirement routine of inspections and
number of candidates for both Air France and Brit- also marked the end of that pre-flight checks. Once air-
the title ‘Unsung Aviation ish Airways since the flying role within both airlines. At borne, the flight engineer’s
work continued, constant-
ly monitoring the aircraft’s
fuel, hydraulics, electrical
systems and engines. This
also combined the inte-
grated duties of flight path
monitoring and navigation,
work they shared with the
pilots.
Warren Hazelby spent
ten years years as British
Airways’ chief flight engi-
neer: “The three-man crew
concept was introduced
in the early 1970s and re-
quired the flight engineers
to be trained on basic navi-
gation, weather and aircraft
performance. Pilots were
given more in-depth tech-
nical knowledge and three
crew members worked as
a team with the captain in
charge. It was a great suc-
cess and made the flight
engineer a key member
The flight engineer was a key member of the flight crew until computers gradually took of the team.” Ian Kirby re-
over. members, why he decid-
108 A Supersonic Challenge

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
ed to become a Concorde
flight engineer: “I am an en-
gineer at heart and to just
be the pilot of such a ma-
chine was not enough for
me. I had to know and un-
derstand Concorde’s work-
ings, how she achieved her
aims and what to do when
she refused to cooperate
from time to time.”
Concorde was the su-
preme example of the
flight engineer’s art, with
four times as many con-
trols as the classic Boeing
747. Pierre Grange who
was an Air France 747 pi-
lot and who would become
a Concorde pilot in 1984,
remembers his first visit to
Former Concorde flight engineer Ian Kirby in the pilot seat.
a Concorde in Mexico: “I
[© Ian Kirby]
put my hand on the con-
trol panels and the throt-
tles and said to myself that
it would be amazing to be the position of the centre aviation career as an Air Concorde test pilots Jean
able to fly this machine. of gravity by moving fuel France flight engineer on Pinet, Gilbert Defer, Hen-
While standing in front of fore and aft during flight. the Caravelle and vari- ri Perrier, and Jean-Pierre
the flight engineer’s pan- “That was the ultimate in ous Airbus airliners. While Flamand as well as Alan
el, I immediately under- team work,” Warren Hazel- working as an instructor Heywood and Peter Hold-
stood that the work of the by says. “The movement of training foreign flight crews ing from the British Air-
flight engineer must be the fuel and acceleration/ on the Airbus A300 at the craft Corporation. When I
very complex.” Former Air deceleration must be per- Airbus facility in Toulouse, returned to Air France, my
France Concorde ground formed in unison to main- this period in the early conversion to an airline
engineer Patrick Sevestre tain adequate flight con- 1980s was decisive for him: pilot had to wait a while
agrees: “It is the number trol.” “While the Airbus A310 as I was appointed to the
of fuel system gauges and The demise of the flight was undergoing a two-per- technical flight operations
switches that is most im- engineer was pretty well son flight crew certification, department where I wrote
pressive. You have to find inevitable as the jet age several flight test engineers and translated the Airbus
your way around.” Pierre slowly but surely ushered in had begun their conversion A310 operating manu-
Grange: “A Concorde flight a change from five-person courses into professional. Eventually, I became a
crew is crew of three with flight crews to two. Many al pilots. I took advantage Concorde pilot in 1999 and
each of them performing a of the flight engineer’s of my time in Toulouse to flew her until 2003.” It is es-
specific task as part of the tasks are now performed take the theory exams for timated that in 1980 more
cooperation with the two by computer. The advent the airline pilot qualification than 3,000 aircraft carried
other flight crew members. of the 747-400 in the 1980s and improve my flying skills flight engineers all over the
Therefore, we always had signalled the beginning of on light aircraft (I had held world as part of the crew.
to be attentive and antic- the end when Boeing re- private pilot licence since Concorde was the last jet
ipate what may happen moved the flight engineer 1973). Toulouse was also to have them flying in the
next.” panel and systems became an opportunity to discov- cockpit alongside the pi-
The flight engineer’s role computerized. er the world of flight tests lots. Today they are virtual-
also involved controlling Gérard Duval began his and to meet former French ly gone.
109

Two Air France Concordes inside their maintenance hangar. [© Jean-Philippe Lemaire]
Ground Engineers
Most people who have in to land or took off.” And with a hot engine in am- the two Concordes on dis-
worked on Concorde talk the challenges of working bient temperatures of 44° play at the Musée de l’air et
about their special rela- with supersonic technol- centigrade. “You ended up de l’espace at Le Bourget
tionship with the aircraft, ogy had been there from blowing on your hands to near Paris, one being the
but perhaps none knew her the start, going back to the keep them cool to undo the prototype 001 and the oth-
quite so well as the French pioneering days of André nuts and bolts,” he said. er the Air France produc-
and British engineers who Turcat and Brian Trubshaw. But he would not have tion aircraft Sierra Delta.
knew her ‒ quite literally ‒ Karl Howard-Norris agrees missed it for the world. Asked what in his opinion
inside out. Concorde engi- that she was a challenging “I have worked on Con- makes a good ground en-
neers had to work in tight aircraft. “She was complex corde from the build, right gineer, he answers: “Gen-
spaces, sometimes using and full of surprises. Some- through her life, and I think erally speaking, it is the
mirrors to see the parts times the fleet would be as she is a wonderful aircraft.” knowledge of the aircraft’s
they were working on. And good as gold, other times Patrick Sevestre started systems and the associat-
unlike modern aircraft like all five (of originally seven his career at the Air France ed record-keeping. More
the Boeing 777, there was Concordes) would play up. training centre for aircraft specifically, it is an aware-
no plug-in self-diagnos- I sometimes wondered if mechanics at the age of ness of various problems
tic equipment to locate a they talked to each other!” fifteen. After working on and the response thereof
problem ‒ the engineers Overseas engineer Miles the Sud Aviation Caravelle in the analytical processes
had to track it down them- Jordan maintained the air- as well as on Boeing and and the ability to maintain a
selves, using knowledge craft at some of the exot- Airbus airliners, Patrick balanced perspective.
and experience accumu- ic destinations she flew to eventually maintained the Former British Airways
lated over many years. “We including Rome, Cairo and French Concordes as a ground engineer Ricky Bas-
cursed her every day for Nairobi, where she was ground engineer in equally tin summarizes a typical
her complexity,” says Brit- swamped by a sea of peo- exotic places, such as the working day: “Concorde
ish Airways senior techni- ple on her first visit there. Senegalese capital Dakar would be rolled out of the
cian Robin Chatterjee who The weather often posed which served as a stop- hangar following her regu-
can’t stifle his affection for an additional challenge. over for the Rio de Janeiro lar post-flight maintenance.
long. “Even after all that He remembers changing flights. Today, Patrick is a The aircraft would then be
time, I couldn’t stop ad- a hydraulic pump in Bah- member of a team of dedi- towed from the engineering
miring her when she came rain where he had to deal cated volunteers caring for area where she would be
110 A Supersonic Challenge

THE AGE OF CONCORDE
Many of Concorde’s design features, such as the droop

nose and sliding windscreen (visor), presented engineers
with unique maintenance tasks.
Concorde ground engineer (BA) Carl Percy uses a bore-

scope to carry out an internal inspection of one of the
prepared for flight. The air- the terminal with my team, engines.
craft would be refuelled, the and on arrival carry out the [© Adrian Meredith]
cabin ‘prepped’ for service systems checks before the
by cleaning staff and the ca- crew arrived, handing the
tering would be loaded into aircraft over to them. Be-
the forward and rear galleys. tween now and departure
While all this was going on, my team and I would wait
ground engineers would in ‘Concorde Tech’, and lis-
carry out a thorough check ten out for any problems on
of the aircraft’s various sys- VHF radio.”
tems, to get early warning of Patrick Sevestre de-
any issues that would need scribes what he and his
to be addressed before team at Air France had to
flight. One hour before de- do after Concorde’s landing:
parture the flight and cabin “As soon as the aircraft
crews arrive to prepare the had arrived at the parking Patrick Sevestre as a Concorde ground engineer in Dakar,
aircraft and cabin for flight. space, it had to be ‘re- 1982.
For my own description, I’d sponsive’ for the technical [© Patrick Sevestre]
look at the defects that were debrief. Therefore, we met
outstanding from the previ- with the flight crew to go
ous night, ensure that there through their notes taken which meant that we some- is important to celebrate
were resources in place to during the flight and dis- times were busy working on all the good things about
address these, and make cuss technical problems the aircraft for many hours.” her: “We probably won’t
sure that the service aircraft that might have occurred. Although Concorde was see another supersonic air-
were serviceable. Once the Each note had to be ad- a very demanding aircraft, craft for two or three gen-
aircraft had been towed dressed and each problem British Airways fleet plan- erations. People love this
from the airline’s engineer- had to be completely taken ning engineer Chris Had- white bird ‒ but we needn’t
ing base I would travel to care of before the next flight jigeorgiou stresses that it be too sad.”
111

CONCORDE
AS AN ICON
112 Headline

KAPITEL-HD
[© Rob Neil]
“… unrivalled to this day for her technical performance and
aesthetics, Concorde will remain a pilot’s grail for eternity.”
– Béatrice Vialle, former AF Concorde co-pilot
113

Concorde speeds down the runway for take-off – a moment charged with excitement.
Sleek and slim, Concorde much as for her speed. The remains as eye-catching tion that she served as the
was unlike anything any- design teams’ quest for the and elegant today as it flagship for Air France and
one had ever seen before. perfect aerodynamic shape was when it was rolled out British Airways for more
She captured the public’s also led to a beautiful and in 1967. It is testament for than a quarter of a centu-
imagination for her looks as timeless birdlike look that Concorde’s iconic reputa- ry. When people talk about
114 Concorde as an Icon

CONCORDE AS AN ICON
Concorde rotates and condensation appears over her delta wing.

her, they describe her the and ‘ahhs’. The love affair and anyone who touched
way one might describe with Concorde echoed or was touched by this su-
an international superstar: through the words of pilots, personic icon in some way.
graceful, glamorous, clas- cabin crew members, en-
sic – peppered with ‘oohs’ gineers, staff, passengers,
115

“As some of the Concorde pilots loved to say: ‘There are fewer
Concorde pilots in the world than there are astronauts!’”
– Iona Ferguson, former BA Concorde flight attendant
116 Headline

KAPITEL-HD
“To see the curvature of the earth for the first
time is something you never forget.”
– Suzanne O’Donoghue, former BA Concorde flight attendant
117

Concorde’s fuselage stretched about ten inches in supersonic flight. She was built with a flexible structure for ultimate
strength. After more than 5,000 hours of test and endurance flying, Concorde was the most thoroughly proven airliner
ever to go into service. The French affectionately called Concorde the ‘Bel Oiseau’ – the beautiful bird.

CONCORDE AS AN ICON
To commemorate Concorde’s 20th anniversary in 1989, the French-built production test aircraft Sierra Bravo (F-WTSB)
received a glittering blue, red and paintwork. [© Air France Museum]
119

“The only supersonic aircraft in operation, the captains
of all the other airlines on the ground would tell
their passengers: ‘look left [or right] – Concorde!’”
– Frank Debouck, former AF Concorde manager

CONCORDE AS AN ICON
121


CONCORDE AS AN ICON
Six Concordes celebrate

Ten-Year Anniversary
Photographer Adrian Mere-
dith remembers taking this
remarkable photograph on
Boxing Day (26 December)
1985 at London Heathrow:
“This shoot was set up as
a fall-back option, in case
the air-to-air photography
undertaken on Christmas
Eve 1985[see pages 128-
133] wasn’t sufficient. We
arranged for six out of the
seven British Airways Con-
cordes to be towed into a
tight fan formation which
took the ground engineers
six hours to complete. We
demonstrated the forma-
tion with small Concorde
models beforehand to
show to the engineers the
placements.A helicopter
had been hired for the
air-to-ground shoot. I was
strapped into a safety
harness, hanging out of the
side of the helicopter. The
conditions were so pre-
carious that Captain Brian
Walpole insisted we could
not shoot directly over-
head of the six Concordes
because, if we crashed, we
would have wiped out the
entire BA Concorde fleet.
The helicopter pilot finally
agreed to take me up for
just ten minutes and I shot
from the side, to capture
this photograph.”
123

Escorted by French Air Force Mirage F1 fighters, Concorde Sierra Delta (F-BTSD), under
the command of Captain Raymond Machavoine, takes President François Mitterrand to
Djibouti in the Horn of Africa for a state visit, on 12 December 1987. When Mitterrand (in-
set photo) decided to fly to French Guyana (via Dakar) to attend an Ariane rocket launch,
he requisitioned two Air France Concordes – one for the actual flight fitted out with a
presidential suite, and one as a stand-by (back-up) aircraft at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
[© Armée de l’Air Française / Inset photo: U.S. Dept. of Defense]

CONCORDE AS AN ICON
Alpha Charlie (G-BOAC) was considered the flagship of British Airways as her registration featured the initials of BOAC
(British Overseas Airways Corporation), the predecessor of British Airways
[© John Powell / johnnypowell.net]
125

“… I was impressed with the shape and construction
and the general feeling of looking at the future.”
– Philip Cairns, former BA Concorde ground engineer
126 Headline

KAPITEL-HD
127

Imaging an Icon
by Adrian Meredith
Adrian Meredith – pictured ty seconds in succession, to try and catch them up.
here with his wife Angela something that had never They started to manoeuvre
– has been a commercial been done before. and steadily flew into posi-
and aviation photographer Being December, the tion for the first formation –
since the 1970s. He has weather was dark and ‘Diamond’, then ‘Echelon’
won numerous photogra- gloomy, the sun low and and then ‘Swan’.
phy awards including the watery. We rose above the The weather was very
‘Ilford Photographer of clouds, to brighter skies poor, and each time the
The Year 1976’. For many where we circled and, as we Concordes set up for a dif-
years, Adrian undertook looked down, we saw each ferent formation, a bank of
assignments with some of Concorde pop through the cloud would roll in, and the
the world’s leading airlines clouds like a bullet. After four aircraft would have to
including British Airways, the fourth aircraft emerged break off their positioning
Emirates, Qatar and Virgin we quickly descended and for safety reasons. This
Airlines. gave chase at full throttle gave me a brief opportu-
During Concorde’s twen- and the pilots finally decid-

ty-seven years of service ed upon the ‘Diamond’, the
I have had the privilege of ‘Echelon’ and the ‘Swan’.
shooting many dramatic Nothing like this had ever
shots of her. One day I was been commercially done be-
asked by British Airways fore. Concorde senior cap-
to shoot the famous four tains Brian Walpole and John
Concordes in formation to Cook were experienced pi-
promote and commemo- lots and had a wealth of ex-
rate the tenth anniversary perience of formation flying
of Concorde’s commercial from their days in the Royal
service. This was one of Air Force. My task was to
the most important and capture in essence the group
exciting photographic as- formations. The flight plan
signments I have ever un- was to take off from Heath-
dertaken, and very pres- row, fly to Filton in Bristol, the
tigious for Concorde. The home of Concorde, down
date was Christmas Eve, the Bristol Channel, and re-
24 December 1985, the turn to London.
only day possible to photo- The Lear Jet I’d be fly-
graph four of the Concord- ing in had to be fitted with
es together, as they were optically corrective glass in
not flying commercially. the windows that wouldn’t
Many hours were spent at distort the camera’s image.
the briefing sessions, to en- We were to take off first.
sure the formations were tidy Special permission had to
to military precision. Different be granted for each Con- HM Queen Elizabeth II on board Concorde in 1977. The
formations were discussed corde to take off every thir- Royal Family were frequent travellers on Concorde.
128 Imaging an Icon

CONCORDE AS AN ICON
The late Queen Mother enjoys a visit to Concorde’s flight The Queen waves as Concorde salutes the Royal Yacht
deck on her eighty-fifth birthday in 1985. Britannia off Barbados, 1977.
[© Adrian Meredith] [© Adrian Meredith]
nity to liaise with the pilots ferent from various angles: Angela – has been a com- 1976’. For many years,
between shooting. As soon take-offs and landings can mercial and aviation pho- Adrian has undertaken as-
as the Concordes were look fantastic if shot with tographer since the 1970s. signments with some of
back in another formation, a long telephoto lens, her He was won numerous the world’s leading airlines
I knew the photography shape resembling a sweep- awards including the ‘Ilford including British Airways,
would have to be quick and ing eagle or a descending Photographer of The Year Emirates, Qatar and Virgin.
sharp. On one occasion we swan negotiating a land-
banked steeply, sweeping ing position. The most en-
over the top of the forma- joyable part of capturing
tion to get perfect overhead images of Concorde was
shots. Other photography when we covered the air-
was taken side on. During to-air assignments. Some
one stage of a particular wonderful photographs
formation, the Concordes’ were made possible with
wingtips were only seventy the use and assistance of
feet from each other. The the famous Red Arrows,
entire exercise took an hour and also an RAF Tornado
and 45 minutes, and all flying alongside Concorde
four aircraft returned safely whilst executing various
home, and thankfully I had manoeuvres. Moreover, I
all the shots in the can. had the honour and privi-
Throughout my years, I lege of covering numerous
have encountered many Royal assignments – with
air-to-air shoots on a vari- The Queen, Prince Philip,
ety of different aircraft, but Prince Charles and Prin-
Concorde was something cess Diana. I also covered
special. She is a very pho- The Queen Mother’s special
togenic icon, a photogra- Concorde flight to celebrate
pher’s dream, and is still ev- her eighty-fifth birthday.
eryone’s favourite aircraft. Adrian Meredith – pic- Princess Diana waves to the photographers while board-
She could look totally dif- tured here with his wife ing Concorde.
129

The four aircraft in swan-like ‘Concorde’
formation over Land’s End, Cornwall.
130 Headline

KAPITEL-HD
131

The four Concordes line up in
‘echelon starboard’ formation.
132 Headline

KAPITEL-HD
133

Concorde’s Display Flights
by Ian Dick
Besides their service as French National Day pa- totype Concorde during
exclusive passenger airlin- rade on 14 July in Paris and her approaches to land,
ers, both France and Great Queen Elizabeth’s Golden they chose Arthur Gibson
Britain utilized their Con- Jubilee in 2002. These spec- as the photographer; the
cordes for aerial displays tacular displays, watched late Ted Girdler – one of the
as symbols of national by thousands of people, Team’s pilots – flew him in a
pride. These memorable were captured in beauti- Folland Gnat. It was a suc-
flights took place with each ful photographs. Ian Dick, cessful partnership, and
country’s premier aerobatic a former commander of the company were delight-
display team, the Patrouille the Red Arrows, describes ed with the results.
de France of the French how the first-ever formation I knew John Cochrane
Air Force and the Red Ar- photo of Concorde and an – the Deputy Chief Test
rows of the British Royal aerobatic display team was Pilot – well enough to feel
Air Force. Representing made possible: comfortable ringing him.
speed, dynamics, and pre- “I remember the day He was not surprised by
cision, each is the public that the late Arthur Gib- my call. I sensed he knew
face of its national air force. son – one of the best avi- that it was ‘payback’ time.
Between 1973 and 2002, ation photographers during He discussed it with Brian
Ian Dick, former commander Concorde flew with the the 1970s – called me and Trubshaw – the Chief Test
of the Red Arrows. Patrouille de France and said: “Ian, I think it’s time Pilot – who happily agreed,
[© Ian Dick] the Red Arrows on various we got a photo of the Team but with one proviso: it had
occasions including the in formation with Concorde to be done at the end of a
… before the French beat test flight as Concorde flew
us to it.” I was excited be- back to Fairford. Nothing
cause here was the oppor- could interfere with their
tunity to get the publicity test schedule or flights,
photo we’d been waiting and there could be no spe-
for, and British Aerospace cial arrangements. It was a
owed us a favour. When one-off.
the company’s flight-test It was not very difficult to
team wanted air-to-air arrange because the team
footage taken of the pro- was based at nearby Kem-
British pride: Concorde flying in formation with the Red

[© Adrian Meredith] Arrows. [Photo by Arthur Gibson/© Adrian Meredith]
134 Concorde’s Display Flights

CONCORDE AS AN ICON
Concorde and the Red Arrows overfly the North Sea as a rehearsal for the Queen’s Jubilee Flypast, 2002.
[© MoD]
ble. We would get a call was getting a bit anxious “All aboard”. The Manager ing Concorde at over 1,000
from air traffic control when about our fuel state when called, “Smoke on go” and mph. This meant that they
Concorde was on her way John came up on frequen- did a wide, sweeping bar- were wearing bulky pres-
home, get airborne and cy, and we were able to rel roll over the whole for- sure flying suits and special
loiter just north of Kemble finesse the join-up. At the mation – first one way and helmets akin to the ones
as Concorde made her appropriate moment, I set then back the other way. worn by astronauts. Not the
approach to Fairford. Our the Team up on an easter- Arthur had only two oppor- ideal headgear for flying a
paths would cross! ly heading at 1,000 feet in tunities to ‘get it in the can’. supersonic aircraft in close
It was late when we got ‘Big Nine’ formation. The He did not let us down. formation with the Red Ar-
the call to get airborne, Team manager was ready It was only afterwards, rows! John did a marvellous
after 4 p.m. on a dismal in his Gnat with Arthur in when we were having a job and, as he flew Con-
day in April. The Gnat did the rear seat. I couldn’t see drink in the bar with John, corde in behind us, he heard
not have a lot of fuel, and what was happening, but I that we learnt they had been Brian exclaim, “Bloody hell,
we had to orbit for longer heard John’s Scottish ac- on a supersonic test flight I didn’t know you were go-
than I had anticipated. I cent announce that he was over the Bay of Biscay flying to fly this close!”
135

Concorde Fox Alpha (F-BVFA) during her flypast with the Patrouille de France at the La Ferté-Alais Air Show in northern
France, 1987.
[© Bernard Charles / art-avia.eu]
“Concorde is part of France’s heritage, to be mentioned

in the same breath as the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame
cathedral, and the luxury liner SS France.”
– Alain Verschuere, former AF Concorde purser
Capturing Concorde in “I used to visit the La and landing at Charles de member that as Concorde
photographs has always Ferté-Alais Air Show for Gaulle Airport where spec- approached, I felt the vi-
been a delight for profes- several years but that year tators could only stand brations generated by her
sionals and enthusiasts was special as Concorde quite far away from the engines rising up from the
alike. French photographer was scheduled to make a runways. At La Ferté, how- ground through my entire
Bernard Charles recalls flypast with the Patrouille ever, until 1989, the crowd body, in particular when the
taking a memorable photo de France. Over the years was allowed to watch the reheats kicked in for the ‘go
of Air France’s Fox Alpha I had repeatedly watched air show from a much around’! This was a unique
(F-BVFA) on 7 June 1987: the white bird taking off closer vantage point. I re- experience; it is worth men-
136 Concorde’s Display Flights

CONCORDE AS AN ICON
tioning that these flypasts SS France

took place with a hundred
passengers on board. The SS France was a
“I had two more oppor- grand transatlantic lin-
tunities to relive the ex- er, built in the tradition of
perience that year: at Le the SS Normandie, as an
Bourget during the Paris oceangoing showcase for
Air Show in June and at the France. Commissioned
Lognes Air Show [east of in 1962 and operated by
Paris] in September 1987. the Compagnie Générale
During both these shows Transatlantique (French
I decided to walk to the Line), the 1,037-feet
runway threshold to stand (316m) vessel was the lon-
exactly below Concorde’s gest passenger ship ever
The SS France was a maritime symbol of French design,
flight path, thus feeling the built until the launching of engineering and prestige. She was later sold to Norwegian
engines’ heat and thrust the Queen Mary 2 in 2004. Cruise Line and renamed Norway. She was scrapped in
while wearing ear protec- Due to the 1973 oil crisis 2008.
tion. As far as I can re- and the increasing oil price [© Jon Archibald]
member the only aircraft the ship’s already-high
that has given me a simi- operating costs rose fur- sold to Norwegian Cruise Concorde as both could
lar thrill was the Rockwell ther, thus prompting the Line. If she had still been offer a combination of the
B-1B Lancer which I had French government to in service when Concorde most exclusive means of
seen at Le Bourget as well. subsidize the then in-de- commenced her commer- crossing the Atlantic. To this
This was not surprising as velopment Concorde. cial flights in 1976, it would day, both the SS France and
the Lancer is almost in the Without government sup- have been possible for the Air France Concordes
same category as Con- port the SS France could transatlantic travellers to are icons of France as are
corde in terms of power no longer operate. In 1974 sail to New York on board the British Airways Con-
and thrust.” she was withdrawn from the SS France and fly back cordes and the (retired) liner
service and eventually to Paris on Air France’s Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2).
An Air France Concorde in formation with the Alpha Jets of the Patrouille de France.
[© Dre Peijmen]
137

In Formation with the Queen Elizabeth 2
“… that is the picture of the century.”
– Captain John Hutchinson in

Mach 2 magazine, August 2018
Richard Thomas, team into the English Channel aircraft carrier HMS Illustri-
leader of the Red Arrows and exactly as planned she ous, which was working up
from 1984 to 1987 recalls, appeared below and out to in the ranges, had a fami-
how one of Concorde’s our port side. The sight of lies’ day and if Concorde
most iconic photos came Concorde was a great thrill overflew the ship after the
into being: “Somewhere and meant that the first part QE2 flypast she might be
about late spring of 1984, of the sortie had worked allowed into the controlled
someone had the bright – I felt greatly relieved but airspace. The Concorde
idea that a photograph of only for a moment as the crew instantly agreed while
the Red Arrows in forma- next and most difficult thinking how to get their
tion with Concorde over part of the trip was com- own back on the Navy!
the QE2 [Queen Elizabeth ing up: finding QE2. How- Without GPS or any other
2] would make history. ever, in the meantime and help apart from Concorde’s
Planning for the sortie took unbeknown to most of the navigation system, QE2
the best part of a year and Team, the Concorde crew appeared just as planned
involved any number of were having difficulties with near the Isle of Weight on
agencies. Getting the three the Royal Navy controller her way into Southamp-
participants in the same as they had been told that ton. The photographer for
place at the same time the airspace was closed the mission was the leg-
would not be easy as all and that the aircraft would endary Arthur Gibson, who
had busy schedules. How- not be allowed into the had been working with the
ever, the date was fixed ranges. The crew explained Team since it was formed
for 18 May 1985. The fi- quickly that this was a spe- twenty years before. To get
nal briefing complete, the cial flight that taken a year the picture Arthur wanted,
Team positioned at RAF to arrange and had been overflight height and dis-
Lyneham in southern En- approved by a whole raft tance out from the ship
gland in readiness for the of agencies including the caused much discussion.
actual sortie. The weather Royal Navy. The controller The calculations proved
was not perfect but ac- would not give way. How- correct and the result was
ceptable. After take-off we ever, after a short break an iconic picture that en-
headed for the south coast while both sides thought capsulated the ‘Best of
around Weymouth. We ex- about their next move, the British’. What a relief!”
pected to join up with Con- controller came back with
corde as we coasted out a proposed solution: the
The ‘Best of British’ – the QE2 with Concorde and the Red Arrows. The pilot had to fly
upside down so that Arthur Gibson could get this shot. The QE2 was operated by Cunard
as both a transatlantic liner and a cruise ship from 1969 to 2008. Today, she is a floating
hotel in Dubai.
[Photo by Arthur Gibson / © Adrian Meredith]
138 In Formation with the Queen Elizabeth 2

CONCORDE AS AN ICON
139

Supersonic Star Gazing
“Sir Paul McCartney liked … to start strumming some

of his favourite songs in mid-air at supersonic speeds.”
The exclusivity of super- songs by former Beatles The Celebrity Choice

sonic travel meant that to record-breaking golf
when you flew Concorde stunts, anything could hap- To fly Concorde was to add proportions by booking two
you joined an elite and il- pen aboard. If there is one your name to passenger seats. Or maybe Barbra
lustrious band of travel- thing they always seemed lists oozing glamour and Streisand, who once mem-
lers. Over the years she to agree upon, it was that wealth. On the same seats orably claimed it was the
carried world leaders and the beautiful big bird was might have reposed the shape of her splendid nose
celebrities, as well as the simply the only way to bottoms of Sean Connery, that inspired Concorde’s
fabulously wealthy. For all cross the Atlantic – in com- Catherine Deneuve, Brid- designers. “They should
of them aviation’s grand- fort, style and speed. The get Bardot, Henry Kissing- have called the plane the
est aircraft was a mag- medium became the mes- er, Robert Redford, Jack Streisand,” she said. Or
net. Concorde was the sage: to travel supersoni- Nicholson, Jeanne Moreau, perhaps your seat was pre-
last word in glamour, the cally, to flash between time Mick Jagger, Michael viously occupied by Sting
choice of royalty, the aris- zones and land before you Douglas, Rupert Murdoch, (Mr Gordon Sumner as he
tocracy, rock stars, movie had taken off, mattered Gwyneth Paltrow, Elton usually appeared on the
stars and top business- more than where you were John and Luciano Pavarotti passenger list), who said of
men. And, from impromptu going. ‒ who acknowledged his his favourite aircraft: “I feel
Prime Minister Margaret

Thatcher visits the flight
deck during a flight.
140 Supersonic Star Gazing

CONCORDE AS AN ICON
James Callaghan Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
Prince Charles and Princess Diana arrive on Concorde at

Heathrow Airport for the opening of Terminal 4, 1986.
Pope John Paul II Jacques Chirac
safer on Concorde than I vid, however, in a smooth

do on the M3. It’s a huge act of reverse snobbism,
gas-guzzling machine and favoured row 23. There,
yet it’s beautiful. I love that with a bit of luck, he would
paradox.” find fewer passengers,
But it was still Sir David and thus more space for
Frost who could claim to him to enjoy a supersonic
be the best-known reg- snooze. Concorde was al-
ular user ‒ although the ways popular among world
most-travelled Concorde leaders and politicians. The
passenger was, in fact, the heads of France and Brit- Edward Heath Georges Pompidou
British oil tycoon Fred Finn ain flew her many times.
who clocked 718 flights. French presidents Georges
Pascal Le Borgne, a French Pompidou, Valéry Giscard
businessman, logged more d’Estaing, and François
than 400 trips to become Mitterrand regularly used
Air France’s most frequent Concorde as their flagship
Concorde flyer. aircraft on official state
It was generally agreed visits. James Callaghan
that the front of the aircraft became the first British
was the best place to be: premier to go superson-
on the New York run, for ic when he went to meet
example, regulars vied for President Jimmy Carter in
window seat 1D. Sir Da- Washington to negotiate
Harold Wilson François Mitterrand
141

landings rights for Con- dent George W. Bush). The
corde in the United States. Queen used Concorde for
It was enthusiastically used her trip to Barbados on her
by subsequent prime min- Silver Jubilee in 1977 and
isters, including Margaret subsequent flights includ-
Thatcher, John Major and ing a state visit to the Unit-
Tony Blair (who once pri- ed States in 1991. Pope
vately chartered Concorde John Paul II flew to Africa
to take him to Washington on an Air France Concorde
for discussions with Presi- in May 1989.
Margaret Thatcher Henry A. Kissinger
Tony Blair Princess Margaret
Prince Charles Prince Andrew
French film star Catherine Deneuve was a frequent Con-

Sir David Frost Dame Elizabeth Taylor corde flyer for many years.
[© Moviestore Collect. Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo]
142 Supersonic Star Gazing

CONCORDE AS AN ICON
Special and Bizarre Moments

Besides conveying the Mach 2, many men pro-
world’s leaders on serious posed to their sweethearts
matters of state, this won- and celebrated their future
derful aircraft had its more marriage with a glass of
bizarre moments. A high champagne served by a
society hostess, desper- smiling flight attendant.
ate to get a box of her fa- Although he was not a
vourite Mayfair chocolates great fan of flying, the late
to her party in New York Beatle George Harrison
in time, paid £2,500 for a loved Concorde and once
Sir Sean Connery Sir Roger Moore
seat for the sweets. On one gave an impromptu con-
early flight, when the Mach cert for passengers in the
meter on the bulkhead Concorde lounge at JFK
stopped working, a worried Airport in New York with a
aristocratic passenger ‒ the medley of old Beatles hits.
late Margaret, Duchess of Sir Paul McCartney liked
Argyll ‒ started bashing it to take his favourite small
with her handbag. guitar as hand luggage and
Concorde enjoyed her was known ‒ when given
moments in sporting his- enough encouragement by
tory, too. Graham ‘Suggs’ other passengers ‒ to start
McPherson, the lead sing- strumming some of his fa-
er of pop group Madness, vourite songs in mid-air at
claimed a record for the supersonic speed. He said Michael Jackson George Michael
world’s longest putt when that one of his most enjoy-
he hit a golf ball down Con- able experiences on Con-
corde’s aisle and which corde was with his then-
travelled five miles in wife Heather ‒ who had
twelve seconds. The golfer never flown supersonically
Sam Torrance who always before ‒ on her first flight
tried to book seat 1A ‒ the when they began going out
Queen’s and Princess Di- together.
ana’s favourite ‒ felt such Although the world’s
a romantic attachment to movers and shakers all
Concorde that during lunch have a souvenir of their
on one trip he proposed times on Concorde tucked
to Suzanne, his wife-to- away somewhere in a Sir Mick Jagger Sir Paul McCartney
be. He certainly was not drawer – one of those de-
the only one who had this lightful photograph frames,
idea. Many flight atten- or Smythson memo pads
dants remember that over – there is no doubt that ev-
the years, once the display ery one of them misses the
in the cabin had reached beautiful machine.
Dame Joan Collins Clint Eastwood
143

MEMORABLE
MOMENTS AND
ANECDOTES
“The only thing that tells you that you’re moving is that
occasionally when you’re flying over the subsonic
aircraft you can see all these Boeing 747s 20,000 feet
below you, almost appearing to be going backwards.”
– John Hutchinson, former BA Concorde captain
144 Headline

KAPITEL-HD
[© John Hutchinson]
145

“My most memorable experience was to be on the crew of a royal flight when HM The
Queen paid a state visit to the United States of America in May 1991. I was very honoured
and privileged to be one of the captains involved in that. With the American TV networks
covering every step of this royal trip, it was phenomenal advertising for the ‘U.K. Limited’.
HRH Prince Philip joined us on the flight deck as we flew back to London.”
“I had one exciting inci-
dent which was an engine
surge at Mach 2 while fly-
ing from Washington to
London. It felt like being in
a crash. An engine surge is
a disruption of the air flow
to the engine resulting in
a loss of thrust. There can
be various causes for this.
Concorde was designed
to take it – she was a very
strongly built aircraft. I
carried out the first action
of the engine surge drill
by closing all four throt-
tles which stopped all the
banging and shaking, thus
enabling the aircraft to re-
turn to a smooth flight.
However, when doing this
at Mach 2, the deceleration HM Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip disembark Con-
is quite dramatic: the cabin corde at Bergstrom AFB, Texas, on their state visit to the
crew and trolleys come and USA in 1991.
[© SRA Jerry Wilson / US Dept. of Defense]
join you on the flight deck,
to give you a helping hand!
After going through the drill
with my flight engineer, we decided to carefully open up the throttles again and every-
thing was fine, thus enabling us to resume Mach 2 and continue our flight to London.
After landing in Heathrow, I went to the front door to say goodbye to everybody. And this
was a sight I will never forget: our passengers had drunk the aircraft completely dry and
I tell you, Concorde carried a lot of alcohol and they had drunk it all – the gin, the Scotch,
the vodka, the champagne, the red wine, the white wine, the cognac, and anything else
they could get their hands on. The passengers disembarked Concorde in a state of al-
cohol-fuelled euphoria, thanking me very much for a wonderful flight.”
“I once flew a lady from Newcastle who was a hundred years old and who had never
flown before. She had decided to fly at least once before she died and if there was any
one aircraft to do it on, it had to be Concorde. We did an ‘around the bay flight’ which
meant that we took off at Heathrow, passed the coastline near Land’s End in western
England, climbed to 60,000 feet, flew supersonically over the sea, and landed at Heath-
row again. The poor, dear lady had to be helped off the aircraft at the end of the flight
because she had so much champagne that she could not walk steadily.”
146 Memorable Moments and Anecdotes

MEMORABLE MOMENTS AND ANECDOTES
Radio message from HM Queen Elizabeth II to President George H. W. Bush.

“I am a pilot and therefore my best memory is a flying memory. We returned from Cay-
enne with an almost empty Concorde. I was in charge of the take-off from Dakar to Paris.
The aircraft was light and I kept the reheats on all the way from take-off to Mach 1.7,
the beginning of the supersonic cruise. Under these conditions the climbing angle was
close to 20° and it was very impressive. We reached Mach 1.7 and a height of 43,000
feet about twelve minutes after take-off.”
– Pierre Grange, former AF Concorde pilot

[© Pierre Grange]
“One of the flights that particularly left an impression on me was a flight departure with
Michael Jackson. Concorde had to make an emergency stop during take-off, and this
abandoned departure finally prompted our star to choose a subsonic flight. I recall an-
other memorable moment with an elderly lady who went on a supersonic flight with
Concorde as a gift from her family. This was a flight that took off from Paris, flew over
the Atlantic to reach Mach 2 and returned to Paris. After the flight, I was present when
her family asked: ‘So Granny, how was it?’ The lady responded: ‘It was great; there are
buses going back and forth, so you can get on the aircraft!’”
– Frank Debouck, former AF Concorde manager

[© Frank Debouck]
147

Suzanne O’Donoghue’s
mother enjoying her super-
sonic flight on Concorde.
[© Suzanne O’Donoghue]
“I did take my mother on a flight to New York for Mother’s Day, and she was also invited
onto the flight deck for landing. She flew back on a Boeing 747, so it was expected that
I would be back at London Heathrow long before her. When we took off on Concorde
we had an engine problem so we had to dump all our fuel and go back to JFK Airport,
New York and wait for it to be fixed. By the time we eventually arrived at Heathrow my
mother was waiting for me.
“Meeting my hero Sir Patrick Stewart would be my most memorable experience. I was
busy seating passengers on a flight going to New York, I turned around and there he was
standing in front of me! I put my hands to my face and said, “Oh Patrick.” He very quickly
did exactly the same and said, “Oh Suzanne.” He was an absolute delight to fly with. My
fellow crew members knew how much I liked him and played a joke on me in the front
galley. I even believe I said that I loved him so much that I would drink his bath water,
just as he opened the toilet door that I was standing next to – he had heard every word!
As crew we were not supposed to ask for autographs but my in-charge crew member
who had set me up, did ask and I am happy to report that I am now the proud owner of
a signed Concorde menu; I even got a kiss. That definitely is a personal memory.”
– Suzanne O’Donoghue,
former BA Concorde flight attendant

“One day I was on the late shift from 14:30 to 22:50. I was asked to meet a Concorde
coming back from New York empty. She taxied on to the stand and we put on ground
power and a set of steps at the front passenger door for the crew to disembark. I went
up to the front door to debrief the flight engineer on the aircraft’s technical state. He then
told me not to go up to the flight deck as there was a special guest there, who wanted
to spend a few moments on his own. Fifteen minutes later, this special guest emerged
from the flight deck and to my amazement I found myself shaking hands with Brian
Trubshaw, Concorde’s British test pilot. We knew each other well from our days at the
Fairford Flight Test Centre. Brian told me that this had been his last flight as a pilot on
Concorde. He was delighted that I had met the aircraft and also that I was still working
on this special fleet – it was a most memorable moment.”
– Philip Cairns, former BA Concorde ground engineer Ground engineer Philip

Cairns (right) with Brian
Trubshaw.
[© Philip Cairns]
“Having the opportunity to fly Concorde was not only a dream come true, it was the ex-
perience of a lifetime. I didn’t fly on her for business or for leisure – I flew on her purely to
experience a living, breathing machine that was capable of rocketing you to enormous
speed while gracefully cutting through the stratosphere. For me it wasn’t a choice –
there was something primal within me that forced me to book a $7,000 roundtrip ticket
on the day her retirement was announced in 2003. I simply had to fly on her.
– Johnathan Safford, American Concorde passenger

[© Johnathan Safford]
“One day, for a flight from Washington to Mexico, an elegant couple came aboard Con-
corde. She was wearing an evening dress and he was in a dinner jacket. We served a light
dinner and I was busy serving the row in front of the couple when I saw him holding an
opened bottle of red Bordeaux, and before I could help him put it back on the trolley, he
dropped it. We asked him to follow us to the rear galley and told him that the best thing
to do was to wash his shirt. So we did. In the meantime we handed him a blanket; he
asked for a knife, made a big hole in the middle and put it on like a Peruvian poncho. He
went back to his seat with applause from the rear cabin … and to his wife’s displeasure.
Washing the shirt was easy but drying it was quite a problem. We decided to open the
oven – the galley was so warm that we almost suffocated – but the shirt came out white
and neat. He thanked us and before landing he handed us a note with the words: ‘I knew
Air France had a very good service … but I did not know they had an excellent laundry!’”
[© Annick Moyal]
– Annick Moyal, former AF Concorde flight attendant
149

“The annual C of A test flights were always memorable, during which the aircraft would
do a ‘flat’ acceleration from Mach 2 to Mach 2.1 at around 55,000 feet – the overspeed
warning systems were deliberately disabled for these occasions – and the aircraft would
then proceed to do a steep zoom climb all the way up to 63,000 feet, at which point the
throttles were reduced to idle and the aircraft to do a gentle ‘bunt’ manoeuvre, where
a parabolic arc was flown, giving the illusion of being weightless for several seconds. I
used to throw my pen into the air and watch it float in mid-air.
“On another test flight, we were over the Bay of Biscay, watching two French Air
Force Mirages 20,000 feet below us attempting a practice intercept on us. I watched the
contrails as the aircraft seemed to close on us, but the Mirages soon gave up: they just
didn’t have the ability to get close enough for an intercept before running out of fuel. On
so many of these occasions I would sit in absolute wonder, thinking ‘Is this an airliner?’
“I remember on one occasion we had a delayed departure due to a technical defect.
Two young boys were running up and down the cabin, and were in the way of my team
that were sorting out the problem and so I sought out their father and asked him the ‘calm
the kids down a bit’, that father being Mick Jagger who apologized to me profusely and
in no uncertain terms told the boys to sit down. Concorde defined my career in aviation,
and even brought my lovely wife Liz and I together. She still is the gift that keeps on giving
for us.”
– Ricky Bastin, former BA Concorde ground engineer
“My most telling encounter was with Sir Harold Macmillan who was flying out to Singa-
pore en route I believe to China. After landing at Bahrain he was allowed to stay on board
with his valet. I realized that this would be the only chance I would ever have of meeting
him. So without telling anybody who might have said ‘no’, I went back to introduce my-
self. I said clearly that I was the First Officer Christopher Orlebar; he replied with equal
clarity, as if I did not know, that he was Harold Macmillan. Since he had been the British
Prime Minister in 1962 when the treaty was signed with France to build a supersonic
airliner, I thought it fair to ask why there had not been a production line for Concorde ‘as
long as your arm’. He immediately replied, ‘American jealousy, my dear boy, American
jealousy.’” (Mach 2 magazine, issue April 2017)
– Christopher Orlebar, former BA Concorde pilot
Captain Derek Woodley recalls an anecdote about the 1996 air show in Jakarta, Indone-
sia: “Concorde Alpha Delta remained in the static display for the duration of the show.
Visits on board were restricted for security reasons. Pilots of many nationalities were
very keen to have a look at our flight deck, especially some Russian MiG-29 and Sukhoi
30 pilots, who asked some very searching questions. Hmmm!” (Mach 2 magazine, issue
April 2017)
– Derek Woodley, former BA Concorde captain

“Having made my flight on the occasion of a ‘supersonic loop’ from Roissy (Paris), with-
out luggage and with a lower fuel quantity than a transatlantic flight, the takeoff was
really a powerful moment with an impressive acceleration. Something had slipped out of
the pocket in front of my seat; I tried to get up and pick it up … it was impossible with
the force of this acceleration that ‘stuck’ me to the seat. Another striking memory is the
colour of the sky – a very deep blue, almost as if we were on the edge of space. We wore
tuxedos, with glasses of champagne in hands and our thoughts turned to Chuck Yeager
in his flight suit with helmet and mask, shaken like a leaf aboard his experimental aircraft
Bell X-1 ‘Glamorous Glennis’.”
– Philippe Gebarowski, French Concorde passenger

and Le Bourget aviation museum volunteer
“In the summer of 1985 The Queen Mother celebrated her eighty-fifth birthday at St
Paul’s Walden, the home of her family line, the Bowes-Lyon family. Among the 400 peo-
ple attending the event were John Hutchinson and his wife Sue. The Queen Mother who
just had flown with Concorde a few days earlier, as this had been a birthday present to
her from British Airways, praised the flight as a fantastic experience. John Hutchinson
was introduced to her during the event. He recalls an interesting anecdote: “After asking
me if I had been one of the pilots on her birthday flight (which I had not) she remarked,
‘You do know that when you are landing at Heathrow on a particular runway you are
flying right in front of my London home, Clarence House?’ I replied, ‘Yes, ma’am, I am
aware of that.’ She then said, ‘One of your flights comes in about the time for my first
gin and tonic of the evening. Well, whenever you are using that particular runway and if
I am at Clarence House, I always come to the window with my gin and tonic and wave
to you.’ And I looked at her and said, ‘You don’t really, do you?’ She said, ‘Yes, I do be-
cause I love that aircraft so much.’ I replied, ‘I’ll tell you what I will do from now on: if I am
ever coming in to land on that runway and if the weather is good, I will flash my landings
lights at you as I fly past and waggle my wings.’ My great sadness is that I never sent a
message to Clarence House to ask if she had seen me doing this.”
“I was the captain of an Air France B-747 on a flight eastbound to Paris de Gaulle Airport in
October 2002. The air traffic controller simply gave us a ‘traffic information’ – a British Airways
Concorde flight was close to us, passing us on our right side. Within seconds, we could see
this magnificent aircraft flying a few hundred meters above us. It was the first time I saw a
Concorde in flight at cruising altitude. What a wonderful sight! The curves of the so-called
‘gothic delta wing’, the long and narrow fuselage, the white colour in that very specific light
at high altitude, the contrails rushing behind the engines – these images will be etched in
my memory forever. I was also totally surprised by the speed of this superb aircraft, so that I
glanced at my instrument panel. Yes, I was flying at normal cruising speed, close to 560 mph
(900 kph), not sitting in an armchair on the ground! Within a minute, she was gone, out of
view, but even years later I still remember this moment. This was part of Concorde’s magic.”
– Alain Rolland, former Boeing 747 captain
151

AU REVOIR AND
FAREWELL
152 Headline

KAPITEL-HD
“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the
Earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you
have been, and there you will always long to return.”
– Leonardo da Vinci
153

Tragedy and Comeback
Since her first commercial and enthusiasts alike – it which are subject to vari- vember 2001 using Sierra
flights in 1976, Concorde seemed that the dream ous books, papers, investi- Delta (F-BTSD) and Alpha
had become a common, would last forever. gations, and debates. Echo (G-BOAE). André Tur-
yet always admired sight at On 25 July 2000, howev- Shortly after the loss of cat, captain of Concorde’s
airports around the world. er, as Air France Concorde Sierra Charlie, the remain- maiden flight in 1969, was
Although seen as a white F-BTSC, known as Sierra ing Concordes of both Air on board Sierra Delta that
elephant in the early 1970s, Charlie (Flight AF 4590), France and British Airways day and gave a speech to
Concorde not only became sped down the runway at were grounded. Safety im- his fellow passengers in
an icon of French and Brit- Charles De Gaulle Airport provements were made in which he expressed his
ish prestige, she also gen- in Paris to take off for New the wake of the crash, in- unshakeable confidence in
erated considerable reve- York, one of her wheels cluding Kevlar lining on the Concorde’s design as well
nue for both Air France and struck a 16-inch piece of fuel tanks, specially devel- as his faith that mankind
British Airways as a com- titanium alloy that had been oped burst-resistant tyres, could overcome any tech-
mercial airliner and charter lost by a Continental Airlines and more secure electrical nological challenge.
aircraft, flying to more than McDonnell Douglas DC-10- controls. In January and Alain Verschuere, who
350 international destina- 30 taking off a few minutes April 2001, two test flight joined Air France in 1982
tions. For many Concorde earlier, thus shredding one of campaigns were conduct- and became a Concorde
lovers – professionals Concorde’s tyres. According ed by EADS at Istres in purser ten years later, re-
to the official report from the southern France in order to members: “I had the great
French Bureau d’Enquêtes validate the modifications privilege to be a crew mem-
Accidents, “in all probabili- and to certify the newly ber on the ‘rebirth flight’.
ty” the debris from this tyre developed Michelin NZG Our passengers includ-
blowout pounded the near- tyre. The French test-flight ed Air France’s president,
by left wing, sending rever- crew consisted of Test Pilot Jean-Cyril Spinetta, and
berations through the fuel Pierre Grange (Concorde the French transport min-
tanks powerful enough to pilot from 1984–89) and ister. Later the American
rupture them and causing a Airbus Test Flight Engineer newspaper headlines read,
deadly stream of ignited avi- Didier Ronceray, with the ‘SHE IS BACK’, showing a
ation fuel. assistance of Air France’s photo of our Concorde! The
The subsequent fire and Concorde Chief Pilot Ed- British Concorde touched
engine failure caused the gard Chillaud and Flight down one hour later as Air
aircraft to crash into a hotel Engineer Roger Béral. Traffic Control could not
in nearby Gonesse short- The first airline flight with manage two Concordes
ly after takeoff, killing all the modifications was pilot- landing at the same time.”
hundred passengers and ed by BA Concorde Chief New York mayor, Rudy Gi-
nine crew aboard and four Pilot Mike Bannister on 17 uliani, later came on board
in the hotel. AF 4590 was July 2001 and was declared Alpha Echo and greeted
a charter flight organized a success. The first flight the passengers and jok-
by the German company with passengers, all of them ingly asked them “to spend
Peter Deilmann Cruises, BA employees, took place a lot of money during the
and the passengers were on a fateful day: 11 Sep- visit”. In 1976, New York-
on their way to board the tember 2001. With many ers had tried to ‘lock out’
cruise ship MS Deutsch- Concorde customers hav- Concorde, but now she re-
land at New York City for ing their offices in the World ceived the warmest of wel-
The memorial at Charles a sixteen-day cruise. This Trade Center, about forty of comes, as major airports
de Gaulle Airport Paris was the only fatal accident them perished that day. were now grateful for any
honouring the 113 crash in Concorde’s history. The Both Air France and Brit- aircraft arriving after the
victims of flight AF 4590.
causes and circumstances ish Airways resumed their 9/11 attacks that had so
A second memorial was
established near the crash for this tragedy remain very normal commercial opera- widely shattered the pub-
site at Gonesse. controversial to this day tions to New York on 7 No- lic’s trust of air travel.
[© Hubert Michaut]
154 Au Revoir and Farewell

AU REVOIR AND FAREWELL
Sierra Charlie (F-BTSC) painted in a special livery while in use for the 1979 movie Airport ’79: The Concorde. She carried
Pope John Paul II to Africa in 1989 but was destroyed in a crash after take-off from Paris CDG Airport on 25 July 2000,
killing 113 people. Air France Concorde purser Alain Verschure: “The 25th of July 2000 will forever be a date of mourn-
ing. The unthinkable happened: Concorde crashed with German tourists on board. I was a stand-by purser for this flight
…. my lucky star protected me.”
[© Airbus / Inset: © Alain Verschuere]
The End of an Era

On 10 April 2003, both Air Queen of the Skies had re- sound, she had to sacrifice edge the financial realities
France and British Airways mained the only supersonic fuel efficiency thus mak- of trying to run a superson-
announced they would re- aircraft to fly commercially. ing her a fast yet expen- ic service in an unsustain-
tire their Concorde fleets Although the number of sive aircraft for an airline able economic climate. The
later that year, citing low people travelling by air had to run. Concorde travel- announcement to withdraw
passenger numbers fol- soared, it was falling ticket ling over longer distances Concorde from service
lowing the 2000 crash, prices, made possible by could have addressed this brought a rush of bookings
the slump in air travel fol- the wide-body airliner Boe- problem in some way, but as many Concorde lov-
lowing 9/11, and rising ing 747 with hundreds of the sonic boom meant ers wanted to get a last or
maintenance costs. In the seats, rather than the need her flight path was limited once-in-a-lifetime opportu-
twenty-seven years since for speed that drove growth to flying over oceans and nity to fly on the icon.
Concorde had first roared within the aviation market. lightly populated areas.
into the hearts of peo- In order for Concorde to Both Air France and British
ple around the world, the fly at twice the speed of Airway had to acknowl-
“Concorde, you are the magic aircraft that had us dreaming

for twenty-seven years … You’ve been nailed to the ground,
but you will fly eternally in our hearts …”
– Extract from the Air France guestbook
155

The French Au Revoir
Air France decided to end the tears when she made reception at Charles de
its Concorde services on an announcement to the Gaulle Airport was very
31 May 2003, with two sixty-eight passengers on emotional ‒ the aircraft was
flights on that memorable board: “It’s now 29 years greeted by firefighters un-
day – the last-ever flight that Concorde has flown der beautiful water jets and
from New York JFK back faster than the sun. One all available Air France staff
to Paris CDG and a charter day, we do hope you’ll be applauded Concorde.”
flight from CDG around the proud to say, I was on the Twenty minutes before
Bay of Biscay. last flight of this beautiful Sierra Delta’s arrival, Con-
As Sierra Delta (F-BTSD) white bird.” After a flight corde Fox Bravo (F-BVFB)
got ready to take off from time of 3 hours and 45 took off at 16:10 for the
New York for the last time, minutes, Captain Michel last-ever ninety-minute
airport fire trucks sprayed touched down in Paris for charter flight around the
red, white and blue wa- the last time, at 16:30. Bay of Biscay. The flight
ter in an arch to salute the Frank Debouck, Air crew, carrying a hundred
Captain Jean-François aircraft. The flight crew France’s former Concorde Concorde lovers, consist-
Michel, head of Air France’s consisted of Captain Jean- manager, was on board: ed of Captain Jean-Lou-
Concorde division, com- François Michel, head of “I was asked by the pres- is Châtelain, First Officer
manded the last Air France
flight from New York to
Air France’s Concorde di- ident of the company to Béatrice Vialle, and Flight
Paris. vision, First Officer Patrick be a passenger on the last Engineer M. Vasseur. When
[© Jean-Philippe Lemaire] Delangle, and Flight Engi- round trip to New York and Fox Bravo, after her last
neer Bernard Collette. Si- back to Paris. The flight thrilling supersonic flight,
erra Delta took off at 08:15 to New York on 30 May finally landed at 17.35, tri-
local time. During the flight, was a very happy one but colours, ‘Concorde Lov-
Caroline Cadier, a Con- the flight back was sad as ers’ and ‘J’aime Concorde’
corde flight attendant since the aircraft was going to banners were being waved
1987, had to fight back land for the last time. The enthusiastically.
Sierra Delta (F-BTSD) takes off from New York for the last time, on 31 May 2003.
[© Art Brett]
156 The French Au Revoir

Annick Moyal who had ish that moment on board

worked as an Air France the ‘bel oiseau blanc’: “Af-
Concorde flight atten- ter landing we taxied very
dant from 1978 to 1989 slowly to share as long as
did not want to miss this possible the final moments
event. She remembers the of Concorde’s exceptional
crowds and the cars block- career and thank all those
ing the motorway leading who had contributed to
to the airport as everyone her success and prestige
wanted to see the two Air throughout the world. The
France Concordes landing experience made a pro-
at the end of their last com- found impression on me,
mercial flights: “With tears something that still lives
in my eyes and with hun- with me today.”
Captain Jean-Louis Châtelain and First Officer Béatrice
dreds of my colleagues, I When Sierra Delta and
Vialle wave to the crowds at CDG Airport Paris after Fox
watched Béatrice Vialle, Fox Bravo dipped their Bravo’s last commercial flight.
the only female Air France noses in salute to the [© Michel Thorigny]
Concorde pilot, landing crowds during this emo-
Fox Bravo. I was waving a tional farewell, thus bring-
French flag and hundreds ing the era of Air France
of people were applaud- Concorde services to an
ing. Our friends who had end, many spectators had
died in the tragic accident tears in their eyes. In June
in Gonesse in 2000 had all 2003 four Concordes were
loved Concorde so much flown to various museums
that they would have been (F-BTSC had been de-
so happy to see those two stroyed in the 2000 crash
Concordes landing for the and F-BVFD broken up
last time. It was a unique in 1994), while Fox Fox
experience.” (F-BVFF) was mounted on
First Officer Béatrice Vi- stilts at Charles de Gaulle
alle, who later became a Airport, so air travellers can
Air France’s Concordes gathered on the tarmac at Charles
captain on the Boeing 747 see her as they land and
de Gaulle Airport Paris on 31 May 2003.
and 777, will always cher- take off. [© Alexandra Jolivet]
“Concorde is an aircraft that goes faster and higher than others.

I qualified on Concorde in 1999 – a dream for any young man.
I never imagined making the last-ever commercial Air France
Concorde flight back from New York. Many pilots put Concorde as
their first choice. Concorde is an aircraft that demands to be piloted.”
– Jean-François Michel, former head of Air France’s Concorde division
157

Fox Alpha’s Last Transatlantic Flight
By 1989, twenty years af- Officer Gérard Duval, and preparing Fox Alpha while flight, scheduled to leave
ter Concorde’s maiden Flight Engineer Jean-Yves waiting for her departure. Paris Charles de Gaulle
flight, airline executives re- Dronne were in the cock- After our flight attendants at noon, Robert van der
alized that she would not pit. Gérard Duval who had had prepared the cabin Linden arrived at the Con-
fly forever. Therefore, Air started his aviation career for the flight, most of them corde lounge: “Air France
France made a promise to as a flight engineer on went off to attend the wel- had created a beautiful
give one of its Concordes various subsonic airlin- come event for the sixty waiting area with all the
to the American Smithso- ers, eventually became a passengers which includ- amenities. I checked in
nian Institution, home to pilot for the Boeing 727, ed the Minister of Trans- and received my ticket,
the National Air and Space the Airbus A310 and fi- port, Gilles de Robien; the along with a luggage tag
Museum. In April 2003, nally fulfilled his dream President of Air France, and a special commem-
Air France confirmed that of becoming a Concorde Jean-Cyril Spinetta; CEO orative package. I had
the Smithsonian would re- co-pilot in 1999. He would Pierre-Henri Gourgeon; walked into a party: cham-
ceive Fox Alpha (F-BVFA) in have the honour of taking and five former presidents pagne was everywhere.
June. The museum’s cura- Fox Alpha to the skies for of Air France. Mstislav Several French passen-
tor of air transportation, Dr her final flight, while Cap- Rostropovich, the famed gers stressed to me how
Robert van der Linden, was tain Jean-François Michel Russian cellist who always honoured they felt that the
available to represent the would take her across the flew Concorde with his cel- Smithsonian was accept-
Smithsonian on Concorde’s Atlantic and land her at lo in an adjacent seat, was ing one of their Concordes.
retirement flight AF 4386 on Washington Dulles. Gérard to make the flight as well. The aircraft had occupied
12 June: “I was thrilled to remembers: “When arriv- Jean-François invited Min- a place in the hearts of the
learn that we would receive ing at the aircraft I noticed ister Gilles de Robien to French people, and they
Fox Alpha, the pride of the that the atmosphere was sit in the jump seat on the felt both great pride and
Air France fleet.” unusual. A small group of flight deck during take-off.” great sadness that the end
Captain Jean-François maintenance mechanics, While Gérard Duval and had finally come. At 11:30
Michel, head of Air France’s who were not on duty, were his crew were preparing the party moved from the
Concorde division, First watching their colleagues Fox Alpha for her final lounge through a check-
Fox Alpha’s final flight on

12 June 2003 was also Gé-
rard Duval’s last flight with
Concorde.
[© Gérard Duval]
Left: One after another, all

Concordes were flown to
their new homes at muse-
ums around the world.
158 Fox Alpha’s Last Transatlantic Flight

point and down a walk- ipating some kind of bump

way to the waiting airliner, that would signify we had
which was parked outside gone supersonic. I was
the window of the lounge pleasantly disappointed.
for all to see and photo- As one would expect, the
graph one last time.” After cabin service was superb.
she had been pushed back Catherine Pellerin, a Con-
from the gate, she graceful- corde cabin crew instruc-
ly taxied past the terminal. tor, was responsible for my
Gérard Duval remembers section. I was sitting next
Fox Alpha was the flagship of Air France’s Concorde fleet.
this emotional moment: to Pierre Giraudet, who She was the first Concorde in service with the airline and
“There were hundreds of had been the president of the one with the most flight time – 17,824 hours.
people waving goodbye – Air France when the Con- [© Air France Museum]
or rather farewell – to Fox corde entered service in
Alpha … knowing that she 1976. He was polite but
would not come back.” demanding of Pellerin, who
Robert van der Linden responded with great at- the cockpit before our de- liner like Concorde again.
recalls the take-off from tention and a caring smile celeration and descent.” But at least Fox Alpha will
runway 08L: “After getting for her former boss. While While Robert enjoyed be preserved forever.”
take-off clearance, Michel dinner was being prepared, his dessert – seasonal fruit After parking the aircraft,
lit the afterburners (re- Pellerin brought caviar and timbale, petits fours, and a the passengers disem-
heats) for thirty seconds, champagne. Monsieur Gi- selection of fine cheeses barked, leaving only her
and Concorde responded raudet explained to me in – Fox Alpha began her de- cockpit crew and flight at-
by accelerating down the broken English that it was scent. Pitched high and her tendants aboard. When
runway to 225 mph; after just unthinkable to serve nose lowered for a better they finally left Fox Alpha
rolling less than 5,000 feet, champagne with caviar. view, she made a straight- after completing the last
we were airborne. As we What did I know? I’m a in approach and landed check list to join Air France
climbed, she continued to middle-class civil servant smoothly – for the last time officials for a photo shoot on
accelerate, and after nine- from the suburbs. Appar- – after just three hours and the port wing, they had a fi-
teen minutes, we reached ently, caviar should only 48 minutes of which two nal look at Fox Alpha proud-
the French coast.” Fox be accompanied by vod- and 57 minutes had been ly standing on the tarmac
Alpha, now clear of pop- ka. I’ll remember that next supersonically. Gérard Du- – despite their sadness they
ulated countryside, again time. Next came an hors val remembers the warm knew that the flagship of
ignited her four reheats and d’oeuvre, a choice be- reception: “We taxied for a Air France’s Concorde fleet
continued her acceleration tween medallions of rock quarter of an hour follow- would be in good hands.
and climb. Gérard Duval re- lobster with crab sauce ing a planned path in front Gérard Duval would see
members a ‘rendezvous’ in or foie gras with chutney of stands full of spectators his aircraft once again: “In
mid-air: “During this phase and carrot jelly. I chose the who had come to attend July 2005 I visited the Ste-
we were accompanied by a lobster, which was accom- the final landing of the ‘Bel ven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
Dassault Mirage 2000 fight- panied by a white wine. I Oiseau Blanc’.” before attending the 17th
er jet on our left, a final sa- noticed that my window Though Robert van der ISNA (International Sympo-
lute from our Armée de l’Air was quite warm, and I Linden was exhilarated sium on Nonlinear Acous-
Française to Fox Alpha. could feel heat radiating with his supersonic expe- tics) at the Pennsylvania
The jet would escort us up from the fuselage.” As the rience aboard Fox Alpha, State University. I appre-
to a speed of Mach 1.3 until flight continued peaceful- he was saddened that ciate this great museum
it returned to its base. ly, Gérard Duval handed it would never again fly: and it was nice to see Fox
During the climb, Rob- Fox Alpha’s controls over “Concorde was clearly su- Alpha again, now proud-
ert van der Linden’s eyes to Captain Jean-François perior to conventional air- ly standing alongside the
were glued to the Mach Michel, while chatting with liners – if only you could Boeing 707 prototype, the
meter on the forward cab- some of the passengers: afford the ticket. And few Lockheed SR-71, the first
in bulkhead: “I watched as “After finishing their meals, could, which is why we’re space shuttle, and many
our speed increased, antic- some passengers visited unlikely ever to see an air- other significant aircraft.”
159

Fox Bravo – Journey to a New Home
by Hermann Layher, Director of the Sinsheim and Speyer Technik Museums
“Sinsheim is the only place in the world which is

home to both Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144.”
Concorde Fox Bravo polev Tu-144 directly from were lined up. For the last museum. With us was our
(F-BVFB) and the Russian the manufacturer, Tupolev, flight ever of ‘our’ Concorde then vice-president, Robert
supersonic airliner, the Tu- and bring her to our muse- we had four seats, the rest Gärtner, our member of the
polev Tu-144, make our um. Two years later, when taken up by guests of Air board of directors, Michael
Technik Museum Sinsheim we received Concorde, a France. Among them was Einkörn, as well as our
in Germany unique and dream came true. Every the widow of Captain Chris- camera team. Thousands
world famous. Most nota- day I experience a feeling tian Marty, the pilot of the of spectators where gath-
bly, both aircraft are placed of sublime happiness when Concorde which so tragi- ered at the Baden-Airpark
in take-off position on a admiring these two won- cally had crashed in 2000. to witness the landing. We
steel frame on the roof – a derful machines. After taking off from Par- had chosen this airport be-
feat no other museum has When Fox Bravo was is on 24 June 2003, we cause from there the con-
yet repeated. Even from awarded to us in 2003, a headed for the Atlantic tinuation of Fox Bravo’s
a distance you can see delegation from our muse- where Fox Bravo – for the transport by barge on the
the two white beauties, a um visited the Air France final time – flew at Mach 2. Rhine would not present
view that might take your hangar at the Paris Charles Then she headed to Ger- any obstacles in the form
breath away. In 2001, we de Gaulle Airport where many. The fuel for her last of bridges across the river.
were able to buy the Tu- all the airline’s Concordes flight was paid for by the With the help of the French
technicians, we then went
to work, and for the last
time started Fox Bravo’s
engines at 6:30 to burn the
remaining fuel. When the
fuel eventually ran out, the
engines spat out hundred-
feet-long darting flames.
This was an experience
you would never forget. Af-
ter the removal of her wings
and tail fin, Fox Bravo trav-
elled by barge and road
to the Technik Museum
Sinsheim. In total, about a
million people witnessed
her final landing and on-
ward transportation which
went on through the night
and into the morning. Un-
Fox Bravo (F-BVFB) lands for her final time at the Baden-Airpark, Germany, on 24 June 2003. forgettable was a rave par-
[© Kai-jens Meyer]
160 Fox Bravo – Journey to a New Home

Fox Bravo after the removal of her wings and tail fin.
[© Technik Museum Sinsheim / TMS]
ty at the Hockenheimring before. Thanks to their co-

with loud music and people operation, our Concorde
dancing on the autobahn is now able to move her
bridges. Of all the transpor- droop nose up and down
tation journeys we’ve done again – as she did when
over the years, this was the she was still operational. It
most amazing of all. is wonderful that we were
After her arrival, Fox Bra- able to receive this French
vo was reassembled to join Concorde for the symbolic
the Tupolev Tu-144 already price of just one euro. Our Transport by barge on the Rhine.
on exhibit on the muse- two museums (Sinsheim [© TMS]
um grounds. On 17 March and Speyer) are non-profit
2004, the ‘Queen of the organizations, financed ex-
Skies’ was positioned in clusively through entrance
take-off position on a steel fees and donations. There-
frame above museum hall fore, twenty hours of free
No. 2 of the Technik Mu- news broadcast by various
seum Sinsheim. The Air TV stations covering our
France technicians were Concorde’s transportation
very helpful as were their helped to increase the mu-
Lufthansa colleagues who seum’s profile. To this day,
were thrilled to support Fox Bravo is the highlight of
us again, having assist- our aircraft exhibition, and
ed us in reassembling our she remains the most beau-
Boeing 747 a few years tiful aircraft in the world. Fox Bravo on the German autobahn at night.
[© TMS]
161

Fox Bravo (left) on display with her former rival, the Tupolev Tu-144. Sinsheim is the only place where both supersonic
airliners are exhibited together.
[© TMS]
The British Farewell

British Airways decided Les Brodie, Senior Flight and struggled to keep her Mach 2 experience today
to end its Concorde ser- Officer Paul Griffin, and voice steady once Alpha with much fondness and
vice with a farewell tour Senior Engineering Offi- Echo touched down: “La- pride. We have no doubt
around North America and cer Trevor Norcott. Flight dies and gentlemen, we that you will all miss see-
the United Kingdom with attendant Iona Ferguson would like to welcome you ing Concorde’s silhouette
October 24 being the final remembers: “The service to London Heathrow. It is soaring over London but it
day of operation that was was not the same as on a with great sadness and is now time for us to wish
to see the last three flights regular flight as all passen- with heavy hearts we thank you all the very best for
coming home to London gers had either won tickets you for choosing to fly the future – thank you, and
Heathrow from New York, through the British Airways with us on British Airways’ good night.” Iona looked
the Bay of Biscay, and Ed- employee raffle or been supersonic Concorde on over at her colleague who
inburgh. chosen as a way of thanks this historical day and we was also in tears and yet
At 14:20, Alpha Echo for special service. It was hope you loved the experi- both were smiling, knowing
(G-BOAE), commanded by emotional in a way which ence as much as we have how incredibly lucky they
Captain Chris Norris, took is hard to describe. We an- loved looking after you. It were to have been such a
off from Edinburgh with nounced that after landing has been our pleasure to part of such a magnificent
her passengers on a last the passengers could line serve on Concorde over history: “We disembarked
supersonic flight over the up to visit the cockpit.” the years, knowing what a by the hangars onto red
North Sea. The flight crew Iona had been chosen to privilege it is, and we hope carpets and near the other
also consisted of Captain make the announcements you will all remember your two Concordes which had
162 The British Farewell

British Airways cabin service director Claire Sullivan sheds

a tear on her last Concorde flight.
come in from the final New (G-BOAF) to the skies over

York and the ‘around the Heathrow for a the last-ev-
bay’ flights. It was hard – so er supersonic flight around
hard – to leave the aircraft. the Bay of Biscay with a
It still brings me to tears hundred VIPs and British
thinking about that magical Airways staff on board. The
yet terribly sad day.” flight crew also included
At the same time as Alpha Senior Flight Officer Mark
Echo departed Edinburgh Jealous and Senior Engi-
at 14:20, Captain Paul neering Officers Peter Car- Concorde comes home to London Heathrow on
24 October 2003.
Douglas took Alpha Fox rigan and Warren Hazelby.
[© Howell Green]
An enthusiastic crowd welcomes Concorde at London Heathrow on 24 October 2003.

163

An enthusiastic crowd welcomes Concorde at London Heathrow on 24 October 2003.
“In the end, Concorde is just an aluminium tube, an aircraft, a machine. An

exceptional one there is no doubt, but still only a machine. What makes her
so different is her people – our customers and British Airways staff. They
give her a soul. What we have learned is how to offer superior service.”
– Captain Mike Bannister, former BA Concorde chief pilot
On the other side of the The Air Traffic Controller London Heathrow directed which was waving flags
Atlantic, in New York, Cap- who had welcomed the first Alpha Echo and Alpha Fox out of the windows. Mean-
tain Mike Bannister, British Concordes to New York in onto their final approaches. while, her two sisters tax-
Airways’ Chief Concorde Pi- 1977 was there and radi- Alpha Golf made one final ied around the airport one
lot, Senior First Officer Jon- oed to Concorde: “It’s been loop to overfly Heathrow last time. The Air Traffic
athan Napier, and Senior wonderful working with and London before taking Controller beamed out the
Engineering Officers David your aircraft – good luck up position as the third message: “The eagles have
Hoyle and Robert Wood- to all the crews, and we’re aircraft in line. The three landed – welcome home.”
cock, were getting ready to going to miss you.” Con- Concordes were greeted That day twenty-seven
take Alpha Golf (G-BOAG) corde’s flight crew replied: by crowds of people gath- years of British Airways
with a full complement of “It’s been great knowing ered on the roadsides, in Concorde service ended
VIPs on board home to Lon- you and we’re going to carparks, and on tops of with the five active aircraft
don. Before the departure, miss you a lot.” Watched buildings. The first aircraft – G-BOAA and G-BOAB
the airport’s firemen gave by thousands of Concorde to land was Alpha Echo at had been retired since
Alpha Golf a water cannon lovers, Alpha Golf took off 16:00, followed by Alpha 2000 – positioned for a
tribute of red, white and from the Big Apple for the Fox three minutes later. Fi- group photo, together with
blue jets of water. The flight very last time, at 17:20. nally, Alpha Golf touched the airline’s Concorde staff
crew showed its apprecia- As Alpha Golf entered down at 16:05 receiving who had worked with the
tion by waving the U.S. flag the United Kingdom’s air- a water cannon salute aircraft.
and the Union Jack. space, Air Traffic Control at surprising the flight crew
164 The British Farewell

The Last Flight – Coming Home

The 26th of November and I have seen some utter-
2003 marked the day of ly incredible photographs
Concorde’s last-ever flight: of what it looked like from
to fly Alpha Fox (G-BOAF) the ground. A handful of
from London Heathrow to us [crew] who were on that
Filton, the birthplace of the flight stayed [on board] as
British Concordes, where long as we possibly could
she would find a new home before being forced to leave
at the Aerospace Bristol when we saw the bus –
aviation heritage centre. which was taking us back
The flight crew consisted up to London – leaving! The
of Captains Les Brodie, thought of Concorde being
Paul Douglas, and Mike ‘mothballed’ and sitting on
Bannister, and Senior En- the tarmac – regardless of
gineer Officers Warren Ha- how well looked after she is
Concorde Alpha Fox (G-BOAF) receives a water cannon
zelby and Trevor Norcott. – breaks my heart. She was
salute before her last-ever flight.
Iona Ferguson, who was a built to fly and can still do [© David Apps]
flight attendant on one of so. It is like watching a rare
the three final commercial bird caged.”
flights on 24 October, was For the British Airways emotionally charged expe- er Robert Pilgrim, proposed
on board ‒ this time as a staff working on board or rience. For Catherine Mur- as Alpha Fox reached Mach
passenger: “It was hard travelling as winning pas- ray this flight to Filton was 2 at 60,000 feet. A stunned
to believe that I received a sengers on this last-ever memorable for another rea- Catherine said: “He chose
passenger ticket for the last Concorde flight, it was an son: her boyfriend, IT work- the right moment.”
Concorde, to be flown from
London to Filton where she
was to stay. To be back on
her – in civilian clothes this
time – felt both odd and
wonderful. We flew over the
Clifton Suspension Bridge
[© Iona Ferguson]
Alpha Fox overflies Clifton

Suspension Bridge, Bristol,
as thousands of enthusi-
asts gather to pay tribute to
her on her last-ever flight.
[© Adrian Meredith Collection]
165

The end of an era in aviation history: Alpha Fox touches down at Filton on 26 November 2003, the last-ever landing of a
Concorde.
Delta Golf at the Brooklands Museum

by Allan Winn, former Brooklands CEO
“Concorde volunteers took charge of tracking down the

thousands of parts needed to complete the restoration.”
Since Concorde Delta a team of volunteers grew and serving engineers from the restoration. This was
Golf (G-BBDG) was allo- around Delta Golf. Under British Airways. Although necessary as Delta Golf
cated by British Airways their leader Gordon Rox- the physical dismantling had been stripped of all her
to Brooklands Museum burgh this team adopted and rebuilding of the main useful parts over a twen-
in 2003, she has not only the aircraft and became structure of Delta Golf was ty-year period as a spares
become an important and the driving workforce of handled by a professional source to keep the rest of
lastingly popular exhibits restoration and inter- aircraft-dismantling com- the BA fleet flying.
it but has also fostered pretation. They included pany, the Concorde volun- Once the aircraft’s res-
an extraordinary commu- aerospace engineering stu- teers took charge of track- toration – which included
nity within the museum. dents from the University ing down the thousands of painting the entire aircraft
From the very beginning of Surrey as well as retired parts needed to complete and designing the internal
166 Delta Golf at the Brooklands Museum

displays – was complete, ing feat had been complet-

a further team of volunteer ed, the team attracted a
stewards was formed to group of twelve Concorde
operate it as a live exhibit. captains, first officers and
But the volunteer input did flight engineers to operate
not end there. Having com- it, giving visitors the oppor-
pleted a restoration of Delta tunity to learn how to ‘fly’
Golf, which many observ- this amazing aircraft. The
ers had deemed impossi- impact on the museum has
ble, the team – with further been extraordinary. Even
help from the University of during her two-year resto-
Surrey and the UK Engi- ration, Delta Golf attracted
neering Sciences Research new museum visitors to
Council – embarked on a watch progress, but once
further ‘impossible’ task: she was formally opened
the simulator’s return to by HRH Prince Michael of Delta Golf’s cockpit section before her restoration.
service on which all British Kent in August 2006 she [© Ian Haskell]
Concorde crews did their drove a massive increase
training. This included con- in numbers. In addition to
verting the machine from generating increased ad- bus, a tour of the rear cab- corde experience each
analogue to digital oper- missions revenue, Con- in and then a virtual flight year, a further 300 or so
ation and building a new corde also created a new in the front cabin, where flying the simulator and
own-design visual system revenue stream, as visitors they experience some of hundreds more attending
for it, and then slaving it pay a premium to take a the glamour of sitting in the special Concorde events,
into Microsoft Flightsim to half-hour experience which seats and taking a flight. Concorde is generating
allow it to ‘fly’ anywhere in includes a welcome brief- With over 40,000 visitors around £250,000 a year for
the world. Once this amazing aboard an airport ramp taking the half-hour Con- the museum.
Delta Golf after her full restoration, open to the public.

[© Brooklands Museum Trust Ltd]
167

Visiting Sierra Delta in Le Bourget
by Jean-François Louis, Association des Amis du Musée de l’Air
The tour usually begins for Concorde’s commercial questions like: “How did
in the Concorde hangar, failure. The third group are you put in a bed for the
with the people often say- ‘mainstream’ visitors, many French president? Why
ing: “Wow, this aircraft is of them exploring Concorde was the price of a Paris–
beautiful! What a pity that ‘face to face’ for the first New York ticket so high?
it doesn’t fly anymore.” We time and who always want Will there be another Con-
then talk about Concorde’s to learn a little more of the corde soon?” Most of the
genesis, technology, histo- aircraft, its technology, and visitors regret Concorde’s
ry, rivals, before boarding the typical passenger pro- retirement and the step
both Concordes (Prototype files. backwards in terms of flight
001 and Sierra Delta). The most frequent re- duration to New York. When
Visitors can be divided marks relate to Concorde’s our visitors leave, their
into three groups. Firstly, beauty and I often hear the heads full of dreams, many
Museum volunteer and the ‘worshipers’ own almost term ‘majestic’. After visit- regret that they never had
Concorde lover Jean- everything that has been ing both Concordes, many the opportunity to fly on
François Louis.
written about Concorde, visitors are astounded by such a fantastic aircraft that
[© Jean-François Louis]
and had wet eyes when the cabin size. I often hear was so far ahead of its time.
watching Concorde’s final
flights. The second group
In 2014, I became a volun- are passionate enthusiasts
teer at the Musée de l’air and aviation professionals,
et de l’espace, Le Bourget, keen to learn more about
conducting guided tours of Concorde’s genesis, her
our Boeing 747 and our two history, technology, perfor-
Concordes. First, I could lit- mance, rivals, and retire-
tle imagine how these tours ment; they often ask ques-
were such a dream come tions about the fuel transfer,
true for our visitors, in par- the lengthening of the fuse-
ticular our younger guests. lage in flight, and the causes
The nose of prototype 001. Note the difference to Sierra

Delta’s nose. [© Ben Wang]
168 Visiting Sierra Delta in Le Bourget

Restoring and Maintaining Concorde

The restoration and pres- Museum volunteer
ervation of the Concordes and former Con-
corde engineer
in museums around the Alexandra Jolivet.
world requires dedicat- [© Alexandra Jolivet]
ed teams of engineers,
technicians, and helpers.
Alexandra Jolivet worked
on Air France’s active
Concorde fleet from late
2000 until their retirement
in 2003. As a volunteer at After Concorde’s
the Le Bourget museum, retirement, many
Alex participated in the spare parts and
restoration of Concordes various cabin items
including gauges,
001 (F-WTSS) and Sier- seats and trolleys
ra Delta (F-BTSD): “I set were auctioned off
up the team with a friend to raise money for a
who works in the mu- number of charities.
seum’s workshop. Over corde and pass on her his- A nosecone fetched
$490,000 at an Air
time more people joined tory to the public. Other
France SA auction
us to help preserve Con- jets are for kids!” in Paris.
Sierra Delta and prototype 001 capture the imagination of the museum’s visitors.
[© Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace - Le Bourget / Vincent Pandellé]
169

RETURN
TO FLIGHT?
“The thought of her being mothballed and sitting on
the tarmac – regardless of how well looked after she is –
breaks my heart. Concorde was built to fly and she can
still do so. It is like watching a rare bird caged.”
– Iona Ferguson, former BA Concorde flight attendant
170 Headline

KAPITEL-HD
[© Adrian Meredith
171

The history of aviation has imagination. Although her and unmatched engineer- the famous Supermarine
seen many icons taking to flying days have come to ing, many among us – avi- Spitfire, the Messerschmitt
the skies. Concorde was an end, the love affair has ation professionals and en- Bf 109, the North American
one of the most famous not. Today she enjoys her thusiasts alike – might well P-51 Mustang, the Boeing
and most-loved of them status as a prestigious ex- wonder if this marvel could B-29 Superfortress, and
all. When André Turcat and hibition piece in some of ever return to the skies. the Avro Vulcan. The latter
Brian Trubshaw made their the world’s finest aviation Over the last few decades, was a jet-powered, tailless,
successful maiden flights in museums, serving as a numerous retired aircraft delta-wing, high-altitude
1969, they ignited a love af- magnet for visitors. Stand- have been reactivated after strategic bomber operated
fair that caused Concorde ing in front of Concorde and painstaking restoration and by the RAF from 1956 until
to capture the world’s admiring her sheer beauty testing. Among these are 1984. The technologically
Vulcan XH558, the Spirit of Great Britain, gracefully taking off during an air show in 2008.
[© CF38]
172 Return to Flight?

RETURN TO FLIGHT?
Vulcan XH558 during a formation flight with the Red Arrows in 2015.
[© Steve Buckley, RAF/MOD]
sophisticated and com- ic airliner’s power plant. Vulcan, XH558, named the aircraft at various air shows
plex Vulcan is part of Con- Through a combination of Spirit of Great Britain, was from 2008 until 2015, be-
corde’s genealogy and her public donations and lot- restored to flight by the fore being retired a second
Olympus engines provided tery funding raising several ‘Vulcan To The Sky Trust’ time for engineering rea-
the basis for the superson- million pounds, one retired and displayed as a civilian sons.
173

The Former Rival’s Return to Flight
With regards to various once a supersonic rival two years later due to the into hangars after their last
historic aircraft restored and deprecatingly dubbed lack of further funding. flight and beautifully cared
to flying condition, only by the Western press as for, while others have spent
the Vulcan is – remotely – ‘Concordski’. In 1995, after With no large-scale proj- many years outdoors, ex-
technically comparable to an agreement was signed ect – sponsored by the posed to the elements and
Concorde. Nevertheless, between IBP Aircraft, Tu- British or French govern- resulting in corrosive dam-
despite some similarities, polev, NASA, Rockwell, ments or any internation- age. The six prototypes,
Concorde’s complex and McDonnell Douglas, and al partner – aiming to use pre-production and pro-
unique design does place Boeing, one preserved Tu- Concorde for scientific test duction test aircraft which
her in a league of her own. 144 (S/N 77114) was exten- or research flights in sight, were retired and moved to
Yet, campaigners envi- sively modified at a cost of the enthusiasts who want museums during the 1970s
sioning Concorde’s return approximately $350 million to see her fly again would and 1980s, do not conform
to the skies argue that the to be used as a flying test- have to find an enormously to the type certificate as
success of reactivating the bed as part of a research financially potent partner later defined by the four-
Vulcan as a display aircraft programme for the second or sponsor for a return-to- teen production aircraft
could at least serve as an generation of supersonic flight project. built for airline service (see
encouragement and ‘tem- air travel. Designated the Then, a well-preserved more following), so they
plate’ for a potential ‘Con- Tu-144LL, with ‘LL’ being and professionally main- can be excluded from the
corde cause’. the abbreviation for Leta- tained Concorde adequate list of potential candidates
However, there is only yushchaya Laboratoriya – for restoration to flying con- for a second lease of life.
one aircraft that comes the Russian term for Flying dition with the least effort This limits the number to
relatively close to Con- Laboratory – the aircraft and cost, would have to be the twelve surviving aircraft
corde’s design and per- made twenty-seven suc- found. From the eighteen used for airline service.
formance: the short-lived cessful flights during 1996 Concordes that still exist,
Soviet Tupolev Tu-144, and 1997 but was retired some have been moved
Roll-out of the restored Tupolev Tu-144LL in 1996. She was part of a research programme for the second generation of
supersonic air travel.
[© NASA]
174 The Former Rival’s Return to Flight

RETURN TO FLIGHT?
The Tu-144LL ready for take-off. International cooperation and funding made her restoration possible.
[© NASA]
The Tu-144LL in flight. Her role in the supersonic research programme gave her a (short-lived) second lease on life.
[© NASA]
175

Air France Concordes
Foxtrot Alpha (F-BVFA), the flagship of the Air France Concorde fleet, was flown to the United States in 2003 and is now
on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
[© Gérard Duval]
With Concorde Sierra Char- side since 2003, and there- to the American Smithso- seum) at Le Bourget near
lie (F-BTSC) lost in the trag- fore exposed to rain and nian National Air and Space Paris, since 2003. Foxtrot
ic crash of 2000 and Foxtrot snow. One is Foxtrot Bravo Museum in 2003 and im- Charlie (F-BVFC) is stored
Delta (F-BVFD) dismantled (F-BVFB) at Sinsheim, Ger- mediately stored inside the outside at the Aeroscopia
six years earlier due to cor- many, the other is Foxtrot museum without any alter- Museum at the Airbus fac-
rosion, there are still five Air Foxtrot (F-BVFF) at Charles ations afterwards. Sierra tory in Toulouse, but is well
France aircraft in existence de Gaulle Airport, Paris. Delta (F-BTSD) has been maintained and sealed from
today. Two of them can The remaining three have beautifully cared for inside the elements.
probably be ruled out as been stored inside. Foxtrot the Musée de l’air et de l’es-
they have been stored out- Alpha (F-BVFA) was flown pace (Air and Space Mu-
176 Air France Concordes

RETURN TO FLIGHT?
British Airways Concordes

All seven British Airways Museum of Flight, Seattle, to be ruled out as well. Al- transport to Sinsheim. This
Concordes have survived and Alpha Delta (G-BOAD) pha Alpha (B-BOAA), which leaves two British Concord-
to this day. With Alpha Bra- at the Intrepid Sea, Air and was transported to the Mu- es which have been stored
vo (G-BOAB) still in storage Space Museum, New York. seum of Flight, Edinburgh, inside and wonderfully
parked outside at Heath- Alpha Foxtrot (G-BOAF), Scotland, in 2004, had her looked after: one is Alpha
row Airport, London, and the last Concorde ever wings removed in order Echo (G-BOAE) on display
stripped of much of her completed, was stored out- to fit into the museum. Al- at Grantley Adams Interna-
interior, she barely qualifies side at Aerospace Bristol, though later reattached, tional Airport in Barbados,
as a candidate for reactiva- Filton, before being moved it would be very laborious the other Alpha Charlie
tion. The remaining six were into a hangar especially and expensive to restore (B-BOAC) at the Manches-
given to various museums. built for her in 2017. With their structural integrity as ter Airport Viewing Park.
Two of them are stored out- these three aircraft ex- is the case with the French
doors in the United States: posed to the elements for Foxtrot Bravo which had
Alpha Golf (G-BOAG) at the years, they probably have to be dismantled for her
Alpha Charlie (B-BOAC), the flagship of the British Airways Concorde fleet, is now on display at the Manchester Airport
Viewing Park.
177

Sierra Delta (F-BTSD) is a potential contender for reac-
tivation as she has been beautifully cared for inside the
Musée de l’air et de l’espace at Le Bourget. Prototype
001 is visible in the background.
[© Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace - Le Bourget / Xavier Derégel]
178 British Airways Concordes

RETURN TO FLIGHT?
179

Contenders for Reactivation
All in all, among the eigh- tics and transportation dis- ality which the general Con- to potential future reacti-
teen surviving airframes, tances for spare parts and corde enthusiast might not vation as is done with both
two from Air France (Sier- technical personnel, Alpha be aware of. Returning an retired civil and military
ra Delta in Le Bourget and Echo in Barbados would iconic World War II aircraft aircraft which are stored
Foxtrot Charlie in Toulouse) certainly require more orga- or even the more complex in hangars or preserva-
and two from British Air- nizational effort and there- Avro Vulcan to the skies is tion-friendly environments
ways (Alpha Charlie in Man- fore incur more costs than one thing – Concorde quite such as the Mojave Desert.
chester and Alpha Echo in the aircraft stored in the another. Therefore, various Therefore, a professionally
Barbados) are – theoreti- United States or Europe. factors would have to be ‘mothballed’ and properly
cally and potentially – in a Besides determining which examined. sealed aircraft is always in
good enough physical con- would be the most suited Nevertheless, when the a better condition than an
dition to be considered for for reactivation, there are Concorde fleets were re- aircraft put on display, de-
a restoration project aimed numerous monumental tired, none of the aircraft spite how well maintained it
at returning one of them to obstacles preventing this was properly ‘mothballed’ might be.
flying. With regard to logis- dream from becoming a re- (‘cocooned’) with regards
Alpha Echo (G-BOAE) is now on display at Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados.
[© Bob Ware]
180 Contenders for Reactivation

RETURN TO FLIGHT?
Potential Use
With Concorde’s rich his- for heritage flights. In or- flying as an exclusive char- enjoy tremendous interna-
tory as an iconic display der to operate on a viable ter aircraft taking fare-pay- tional demand and could
aircraft for air shows, roy- commercial or semi-coming passengers to various be operated by a dedicat-
al flypasts and formation mercial basis needed to places or offering short sued non-profit group over-
flights with the Patrouille de cover her massive flying personic flights, that would seeing the process of her
France or the Red Arrows, and maintenance costs, make Concorde herself restoration and return to
she certainly would receive Concorde would have to the destination. With only the skies.
an enormous amount of at- do what she had done so one Concorde potentially
tention if ever used again successfully in the past: active, she would certainly
Spare Parts and Certification

With Concorde made up of to various museums and sary to certify the required without passengers – the
hundreds of thousands of put into storage. With the spares no longer exists and least complex – but would
parts, each and every part operational history of many would have to be rebuilt. mean that her flights could
would require certification of these surviving parts un- One example is the large not generate any income.
by the French and British clear, they would have to number of hydraulic seals The second option would
civil aviation authorities be re-certified by the ap- in the tanks that would all be as a cargo aircraft with
in order to receive a cer- proved manufacturer, such have to be replaced. a small number of passen-
tificate of airworthiness, as Airbus or Rolls-Royce, Moreover, the spare gers, and the third would
let alone the aircraft as a who originally made them. parts that are no longer be her ‘comeback’ as a
whole. After her retirement, Many of the manufacturers available would either have supersonic aircraft with full
numerous spare parts – who specialized in Con- to be remanufactured from passenger capacity, cer-
ranging from simple valves corde parts either no lon- scratch at significant cost tainly the most challenging
to complex machinery – ger exist or have moved or cannibalized from oth- and therefore the most ex-
were either sold, auctioned on to more modern tech- er Concordes on display. pensive, yet most attrac-
off (some of them for char- nologies. Therefore, after There are various ways of tive, variant.
itable causes) or scrapped, all these years, most of re-certifying Concorde: one
while others were donated the test equipment neces- being as a subsonic aircraft
Support Services
In comparison to subsonic lic oil, fuel, fluids, ground
airliners Concorde was a power units, as well as
very maintenance-inten- support from manufactur-
sive aircraft and therefore ers such as Rolls-Royce to
expensive to operate. She run her powerful but com-
required, and would still re- plex engines.
quire, certified fuel, hydrau-
Qualified Engineers and Technicians

Former Concorde engi- would have to regain their
neers and technicians licences to work on the
whose skills and experi- aircraft as these have long
ence are essential for the since expired.
complex task of restoration
181

Qualified Flight Crew and Type Holder Certificate
With Concorde officially when Concorde went out moved from their hydraulic certificate for a reactivated
retired for good in 2003, of service. However, one jacks, so they will never Concorde. With regard to
her pilots and flight engi- flight simulator has been again fully operate as they Concorde’s unique and still
neers have not renewed reactivated at Brooklands did while Concorde was in cutting-edge design, it is
their flight certifications, Museum as a visitor attrac- service. With Airbus being unlikely that Airbus would
these requiring regular tion. The French are work- the successor of BAC and agree to a transfer of the
checks and testing. More- ing to bring their simulator Aérospatiale as the type type certificate to anoth-
over, there are no official back to life in Toulouse, so certificate holder for Con- er aircraft manufacturer or
training facilities, including there will eventually be two corde, the civil aviation aviation company.
certified flight simulators, active simulators. Howev- authorities would require
as they were deactivated er, both systems were re- Airbus to also hold the type
Costs
Facing the enormously eral millions pounds, the Concorde by concentrating basis, e.g. charters, then
complex task of restoring Tupolev Tu-144’s extensive on present-day operational recent legislation requires
Concorde, meeting all cer- modification and test flight requirements, Ricky Bas- that several systems would
tification requirements and operations swallowed a tin, a former British Airways require a radical upgrade –
keeping her flying for sev- staggering $350 million, a Concorde ground engineer, however, fortunately there
eral years would require a sum very unlikely to be in- says: are ‘off the shelf’ solutions
grand budget capable of vested into a single aircraft “Firstly, a full structural available. As an example,
covering numerous un- without any scientific or survey would be required the INS [inertial navigation
foreseeable expenses. The military purpose in mind. on the relevant airframe(s), system] was seen as be-
costs are an unknown fig- Addressing some of the to ensure that structural coming unfit for purpose as
ure. While the reactivation key technical aspects in deterioration does not rule long ago as 1999, as well
of the Vulcan required sev- the restoration process of out the venture. Then, a as the ADS-B [automatic
full survey of the electrical dependent surveillance–
installation would be nec- broadcast] and EGPWS
essary, and once electrical [enhanced ground proxim-
and then hydraulic power ity warning system] sys-
are established, the integ- tems now being mandato-
rity of the various hydraulic ry for commercial aircraft.
seals will have to be estab- These two systems require
lished, and, where neces- at least a dual GPS system
sary, seals replaced. It is to be installed for them to
highly likely that museum operate:
aircraft would need to be an ADS-B is a surveil-
cannibalized for certain lance technology in which
spares. An engine restor- an aircraft determines its
ative process would have position via satellite-based
to be agreed with Rolls- navigation and periodically
Royce, whose support in broadcasts it, thus enabling
any venture is absolutely it to be tracked. An EGPWS
vital, and low to zero hours alerts pilots if their aircraft
engines would possibly is in immediate danger of
For reactivation Concorde would have to go through a ‘D
need to be sourced. If it flying into the ground or
(Major) Check’ which involves the careful disassembling
of her major parts, extensive tests with them, as well as a is desired to use the air- an obstacle. To implement
structural inspection of the airframe. craft on a semi-commercial the required changes a
182 Contenders for Reactivation

RETURN TO FLIGHT?
great deal of weight saving regime would need to be

can actually be achieved, established, particularly
equating to a lower fuel for the ‘classic’ Concorde
burn. The proposal is to components, which would
replace two air data com- of course be costly.”
puters, three INS units and Since Concorde’s retire-
their equipment, as well as ment in 2003, various or-
some other devices. These ganizations, most notably
would all be replaced with the ‘Save Concorde Group’
a single Honeywell ADIRU and ‘Club Concorde’, a
[air data and inertial refer- business venture support-
ence unit], together with a ed by former Concorde
single SARU [standby atti- pilots, have been making
tude reference unit], both efforts to make the reacti-
supplying airspeed, angle vation of at least one Con-
of attack and altitude as corde possible. The ‘Save Reactivating Concorde would probably require the re-
well as position and atti- Concorde Group’, sup- placement of the electrical installation as well as the inte-
gration of modern avionic systems.
tude information. A simple ported by members from [© BAE Systems]
FMS [flight management the aviation world as well
system] for lateral naviga- as politicians, celebrities,
tion only [LNAV] would be and the general public,
required, the simplest solu- even submitted a petition Nevertheless, it is highly of Concorde who designed
tion being similar to the to the British government speculative that the owners and built her deceased, the
ARINC 629 card system and Airbus UK, signed by would agree to give away technical knowledge re-
used on the Boeing 777. 30,000 people, asking for their Concordes to such quired to rebuild, maintain
The FMS is a fundamental their support to return Con- an ambitious, yet probably and fly Concorde might be
component of a modern corde to the skies. Despite incalculable undertaking, gone in the not-too-distant
airliner’s avionics that au- widespread hope, the pe- as nothing similar has ever future as engineers, techni-
tomates a wide variety of tition has not been favour- been undertaken without cians and pilots start fading
in-flight tasks, thus reduc- ably received. the leadership and funding away. Therefore, the the-
ing the workload on the To this day, British Air- of a player such as NASA, oretical chance of restor-
flight crew. The card sys- ways still owns the Con- Boeing, Airbus or a national ing her to flying condition
tem would also house the cordes built in Britain, thus government. and taking her to the skies
necessary analogue/digital the aircraft on public display Moreover, the Concordes again, seems to be slowly
and digital/analogue con- have been loaned to the donated to museums, such and irreversibly passing, if
verters that would enable museums. Air France do- as Foxtrot Alpha (F-BVFA) not already.
the new systems to inter- nated four of their remain- at the Smithsonian and Si- With subsonic airliners
face with the aircraft. A ma- ing Concordes to museums erra Delta (F-BTSD) at Le being the standard air-
jor issue however becomes where they are on display, Bourget, are considered not craft for intercontinental
one of display, the simplest the exception being Fox- only technological marvels air travel today and for the
and cheapest long-term trot Foxtrot (F-BVFF) which or masterpieces of art but foreseeable future, the su-
option being to remove was placed on display at also historic artefacts that personic Concorde, now
most of the pilot’s flight Paris Charles de Gaulle. should be preserved in the gracefully enduring her fate
instruments, as well as the Therefore, an agreement layout they were originally as a prestigious museum
primary and secondary en- with British Airways or one built. Therefore, any alter- artefact, might sadly look
gine instrument panels and of these museums would ation or modernization of up to the skies as a domain
replace them with a total have to be reached to ei- the avionics in order to meet she once so supremely
of four flat panel LCD dis- ther buy a Concorde or ob- present-day operational re- ruled. Like all icons, Con-
plays – this sort of retrofit is tain permission to restore quirements would compro- corde’s place in the pop-
common in North America and operate one and then mise their historical integrity. ular imagination may well
for older-design aircraft. A return it to the museum With the years passing prove to be her enduring
full component overhaul after its final retirement. and most of the ‘fathers’ legacy.
183

Alpha Echo (G-BOAE) in her prime. It is very
unlikely that Concorde will return to the skies.
[© Art Brett]
184 Headline

KAPITEL-HD
185

186 Headline

KAPITEL-HD
[© Aerion Supersonic
A SUPERSONIC
FUTURE?
187

Since Concorde’s retire- ness jet designs to long- the environmental lobby mously high development
ment in 2003 aviation pro- range airliners with 300 becoming vocal, and fuel costs and generate sus-
fessionals and enthusiasts seats. With various con- prices climbing significant- tained revenue – appeared
alike have been asking one cepts being announced, ly during the 1970s – thus favourable, was ultimately
question: Who is going to examined, and then either prompting the world’s air- wrong. From the day when
inherit the crown of ‘Queen cancelled or shelved, it is lines to cancel their Con- a next-generation super-
of the Skies’ in the foresee- difficult to predict the future corde orders and instead sonic airliner – or any type
able future? Besides Con- of supersonic flight. When buy the economically more of aircraft – is conceived,
corde’s historic rivals – the Concorde was conceived viable Boeing 747 – Con- to the day it takes off on
short-lived Tu-144 and the during the late 1950s and corde entered service in an its maiden flight, the basis
never completed Boeing early 1960s, her ‘fathers’ era far different from when or ‘sands’ for a successful
2707 –various ideas and believed that ‘speed would she was conceived fifteen career might have shifted
concepts for second-gen- sell seats’ and that enough years earlier. Therefore, the so dramatically that the
eration supersonic com- passengers would be will- prediction, or assumption, concept becomes obso-
mercial aircraft when Con- ing to pay significantly that the circumstances for lete. The planners of Con-
corde was still in service more for their airfare in or- Concorde’s success – de- corde’s heirs have to be
were being mooted. These der to save time when trav- fined by several hundred aware that they are work-
ranged from ultrafast busi- elling long distances. With orders to cover the enor- ing on ‘shifting sands’, too.
Concorde B
A few months after she had the thirsty and noisy reheat them for supersonic flight York. Although proposed
entered commercial ser- system. Another innova- in order to reduce drag. All to go into production as
vice in 1976, Aérospatiale tion was the redesigned these modifications com- the successor of the six-
proposed a ‘Concorde B’, shape of the delta wing bined would have given teen completed production
a more refined variant of with leading-edge slats Concorde an additional Concordes by 1982, this
the existing model. It fea- that could be drooped like operational range of up to promising project did not
tured a slightly larger fuel Concorde’s nose. The pilot 500 miles (805 km), thus become a reality due to the
capacity and more power- could move them down to enabling her to be used poor sales of the original
ful and more fuel-efficient improve lift during take- on new commercial routes Concordes and the rising
Olympus engines without off and landing, and raise including Frankfurt to New fuel costs of the 1970s.
One of the fourteen

production Concordes in
service. Concorde B would
have featured a redesigned
delta wing shape.
188 United States

A SUPERSONIC FUTURE?
United States
Wind tunnel testing of a Boeing-designed model for a High-Speed Supersonic Commercial Transport (HSCT) in 1993. Its
shape resembled the cancelled Boeing 2707.
[© NASA]
Across the Atlantic, af- 2707 and supported by the With a speed of Mach 2.4 (synthetic vision) of the
ter the cancellation of the American aviation industry, (1,840 mph, 2,960 kph) it runway on screens inside
American SST (Superson- universities and the gov- was intended to carry 300 the cockpit. This system
ic Transport) programme ernment, the project aimed passengers across the At- was successfully tested
in 1971, NASA began re- to develop a second-gen- lantic or the Pacific at an on board various convert-
search on various potential eration supersonic airliner, affordable price slightly ed airliners during take-
designs for supersonic air- known as the High-Speed higher than those of sub- offs and landings to prove
craft. During the late 1980s, Supersonic Commercial sonic airliners. Unlike Con- its feasibility. NASA’s HSR
after an interruption due to Transport (HSCT) that corde, the HSCT concept research programme also
the lack of funding, NASA would be economically had neither a droop nose saw the use of existing mil-
launched the High-Speed feasible, environmentally nor a direct forward view itary aircraft for research,
Research (HSR) pro- acceptable and capable for the pilots. Instead it fea- including a delta-winged
gramme. Partially based of flying over land without tured cameras and sensors F-16XL modified with a
on the cancelled Boeing creating a sonic boom. generating an artificial view ‘glove’ made of titanium.
189

The glove contained more
than ten million holes and
had a suction system at-
tached to the lower surface
comprising tubes, valves
and a compressor. During
research flight the suction
systems pulled a small
part of the boundary layer
of air through the glove’s
porous surface to create
laminar (or smooth) airflow.
Researchers believe that
laminar flow conditions can
reduce aerodynamic drag
(friction) and contribute to
reduced operating costs by
improving fuel consump-
tion and reduction of air-
craft weight. By 1999 it was
clear that building a pro-
totype seemed possible.
However, there were still
too many technical, eco-
Cockpit of a Boeing 737 used to test the artificial view (synthetic vision) of the runway on nomic, environmental, and
screens inside the cockpit.
manufacturing challenges
[© Ted Huetter, Museum of Flight]
that needed to be over-
come in order to progress
to the construction stage
of a viable commercial
airliner, which, in the end,
brought the HSR research
programme to an end.
The sonic boom gener-
ated by Concorde during
her operational service re-
sulted in massive public
opposition in the United
States and elsewhere, thus
preventing Concorde from
flying over populated areas
in these countries. With
this obstacle being a major
Opposite: Lasers illumi-

nate airflow over a model
The F-16XL with the left wing converted for the experiment to achieve laminar (smooth) F-16XL in a NASA wind
airflow by an internal suction system. tunnel.
[© NASA] [© NASA]
190 United States

191

In 2003, the ‘Shaped Sonic Boom Experiment’ (SSBN) between NASA and Northrop Grumman saw the use of a
Northrop F-5E with a modified fuselage successfully demonstrating that the aircraft’s shock wave, and accompanying
sonic boom, which can be shaped, and thereby reduced.
[© Carla Thomas, NASA]
reason for the poor sales tions to aircraft fuselages to a retractable 24-feet-(7.3 small shock waves travel-
of Concorde in the 1970s, mitigate sonic booms have m-) long spike which was ling parallel to each other
a solution to overcome the been made. In 2004, the mounted on a NASA Mc- all the way to the ground,
‘boom problem’ has to be business jet manufacturer Donnell Douglas F-15B thus producing less noise
found if supersonic air trav- Gulfstream, in cooperation Eagle research aircraft. than typical shock waves
el is to have a future. Over with NASA, approached During various test flights that build up at the front of
the years, various propos- the issue differently. Their with a speed of up to Mach supersonic jets.
als for structural modifica- ‘Quite Spike’ project used 1.8, the spike created three
192 United States

NASA’s F-15B research testbed with the ‘Quiet Spike’ attachment, made of composite materials.
[© NASA]
193

Europe
Not only the US govern- cepts. In 1994, they signed and Russian aviation firms Office National d’Etudes et
ment and some of Ameri- a ‘supersonic agreement’, to share their ecological re- de Recherches Aérospa-
ca’s leading aviation man- resulting in the European sponsibility. Therefore, they tiales (ONERA) supporting
ufacturers, most notably Supersonic Research Pro- were members of an inter- the European programme.
represented by NASA, gramme (ESRP), aimed at national consortium, called Conceived as a long-range
Boeing, and McDonnell examining the commercial the Supersonic Study aircraft, it was to fly across
Douglas, were interested feasibility of developing a Group, which met twice the Atlantic, the Pacific or
in further developing SST Concorde successor capa- a year to discuss issues directly from Europe to
technology for future civil- ble of carrying 250 passen- such as the environmental Asia with ticket prices not
ian commercial use. Aware gers at the speed of Mach impact of future commer- substantially higher than
that Concorde one day 2 over a distance of more cial supersonic flight and on subsonic airliners. In or-
would have to be succeed- than 6,000 miles (10,000 likely demand. With NASA der to fly over oceans and
ed by a new variant capable km). Like the American re- providing governmen- long overland distances
of competing with non-Eu- search, the European ap- tal research and funding without causing the pro-
ropean designs, British proach was to meet noise benefitting the US aircraft hibitive sonic boom, such
Aerospace (BAE), the suc- reduction and environmen- manufacturers, so did the as the continental United
cessor of BAC, Aérospa- tal requirements. German space agency, the States, the aircraft had to
tiale, the successor of Sud Despite being commer- Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- be capable of flying both
Aviation, and the Deutsche cial competitors, it made und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), supersonic and transonic
Aerospace AG (DASA) be- sense for the ESRP, Boe- the British Defence Evalu- speeds, the latter at Mach
gan their respective re- ing, McDonnell Douglas, ation and Research Agen- 0.95 during the ‘land leg’ of
search work for new con- as well as Italian, Japanese cy (DERA), and the French a flight.
Concorde’s successor as conceived by the European Supersonic Research Programme (ESRP)

during the 1990s.
194 Supersonic Business Jets – The Next Step?

Japan
The Japan Aerospace Ex- a successor for Concorde a speed of Mach 2.2 over of Mach 1.6. Besides the
ploration Agency (JAXA), since the late 1980s. Called a distance of 5,500 miles. research for a Concorde
the Japan Aircraft Devel- the ‘Next Generation Su- In the early 2000s this con- successor, JAXA has also
opment Corporation, and personic Transport’, the cept was altered to a de- been working on a concept
the Society of Japanese concept originally aimed sign with 250 seats with a for a quiet supersonic busi-
Aerospace Companies, for an aircraft capable of maximum range of 6,000 ness jet (SSBJ) for several
also have been working on carrying 300 passengers at miles and a cruising speed years.
Supersonic Business Jets –

The Next Step?
Although there are cur- to overcome engineering, wishing for high-speed air nies have been working on
rently no supersonic busi- economic and environmen- travel. Several established different SSBN concepts.
ness jets in service, several tal obstacles. Moreover, aircraft manufacturers with Among these, the following
manufacturers are confi- the potential ‘fathers’ of experience in designing three concepts, all aiming
dent that supersonic travel future SSBJs believe that supersonic technology, to be introduced into ser-
can be rather achieved with there is a potentially a small such as Tupolev with its vice during the 2020s, are
smaller and more cost-ef- yet financially viable target recently proposed Tu-444, among the most promising:
fective aircraft than with group, such as world lead- Lockheed or Dassault, and
larger designs struggling ers or business executives various start-up compa-
Watch Video:
Super-
sonic
Future

on page 2.
Full-scale mockup of the pro-

posed Aerion AS2 supersonic
business jet.
[© Aerion Supersonic]
195

Aerion AS2
The American firm Aeri-
on Supersonic, in coop-
eration with Lockheed
Martin and GE Aviation,
is currently developing a
twelve-seat SSBJ capa-
ble of flying across the
Atlantic non-stop and
across the Pacific with
one stop (in Hawaii) at a
speed of Mach 1.4 over
sea and Mach 0.95 over
land, thus not producing
a sonic boom.
The luxurious interior of the Aerion AS2.
The Aerion AS2 has a range of 4,200 nautical miles (7,780 km) at Mach 1.4 over water or 5,400 nautical miles
(10,000 km) at Mach 0.95 over land, although ‘boomless’ Mach 1.1 flight is possible.
196 Supersonic Business Jets – The Next Step?

Spike S-512
The American firm Aeri-
on Supersonic, in coop-
eration with Lockheed
Martin and GE Aviation,
is currently developing a
twelve-seat SSBJ capa-
ble of flying across the
Atlantic non-stop and
across the Pacific with
one stop (in Hawaii) at a
speed of Mach 1.4 over
sea and Mach 0.95 over
land, thus not producing
a sonic boom.
The Spike S-512 will not

have cabin windows,
instead it will be lined
with tiny cameras sending
footage to displays lining
the interior walls.
[© Spike Aerospace / Spike-
Aerospace.com]
The shape of the Spike

S-512 shows some resem-
blance to Concorde.
[© Spike Aerospace / Spike-
Aerospace.com]
Layout of a conference room in the cabin of the Spike S-512.

[© Spike Aerospace / SpikeAerospace.com]
197

Boom XB-1 Baby Boom
Boom’s supersonic
airliner features a
Another American firm, Boom Aerospace has en-
refined ogival delta
Boom Aerospace, is cur- tered into a partnership wing with swept
rently developing a one- with Virgin Atlantic’s The trailing edge.
third-scale supersonic Spaceship Company. Vir-
testbed and demonstrator gin has options for several
aircraft called the XB-1 aircraft as does anoth-
Baby Boom as the basis er unnamed airline. The
for a fifty-five-seat super- shape of the proposed air-
sonic airliner suitable for liner suspiciously resem-
transoceanic routes with bles Concorde’s shape
tickets prices similar to conceived more than fifty
subsonic business class. years earlier.
Lockheed Martin X-59 QueSST

The Lockheed Martin X-59 With the long nose-cone lack of forward visibility. ture purpose is to test the
QueSST (Quiet Superson- obstructing the pilots’ for- Propelled by a single Gen- feasibility of ‘quiet’ su-
ic Transport) is an experi- ward vision, the X-59 will eral Electric F414 turbofan personic technology over
mental supersonic aircraft feature an enhanced flight with reheat, it is intended to urban areas in the United
under development for vision system, consisting reach Mach 1.5 and cruise States, in order to over-
NASA’s ‘Low-Boom Flight of a forward camera sys- at Mach 1.42 at 55,000 feet come a major obstacle for
Demonstrator’ programme. tem compensating for the (16,800 m). The X-59’s fu- future supersonic air travel.
The X-59 QueSST has been funded by NASA to the tune of $247.5 million.
[© NASA]
198 Hypersonic Flight – A New Dimension?

Hypersonic Flight –
A New Dimension?
With commercial super- aircraft Lockheed SR-71 the world. Among sever- 6,200 kph). Even faster de-
sonic airliners (Concorde, Blackbird capable of Mach al proposed concepts are signs, however, would call
Tu-144) capable of reach- 3.3 (retired in 1999), aircraft conventional turbojet and for rocket or scramjet pro-
ing speeds in excess of engineers are now looking ramjet designs capable of pulsion systems.
Mach 2 and the US Air at even faster designs to flying at speeds in excess
Force’s reconnaissance carry passengers around of Mach 5 (3,850 mph,
Hypersonic Flight
Hypersonic speed is one ing jet engine using the Ramjets cannot move an off like an aircraft (‘mother
that can be described as engine’s forward motion aircraft from a standstill as ship’) or a rocket assist to
highly supersonic, gener- for compressing the in- they cannot produce thrust accelerate it to a speed
ally referring to speeds of coming air without the use at zero speed. Therefore, where it can begin to pro-
Mach 5 and higher. A ramjet of an axial compressor or a ramjet-powered vehicle duce thrust itself.
is a form of an air-breath- a centrifugal compressor. requires an assisted take-
Reaction Engines A2 SonicStar and HyperStar
The British aerospace firm about 4.6 hours at a height In 2008, the US-based feet, an increased range of
Reaction Engines Limit- of 100,000 feet (30 km) in HyperMach Aerospace In- 7,000 nautical miles and a
ed is currently working on the 2040s, compared to a dustries, Inc. was formed larger passenger capacity
a design study called the complete travelling day on to design a twin-engine hy- of up to thirty-six passen-
LAPCAT A2 for an envi- a present-day subsonic air- personic business jet capa- gers. The firm is exper-
ronmentally friendly, long- craft. The four Scimitar en- ble of carrying about twen- imenting with a system
range, hypersonic airliner. gines, originally conceived ty passengers at Mach 3.6 called the electromagnetic
The aircraft was originally for space launch but mod- over a distance of 6,000 drag-reduction technology
part of the LAPCAT pro- ifiable for intercontinental nautical miles (11,000 km). (EDRT) that will mitigate,
gramme (Long-Term Ad- high-speed air travel, will Later renamed Hyperstar, and possibly even elimi-
vanced Propulsion Con- use liquid hydrogen as a the aircraft concept perfor- nate, the sonic boom, thus
cepts and Technologies), fuel having twice the spe- mance was improved to a enabling the Hyperstar to
co-funded by the Europe- cific impulse of kerosene, speed of Mach 5 at 80,000 fly over land.
an Union. With a range of and can be used to cool
12,000 miles (20,000 km) the vehicle and the air en-
and capable of a top speed tering the engines via a
of more than Mach 5, the pre-cooler. The ticket cost
LAPCAT A2 is intended is aimed at business-class
to carry 300 passengers level.
from Europe to Australia in
199

ZEHST
Presented in 2011 the York in just one hour. Pro-
Zero Emission Hyper Son- pelled by biofuel made
ic Transport (ZEHST) is a from seaweed and by ox-
future airliner concept en- ygen/hydrogen, it is to
visioned by Airbus in co- consist of three propulsion
operation with the Japan systems: two turbofans to
Aerospace Exploration be used for take-off and
Agency (JAXA). It is intend- reaching Mach 0.8, then
ed to carry up to a hundred rocket boosters to take
passengers at a speed over to accelerate to Mach
of Mach 4 at a height of 2.5, then two scramjets to
100,000 feet, thus being enable the ZEHST to reach
capable of flying from Eu- its cruising speed of Mach
rope to Japan in 2.5 hours 4. Airbus envisions the air-
or from London to New craft to fly by 2050.
SpaceLiner
Conceived by the Deut- a single type of reusable
sche Zentrum für Luft- und rocket engine, liquid hydro-
Raumfahrt, Germany’s gen and liquid oxygen will
space agency, the Space- be used as the propellants,
Liner is a concept for hy- a combination that is both
personic transport. Be- very powerful and envi-
sides carrying passengers ronmentally friendly. Con-
it is also intended to be ceived as a long-term proj-
used as a reusable launch ect, the SpaceLiner might
vehicle (RLV) capable of become operational during
delivering heavy payloads the 2040s.
into orbit. Propelled by
Artist’s impression of the
SpaceLiner 7 during the
ascent phase.
[© Deutsches Zentrum für
Luft- und Raumfahrt / DLR]
Artist’s impression of the

SpaceLiner 7 at the mo-
ment of booster separation.
[© Deutsches Zentrum für
Luft- und Raumfahrt / DLR]
200 Hypersonic Flight – A New Dimension?

Boeing Hypersonic Airliner

In 2018, Boeing present- can be run in turbojet mode ing X-51 Waverider which generation of commercial
ed its concept for a future at take-off and during low- is an unmanned research supersonic air travel have
Mach 5 hypersonic jet ca- speed flight but can then scramjet experimental air- to be economically viable,
pable of crossing the Atlan- switch to ramjet mode to craft used for hypersonic environmentally accept-
tic in two and the Pacific in enable the aircraft to accel- flight at Mach 5. able and capable of flying
three hours, thus enabling erate to Mach 5. With this With most of the con- over land without creating
the airlines to use it for engine concept working cepts currently under de- a disturbing sonic boom.
same-day return flights and without the use of reheat, velopment and intended to Therefore, we will need to
thereby increasing the air- it would cause less noise take to the skies between keep a watchful eye for a
craft’s profitability. Larger during take-off. Made of ti- the 2020s and 2040s as new aircraft that one day
than business jets, it would tanium, the hypersonic air- testbeds, demonstrators or might inherit the crown of
be powered by a turboram- liner is intended to become for commercial service, it ‘Queen of the Skies’ from
jet which is a hybrid engine operational during the is difficult to predict which the dignified Concorde.
that essentially consists of 2020s. The project benefits of these eventually will es-
a turbojet mounted inside from the experience gained tablish itself. However, the
a ramjet. The turboramjet from the tests with the Boe- contenders for the second
The X-51A Waverider, shown here under the wing of a B-52 Stratofortress, was used to demonstrate hypersonic flight.
[© U.S. Air Force]
201

SIGNIFICANCE
AND LEGACY
OF CONCORDE
202 Headline

KAPITEL-HD
“We should remember Concorde by telling the

story of the human spirit she represents.”
– Pierre Grange, former AF Concorde pilot
203

Concorde has different Americans embarked on ber her by telling the story Concorde still captures
meanings to different peo- their journey to the moon of the human spirit she the public’s imagination
ple as everyone has devel- and we built Concorde. In represents, and this is the because of her grace and
oped an individual – and France and Great Britain, mission of APCOS (Asso- beauty. Her legacy is, per-
often very personal – con- decision-makers gave an ciation des professionnels haps, to make sure that the
nection to her. Her unique exceptional generation the de Concorde et du super- technological possibilities
and flamboyant career has opportunity to meet the ex- sonique), the association match the economic real-
captured the imagination ceptional challenges posed of former Concorde profes- ities when designing com-
of people from around the by supersonic transport sionals, whose chairman mercial aircraft. As tech-
world, including Concorde and they did it brilliant- I am. APCOS honours the nologically advanced as
professionals, passengers, ly. Concorde enabled the commitment and enthusi- Concorde was, she could
and enthusiasts alike. They emergence and success asm of all those who made not make money and ulti-
all share a common bond of Airbus, thus allowing the Concorde fly.” mately, that is the purpose
– a timeless adoration for creation of the industrial of an airliner.”
this technological marvel fabric necessary for major – Pierre Grange, former AF
and design icon. In their aeronautical programmes. Concorde pilot – Robert van der Linden,
own words, they describe To this day, Concorde re- Smithsonian Institution
Concorde’s unique charis- mains as a symbol of Euro-
ma, and her legacy: pean know-how. In France, “Concorde Fox Alpha
we think of her as a French (F-BVFA) is one of our most “In the 1960s and 1970s,
“For me, Concorde is the aircraft, although British popular artefacts and high- Concorde was such a
emblematic icon of an era, know-how, especially en- lights the capabilities of powerful symbol that even
the 1960s. This was the gine technology, was vital. aeronautical technology those who could not af-
last era in our history when Nevertheless, the French from the 1960s. Despite ford to buy a ticket, had
the spirit of conquest still are very proud of Con- the fact that she was not taken up their own means
reigned. At that time, the corde. We should remem- a commercial success, of ownership of Concorde.
Fox Fox (F-BVFF) preserved at

the Charles de Gaulle Airport.
[© Vicentiu Ciorlaus]
204 Significance and Legacy of Concorde

SIGNIFICANCE AND LEGACY OF CONCORDE
She showed that major and gave up after very few the fleet also added to the “Concorde is an am-
projects could motivate an flights. The late English remarkable character that bassador of Anglo-French
entire country and made engineer Barnes Wallis is Concorde.” technology and intelli-
those who participated summed the situation up gence, enormously ad-
proud.” well when he compared the – Philip Cairns, former BA mired by the whole world.
British approach with that ground engineer She is a jewel we loved to
– Philippe Gebarowski, of the American: ‘America show to the world. I still re-
French Concorde passenger threw money at the project, member our last Concorde
the United Kingdom threw “Concorde was more around-the-world tour in
brains at it. In the end, than the parts she was 2000 which included three
“I think Concorde encap- brains will always win.’” made from – she was a of my colleagues who died
sulated so many aspects symphony of extreme en- a few months later in the
of a lifestyle the majori- – Ian Kirby, former BA Con- gineering, human spir- tragic Concorde accident
ty of the world could only corde flight engineer it, renowned service and in Paris. To this day, I still
dream about. My time on sheer beauty. I truly don’t receive letters from pas-
Concorde taught me what think anything can ever sengers who were on this
true service is and how “Concorde’s charisma replace her and have the tour, making me recall all
every detail matters to en- was her look, both on the same ‘soul’ that she had. these precious moments
sure that you are delivering ground and in flight. She is But Concorde will always we were lucky enough to
a flawless experience. For an exceptional and majes- live on through museums, share.”
Britain, she was the jewel tic aircraft as a result of the videos and books like this,
in the crown.” cooperation between two hopefully inspiring genera- – Alain Verschuere, former
countries. The same goal tions to come.” AF Concorde purser
– Iona Ferguson, former BA and a team spirit shared by
Concorde flight attendant everyone involved in this – Johnathan Safford, Amer-
project made this aircraft ican Concorde passenger “Concorde still to this
become a reality.” day inspires young peo-
“There is no aircraft to- ple who have never seen
day – civilian or military – Patrick Sevestre, former “Concorde is something Concorde. I talk to a lot of
– that compares to Con- AF Concorde ground engi- to be justifiably proud of, young people in lectures
corde, that can fly that fast, neer illustrating just what can and meet young training
that far, that high and with be achieved in life if you engineers who all find Con-
that load, all in shirt-sleeve have the right people in corde inspirational. Con-
comfort. She showed that “Concorde attracted the right place at the right corde should be remem-
France and Britain could many famous personali- time. Concorde defined my bered with great affection
solve difficult problems ties and this added to her career in aviation, and even and very happy memories.
that the rest of the world general ethos: passengers brought my lovely wife Liz She is beautiful, she is in-
could not. The Americans talked about their flight ex- and me together.” spirational. She was slight-
tried, but finished up with periences and still remem- ly demanding like any very
a wooden mock-up. The ber them today. Concorde – Ricky Bastin, former BA beautiful woman.”
Russians tried but proved was easy on the eye and ground engineer
that their technology was quite distinctive from other – John Hutchinson, former
not up to the challenge aircraft. The small size of BA Concorde captain
205

The Legacy of Concorde
by Katie John, editor of Mach 2 magazine
On 26 November 2003 Brit- era of supersonic air trav- and operation rendered the museums, apparently to
ish Airways Concorde Al- el. Concorde began as a aircraft a luxury for the elite, become just an interest-
pha Fox (G-BOAF) settled dream of the next advance or for those who saved up ing byway in the history of
to earth for the last time, in human technology; then for a trip of a lifetime. Now flight.
bringing to an end the first the cost of its development the fleets have retired to
Lingering Influence
The prevailing view of Con- system; Concorde was the ments seen in the aircraft European Aviation Safety
corde seems to be that she first airliner to use such a itself, the detailed airwor- Agency (EASA) standards.
was technically spectac- system. Another example thiness standards that the Lastly, in the words of one
ular but a giant waste of is the use of lightweight British and French had to former site manager at Tou-
money and effort. Yet Con- carbon brakes; this innova- develop in order to operate louse, Concorde “trained a
corde influenced aviation tion, in the early 1970s, was Concorde formed the basis whole generation of shop
profoundly, in ways that are then adopted for Formula for the pan-European Joint floor workers, engineers,
perhaps not generally rec- 1 racing cars and later for Airworthiness Require- and managers” who would
ognized. The most notable other passenger aircraft. ments (JARs), which have go on to build the mighty
example is the fly-by-wire Further to the develop- evolved further into today’s Airbus company.
An Enduring Icon
Concorde was the creation taneous love from so many Thousands of people cently, in the last few years,
of high politics and the in- people. Spectators thrilled visit the aircraft on display former Concorde person-
strument of big business. to the sight of the aircraft in museums. Even more nel and volunteers at a
Yet for fifty years, from the at air shows and on nation- people talk, argue, rhapso- few of the museums have
moment the prototypes al occasions in the UK and dise, and share memories brought their Concordes
first appeared, the aircraft France. During the autumn about the beautiful white partially back to life. Flight
has won admiration from of 2003, crowds gathered bird. Concorde is enjoy- deck controls light up, and
people around the world. at airports to watch the fi- ing a second life in cyber- navigation lights flash. In a
Among Europe’s grands nal flights. And still today, space, with internet groups couple of cases, hydraulic
projects, Concorde stands Concorde is as popular as attracting passionate fol- power has been supplied
alone in winning this spon- ever. lowers, and new videos of so that the famous nose
Concorde in flight appear- moves up and down. Direct
ing every day. Former Con- experience of the aircraft
corde pilots and engineers is being maintained and
give talks to full houses. passed on to others – so,
Even in casual conversa- until the next supersonic
tion, people often ask why airliners appear, for Con-
Concorde stopped flying corde it is not goodbye but
or whether she could be simply au revoir.
returned to flight. Most re-
Alpha Delta (G-BOAD) preserved at the Intrepid Sea-Air-

Space Museum, New York. [© Jean-Philippe Lemaire]
206 The Legacy of Concorde

SIGNIFICANCE AND LEGACY OF CONCORDE
Concorde Details by Name

Number: 001 Registration: F-WTSS First Flight: 2 March 1969 Last Flight: 19 October 1973 Hours Flown: 812
French prototype. Roll-out on 11 December 1967. First supersonic flight on 1 October 1969, first Mach 2 flight on 4 November 1970. Total of 397 flights including
249 at supersonic speed. Preserved at the Air & Space Museum, Le Bourget, near Paris, France.
Number: 002 Registration: G-BBST First Flight: 9 April 1969 Last Flight: 4 March 1976 Hours Flown: 836
British prototype. Roll-out on 19 September 1968. First supersonic flight on 25 March 1970, first Mach 2 flight on 12 November 1970. Total of 438 flights including
196 at supersonic speed. Preserved at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, England.
Number: 101 Registration: G-AXDN First Flight: 17 December 1971 Last Flight: 20 August 1977 Hours Flown: 632
British pre-production Concorde. Differences to prototypes included modified wings and engines, and larger fuel tanks. Reached the fasted speed of any Con-
corde by flying at Mach 2.23. Preserved at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, England.
Number: 102 Registration: F-WTSA First Flight: 10 January 1973 Last Flight: 20 May 1976 Hours Flown: 656
French pre-production Concorde. First one built in the final shape of the production Concordes. First one to visit the US. Wore AF livery on one side and BA on
the other. Used as a source of spare parts for AF Concordes after retirement. Preserved at the Musée Delta, Orly Airport, Paris, France.
Number: 201 Registration: F-WTSB First Flight: 6 December 1973 Last Flight: 19 April 1985 Hours Flown: 909
French production test aircraft. Although considered a production aircraft, never entered commercial service. Preserved at the Aeroscopia Museum at Toulouse, France.
Number: 202 Registration: G-BBDG First Flight: 13 December 1974 Last Flight: 24 December 1981 Hours Flown: 1,282
British production test aircraft. Although considered a production aircraft, 201 never entered commercial airline service. The first one to carry 100 passengers at
Mach 2. Used as a source of spare parts. Refurbished, restored, and preserved at the Brooklands Museum, Weybridge, England.
Number: 203 Registration: F-BTSC First Flight: 31 January 1975 Last Flight: 25 July 2000 Hours Flown: 11,989
Built as a production test aircraft (F-WTSC). Re-registered as F-BTSC in 1975 for AF service. Out of service from 1980-1986, it carried Pope John Paul II to Africa
in 1989. Destroyed in a crash after take-off from Paris CDG on 25 July 2000, killing 113 people.
Number: 204 Registration: G-BOAC First Flight: 27 February 1975 Last Flight: 31 October 2003 Hours Flown: 22,260
First used on the Bahrain/Singapore routes, 1976. Re-registered as G-N81AC/N81AC for service with Braniff Airways in 1979. Re-registered as G-BOAC in 1980
after discontinuation of the Braniff service. Preserved at the Manchester Airport Viewing Park, England.
Number: 205 Registration: F-BVFA First Flight: 27 October 1975 Last Flight: 12 June 2003 Hours Flown: 17,824
Flew the first AF flight to Rio de Janeiro via Dakar on 21 Jan. 1976. Re-registered as N94FA for Braniff Airways service, 1979. Registered as F-BVFA, 1980. Flew
around the world in a record-breaking 41 hours 27 minutes, 1988. Preserved at the Nat. Air & Space Museum, Wash., D.C.
Number: 206 Registration: G-BOAA First Flight: 5 November 1975 Last Flight: 12 August 2000 Hours Flown: 22,768
Flew the first BA flight to Bahrain on 21 Jan. 1976. Re-registered as G-N49AA/N49AA for Braniff service, 1979. Re-registered as G-BOAA, 1980. Was not fitted
with the safety modifications required after the 2000 crash and hence retired. Preserved at the Nat. Museum of Flight, Scotland.
Number: 207 Registration: F-BVFB First Flight: 6 March 1976 Last Flight: 24 June 2003 Hours Flown: 14,771
Re-registered as N94FB for Braniff service, 1979. Re-registered as F-BVFB, 1980. Out of service from 1990-1997. Preserved at the Technik Museum Sinsheim, Germany.
Number: 208 Registration: G-BOAB First Flight: 18 May 1976 Last Flight: 15 August 2000 Hours Flown: 22,296
Re-registered as G-N94AB/N94AB for Braniff service, 1979. Re-registered as G-BOAB, 1980. When Concorde returned to service after the crash, BA only required
five aircraft. Therefore, it was not fitted with the safety modifications and hence retired. Currently in storage at Heathrow Airport.
Number: 209 Registration: F-BVFC First Flight: 9 July 1976 Last Flight: 27 June 2003 Hours Flown: 14,332
Re-registered as N94FC for service with Braniff Airways, 1979. Re-registered as F-BVFC, 1980. Preserved at the Aeroscopia Museum near Airbus Factory at Toulouse, France.
Number: 210 Registration: G-BOAD First Flight: 25 August 1976 Last Flight: 10 November 2003 Hours Flown: 23,397
Was the only BA Concorde wearing the BA livery on one side and the Singapore Airl. livery on the other, 1979. Re-registered as G-N94AD/N94AD for Braniff
service, 1979. Re-registered as G-BOAD, 1980. Preserved at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, New York, USA.
Number: 211 Registration: F-BVFD First Flight: 10 February 1977 Last Flight: 27 May 1982 Hours Flown: 5,814
Re-registered as N94FD for Braniff service, 1979. Re-registered as F-BVFD, 1980. Retired after the discontinuation of the AF route to Dakar/Rio. Used as a source
of spare parts and badly corroded after being stored outdoors. Broken up in 1994. Fuselage sections in storage.
Number: 212 Registration: G-BOAE First Flight: 17 March 1977 Last Flight: 17 November 2003 Hours Flown: 23,376
Re-registered as G-N94AE/N94AE for Braniff service, 1979. Re-registered as G-BOAE, 1980. Flew in formation with the Red Arrows to mark the opening of the
Scottish Parliament, 1999. Preserved at the Grantley Adams Int. Airport, Barbados.
Number: 213 Registration: F-BTSD First Flight: 26 June 1978 Last Flight: 14 June 2003 Hours Flown: 12,974
Re-registered as N94SD for Braniff service, 1979. Re-registered as F-BTSD, 1980. Holds the world record for flying around the world in both directions. Carried a
promotional paint scheme for Pepsi in 1996. Preserved at the Air & Space Museum, Le Bourget, France.
Number: 214 Registration: G-BOAG First Flight: 21 April 1978 Last Flight: 5 November 2003 Hours Flown: 16,239
Originally registered as G-BFKW to BAE in 1978 but later sold to BA and re-registered as G-BOAG. Used as a source of spares during the early 1980s. Restored
to flying condition using parts from Air France – F-BVFD in 1984. Preserved at the Museum of Flight, Seattle, USA.
Number: 215 Registration: F-BVFF First Flight: 26 December 1978 Last Flight: 11 June 2000 Hours Flown: 12,421
Originally registered as F-WJAN to Aérospatiale, re-registered to AF as F-BVFF, 1980. Retired in 2000 to be used as a source of spare parts for F-BTSD. In the
process of being restored to flying condition when AF retired its fleet. Preserved at the CDG Airport, Paris, France.
Number: 216 Registration: G-BOAF First Flight: 20 April 1979 Last Flight: 26 November 2003 Hours Flown: 18,257
Last Concorde to be built. Originally registered as G-BFKX to BAE in 1978, then loaned to Braniff (G-N94AF) and BA (G-BOAF). Finally sold to BA in 1980. Last
Concorde ever to fly from Heathrow to Filton, on 26 November 2003. Preserved at Aerospace Bristol, England.
207

Concorde Facts (Source: British Airways)
Capacity 100 passengers and 2.5 tonnes of
cargo
Seating 100 seats, 40 in the front cabin and 60
in the rear cabin
Range 4,143 miles (6,667 km)
Engines Four Rolls-Royce/SNECMA Olympus
593s, each producing 38,000lb of
thrust with reheat
Take-off speed 250 mph (400 kph)
Cruising 1,350 mph (2,160 kph/Mach 2) up to
speed 60,000 ft
Landing speed 187mph (300kph)
Length 203ft 9in (62.1m)
Wing span 83ft 8in (25.5 m)
Height 37ft 1in (11.3 m)
Fuselage 9ft 6in (2.9 m)
width
Fuel capacity 26,286 Imperial gallons
(119,500 litres)
Fuel 5,638 Imperial gallons (25,629 litres)
consumption per hour
Maximum 408,000 lb (185 tonnes)
take-off
weight
Landing gear Eight main wheels, two nose wheels
Flight crew Two pilots, one flight engineer
Cabin crew Six
Sources
Gordon, Yefim; Rigmant, Vladimir (2005). Tupolev Tu-144. Hinckley, Leicestershire, UK: Midland.
Orlebar, Christopher (2004). The Concorde Story. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing.
Personal and telephone interviews (incl. correspondence):

John Hutchinson, Pierre Grange, Gérard Duval, Béatrice Vialle, Ian Kirby, Ricky Bastin, Suzanne O’Donoghue, Iona Ferguson, Annick
and Claude Moyal, Katie John and Nigel Ferris (Mach 2 magazine), Caroline Cadier, Ian Dick, Richard Thomas, Alain Verschuere
Websites:
http://mach-2-magazine.co.uk (retrieved on 6 June 2018)
http://company.airbus.com/company/heritage/now-and-then/concorde.html (retrieved on 12 July 2018)
Photo credits (Supersonic Star Gazing):

J. Callaghan: US NARA; V. G. d’Estaing: Bundesarchiv (BA), B 145 Bild-F056912-0010 / Gräfingholt, Detlef / CC-BY-SA 3.0; Pope
John Paul II: BA, B 145 Bild-F059404-0019 / Schaack, Lothar / CC-BY-SA; J. Chirac: US NARA; E. Heath: US DoD; G. Pompidou / H.
Wilson: Nationaal Archief LN / Anefo; F. Mitterrand: US DoD; M. Thatcher: US LoC; H. Kissinger: US Dept of State; T. Blair: US NARA;
Pr. Margaret: Nationaal Archief NL / Anefo; Pr. Charles: Queensland State Archive; Pr. Andrew: A. Meredith; D. Frost / E. Taylor: US
DoD; S. Connery / R. Moore: Nationaal Archief NL; M. Jackson: US NARA; G. Michael: University of Houston; M. Jagger / P. McCart-
ney: Nationaal Archief NL / Anefo; Joan Collins: A. Meredith; C. Eastwood: NASA
208 The Legacy of Concorde

Ingo Bauernfeind - Concorde - Supersonic Icon - 50th Anniversary Edition-Bauernfeind Press (2018)

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ConCorde 50th Anniversary Edition

Concorde_CC.indd 1 31.05.19 10:28

Back cover images:

How to watch the videos in this book:

Concorde is a registered trademark of Airbus SAS

ISBN: 978 3 98159 84 1 4

1st Edition / Copyright © Bauernfeind Press 2018

Layout by WS WerbeService Linke, Alberichstr. 11, 76185 Karlsruhe, Germany

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If anyone had said to me in even more remarkable. The

1955 when I started my fly- flight test programme must

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Flying Concorde was a My Concorde experience

dream that every pilot was short but enormously

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British Airways Jean-Cyril Spinetta, former Air France chairman

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Like the development and Willbold, Sylvain Ramadi-

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“Concorde was definitely well ahead of her time. Structurally

– Mark Claridge, former BA technician

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The Speed of Sound

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Concorde’s British Ancestry

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The RAF Avro Vulcan

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came the first aircraft to fly selage shape at near-sonic

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BAC’s future Concorde

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22 The Anglo-French Partnership

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Model of the projected Super Caravelle. She and the Brit-

24 The Anglo-French Partnership

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26 The Anglo-French Partnership

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As determined in the 1962 treaty, the work to design and

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A model of Concorde during the extensive wind tunnel tests.

28 The Anglo-French Partnership

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HRH Prince Philip

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30 The Anglo-French Partnership

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Transport of a completed fuselage section for final assem-

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Testing Concorde’s fuselage pressure in the water tank, probably at Filton.