Concorde

[CAB96]

Is there still a Concorde at Duxford? Think it was one of the first, all the test equipment still on board and a partial passenger cabin recreation? Was surprised how little space there was.

 

[kevenh]

Is there still a Concorde at Duxford? Think it was one of the first, all the test equipment still on board and a partial passenger cabin recreation? Was surprised how little space there was.

I remember that it was spit seats and test area. I’ve sat in the copilot seat

Wikipedia has it as a pre-production model. For fuel capacity and wing testing.

Concorde aircraft histories - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

And Concorde 101 is still based at Duxford: https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/airspace

EDIT: Clarity and add link.

 

[BusyBuilder]

Two Concordes at Sinsheim Germany https://sinsheim.technik-museum.de/en/

1 Concorde and 1 Konkordski, you can go inside both, well worth a visit especially to see build quality (or not) of the Russian version.

 

[PhilMary]

Amazing that it was mos designed by old men, pencil, paper and tech drawings. There was a lovely documentary about the entire Concord program, how they managed to keep the booming engines quiet enough to fly into the USA and on one occasion, an American spy plane, flying on the outer limits of the atmosphere, complete with space suits etc, were instructed to deviate their course by a few degrees, so that a passenger jet domestic fly could fly past them at Mach 1.5, while those on board drank G+T’s.

Amazing plane, I remember seeing all the Concords flying overhead, when they were on their way to being grounded. Terrific sight and so loud

In our Reading office meetings we had to have 5 min break at 11.00 whilst Concord took off from Heathrow.

 

[Chipster]

Was lucky enough to take a trip I’m Concorde. Wow. Will never forget the take off.

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[Spriddler]

I had been a regular BA customer for many years before I flew on Concorde, Heathrow - New York - Heathrow a couple of times on business. My first two round trips were booked on Concorde and to my surprise for the next couple the trips they transferred me at check-in to Concorde at no extra charge. The take-off does feel like being in an Apollo rocket and the kick in the back as it goes supersonic is pretty exhilarating.
On my second trip in Oct '85 I spent around ten minutes in the cockpit and was given a personalised certificate signed by the Captain, First Officer and Flight Engineer. It must have been before the terrorist/hijacking risk.
It was tiny in the passenger cabin and rather claustrophobic with the small windows. I was told that it's possible to see the curvature of the Earth although I can't say that I noticed it. On certain Westbound flights in the evening one can see the sun rise in the West. I have a few souvenirs, including a stylish set of steel cutlery embossed with the Concorde crown.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Have you seen the registration of the Manchester one ?

 

[Spriddler]

Have you seen the registration of the Manchester one ?

I've looked now, it's G-BOAC. On my certificate it's written G-BOAE so presumably it was a later one.
It probably sounds rather churlish now but at the time I didn't really appreciate what historic occasions they would become. It just seemed like the start of supersonic passenger flights becoming the norm rather than the first (and maybe the last) opportunities to experience it - at least in my lifetime.

 

[EuroTrotters]

I’m just gutted I never flew on one.

My wife wanted a family part instead of just us two off for a week.

 

[cyberyacht]

Saw the early flight into Farnborough during a coffee break from the staff room window at my office in Basingstoke around 1970. Watched the final commercial flight crossing the south coast just to the east of Portsmouth whilst I was launching my yacht. Just happened to look up at the right time.

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[Fdhadi]

Bit short !

Yes very short. Seem to remember they were doing 2 x flights on the day. I was a Bookmaker at the time so one of the busiest days of the year at work for me.

 

[TinaLes]

I feel Concorde is in our family blood somehow.

My father worked for BA as a senior production engineer, he went up on a test flight sat in the jump seat with Brian Trubshaw at the helm, he saw the sweat beads appear on his face with sheer concentration, as they came in for finals at Heathrow. He also went to RR Derby once a week for meetings on the new at the time RB211 engines.

My 1st wife worked for BA in the medical centre (TBC), a call came round asking if anyone wanted to "Volunteer" to go on a lunchtime test flight arround the Bay of Biscay and back, of course she went, and it flew at Mach 2.2 at a height that made looking out the window very dark blue.

My now late brother worked as a catering driver for BA, delivering the meals to Concorde and every other BA aeroplane. On leaving the the front load door, his elevated trailer did not drop as fast as it should of, so as he swung round under the wing it clipped the wing, putting a small dent in its leading edge.
The passengers were embarking and saw this happen, all were asked to go back inside the terminal, and eventually had to fly on a Jumbo.
He was hauled over the coals in front of a bunch of senior officials, who had analysed what & why the accident had happened. He got away with a warning and after that cargo/ catering procedures disembarking from all aircraft were reconfigured involving not one but two spotters.
The Concorde he damaged was dragged over to the maintenance area, where it was grounded while a new part was (rented/leased) from Air France, well over a week!
The loss in earnings to BA, plus the rental charge for the spare wing edge was estimated at £2.8 million pounds
He was a "legend" soon after that, he got an uplifted Final Salary 56th Scheme early retirement package, with 32 years service, with a huge lump sum that made me extremely envious at the time.
RIP Jim.
LES

 

[Widge]

Sounds very good, if you ever find yourself at Toulouse near Blagnac Airport the https://www.aeroscopia.fr/en/infospratiques
Is also very interesting, the concord on display there is mainly stuffed with instrumentation.

They have parking for about half a dozen campers, and they dont mind you doing an overnight stop, if you are going to do a tour the next day.

Another interesting thing is that the longstay carparks at Toulouse Blagnac airport (just down the road) are the same price for a camper, and i have known people do an overnight in the carpark before an early flight the next day.

 

[Widge]

I missed out on a flight to Glasgow on one, back in the 80s I was doing a lot of travelling for work, and you used to be able to get a book of tickets like a checkbook, and just turn up and get on the next available BA internal flight, we were half way to Glasgow when the pilot pointed out a concord going the same direction slightly below us. Then explained that there had been so many people for this flight they had layed on an extra aircraft, it just happened that a concord was free, if only I had been a bit later getting to the airport.

 

[Widge]

Is there still a Concorde at Duxford? Think it was one of the first, all the test equipment still on board and a partial passenger cabin recreation? Was surprised how little space there was.

The one i mentioned in my earlier post at Toulouse was probably the french equivalent of the one at Duxford.

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[kevenh]

The one i mentioned in my earlier post at Toulouse was probably the french equivalent of the one at Duxford.

For the interested enthusiast or pedant :-
No, the UK equivalent of the Toulouse Concorde is G-BBDG. The Concorde at Brooklands Museum.
These two are production Concordes built for final testing.

The Concorde 102 at Orly Airport is the equivalent of Duxford’s Concorde 101.

Source:

Concorde aircraft histories - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Widge]

For the interested enthusiast or pedant :-
No, the UK equivalent of the Toulouse Concorde is G-BBDG. The Concorde at Brooklands Museum.
These two are production Concordes built for final testing.

The Concorde 102 at Orly Airport is the equivalent of Duxford’s Concorde 101.

Source:

Concorde aircraft histories - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The one at Toulouse is F-WTSB, But very similar configuration to the one at duxford, full of equipment and small section of passenger cabin.

 

[Widge]

The one at Toulouse is F-WTSB, But very similar configuration to the one at duxford, full of equipment and small section of passenger cabin.

So according to the info you linked, it was the second french prototype.

 

[kevenh]

So according to the info you linked, it was the second french prototype.

The one at Toulouse is F-WTSB, But very similar configuration to the one at duxford, full of equipment and small section of passenger cabin.

Sorry for the confusion
I read the link as: -
Pre-production aircraft: Orly Airport 102 = Duxford 101
Production aircraft: Toulouse F-WTSB = Brooklands G-BBDG

Edit: Info on your Toulouse Concorde

 

[philann]

No has mentioned yet the second prototype 002 G-BSST which is in the Fleet Air Museum at Yeovilton. First flew in April 1969.
Here is the full list and where they are now.

Concorde aircraft histories - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

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[kevenh]

No has mentioned yet the second prototype 002 G-BSST which is in the Fleet Air Museum at Yeovilton. First flew in April 1969

We can read about all the Concorde’s here: https://www.heritageconcorde.com/airframe-detail

edit: oh! Another laser quick post editor. That’s my trick.

My link has lots of other Concorde details if you look around other parts of the site.

 

[Widge]

Living on the coast in Portishead in the 60s, we used to get the vulcan bomber engine test bed flying over all the time often low level, pretty scary as a kid as you didnt hear it coming, you got plunged into shadow, then the roar hit you, later on we used to see concord pretty regularly.

 

[rb62]

Lucky enough to have flown to New York and back on Concorde after my wife won the 'business challenge'at the company she was working for at the times' annual conference,four nights at the Waldorf Astoria,dinner at the River Cafe and all for free
An unforgetable experience

 

[L' Hobo]

As part of my Apprenticeship at BAC Brooklands, I worked on Concorde construction. Once I completed my HND, I worked in the Concorde Design Office as a Stress Engineer. Although aircraft were flying, we had to complete a thermal analysis on the airframe. I was given fuselage Frame #77 (numbered from the nose). We had one mains operated calculator, but also an IBM mainframe computer, complete with punched card data input.
I worked 8hrs a day, 5 days a week for a whole year to complete the calculation and produce a 70 page report.
When I had finished, my boss said to me " Thank you John, now please can you look at Frame #84!"

That one only took me 9 months, and luckily I then got involved with research analysing stresses involved when bonding carbon fibre to Titanium.

It was a big regret that I never flew in one.
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I used to drive a coach load of workers, in a Duple Val coach, from Brooklands, Surrey to Filton, Bristol when they were building the first Concorde.
Makes one feel old just thinking about it!

I think we called the factory at Brooklands, Vickers in those days?

 

[kevenh]

I’ve sat in the copilot seat {Duxford's 101}

Hmm!! Me & dad. ~1979 ish

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[Revolvor]

I used to drive a coach load of workers, in a Duple Val coach, from Brooklands, Surrey to Filton, Bristol when they were building the first Concorde.
Makes one feel old just thinking about it!

I think we called the factory at Brooklands, Vickers in those days?

Yes, it was Vickers. I was there when the last Vickers Super VC10 took off. The runway was very short, so 1st flight was with very little fuel, to another airfield, Wisley nearby, where they were finished it off.
The customer for that last plane was East African Airways and my Dad was Chief Pilot and was picking up the aircraft. As a result, I got to go on its 2nd test flight with him flying it. As part of the flight they tested the Oxygen masks - climbing unpressurised to about 15,000 feet, when the masks dropped, dumped fuel over the channel, and flew low across southern England and tested the Instrument Landing System on an approach to Gatwick. They applied full power and did an overshoot just before the wheels touched to avoid having to pay a landing fee!

 

[Revolvor]

That VC10 was eventually sold to the RAF and converted to a Tanker. It is now at Duxford. Periodically they start it and do fast runs down the runway. We went for a family day out in 2019, and went on board. Sitting in the cockpit made me think that not in my wildest dreams as a 20 year-old would I have imagined being on that plane 50 years later with my wife, 3 children and 3 grandchildren!

 

[SpeedyDux]

The one at Brooklands is interesting as it was a test one, and as you enter the rear it is stripped back so you can see the gubbins. It's only as you move forward that you get into a fully equipped cabin area; you can see some of the engineering as well as how it would be for the passengers.

Perhaps that was the one I visited during a school trip to Filton in the 1960s. It was a prototype or test pre-production Concorde inside a hangar, that hadn't flown yet.

I had been used to flights in a DC3 whose passenger cabin seemed as cramped as that in Concorde, although they were so far apart in terms of technology that it was like science fiction to go inside a real Concorde.

Seeing these amazing supersonic passenger jets now grounded and in museums makes me feel really, really, old.

Do you remember what England was like? The nuclear power stations nearby at Berkeley and Oldbury had analogue computers in their control rooms. GWR trains had only recently changed from steam to diesel locos. Much of the motorway network hadn't yet been built. People rented their TVs that were mostly black-and-white and VCRs hadn't been invented. Pea-souper fogs were still common in winter. Most adults smoked cigarettes. How things have changed!

 

[Spriddler]

I was on my boat with my wife and two toddlers in Bembridge (IO) marina when unnoticed by anyone a Vulcan pancaked quietly to what seemed to me around 500' directly above. Jeez, what a terrifying noise when it opened up the throttles and caught us all by surprise. You could clearly see the rivets in the wings and the crew. Yachts' rigging shook and rattled, seawater came up in ripples and spouts, the pontoon trembled, holidaymakers' kids started screaming, dogs were barking. What a cacophony of terror! Apparently it was appearing Bembridge air show about 2 miles away.

 

[seasideBill]

I was on my boat with my wife and two toddlers in Bembridge (IO) marina when unnoticed by anyone a Vulcan pancaked quietly to what seemed to me around 500' directly above. Jeez, what a terrifying noise when it opened up the throttles and caught us all by surprise. You could clearly see the rivets in the wings and the crew. Yachts' rigging shook and rattled, seawater came up in ripples and spouts, the pontoon trembled, holidaymakers' kids started screaming, dogs were barking. What a cacophony of terror! Apparently it was appearing Bembridge air show about 2 miles away.

Another amazing aircraft, had a similar experience at Kemble Air Show some years back, it performed a low pass and set off just about every alarm in the car park!

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