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      07-12-2010, 03:49 PM   #1
PhilL
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I wish I'd had the chance to fly Concorde

(Apart from the last flight, that didn't look so fun)

Watching it on C4 now, still absolutely fascinated by it
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      07-12-2010, 03:59 PM   #2
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Totally agree. I'm watching too.

For a piece of technology that began development in the 50s it's just amazing, truly breath taking peice of kit. British engineering at it's best no doubt.

I remember when I was at uni in Reading, you could hear it fly over twice a day I believe and you could set your watch to it.

EDIT:

Having said that, I couldn't have afforded to fly on it

Last edited by toxicnerve; 07-12-2010 at 04:08 PM..
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      07-12-2010, 05:21 PM   #3
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Happened a couple of different times while I was waiting in the long queue of planes sitting taxiing to the runway at Heathrow, the captain comes on the intercom and announces that we will have to wait one more place as Concorde 002 has pulled rank and just jumped to the front of the long queue and is off to New York.

Then watch it thunder past and take-off. Nobody complained. Class.

D.
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      07-12-2010, 05:48 PM   #4
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Yeh i'd have loved have flown on it too. Amazing to think when it was invented.
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      07-12-2010, 06:41 PM   #5
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Loved the interview in the hangar in New York after the first trial flight where the BA people were facing an aggressive pack of journalists and a tractor towed the Concorde into the hangar and they all shut up and stared in awe at this most beautiful of aircraft.

We'll never see anything like it in our lifetimes - that's for sure.
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      07-13-2010, 02:40 AM   #6
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It just doesn't seem right to a mechanical simpleton like me that the technology to make planes that fast couldn't be cleaned up and developed upon
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      07-13-2010, 02:48 AM   #7
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Truly amazing machine that makes you proud to be British. My fond memory of Concorde was when i was with my family years ago sitting on the M25 in traffic and Concorde came in to land an absolutely amazing site. A real shame that is no longer in the air feels like technology has gone backwards.
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      07-13-2010, 03:15 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by E902717 View Post
Truly amazing machine that makes you proud to be British. My fond memory of Concorde was when i was with my family years ago sitting on the M25 in traffic and Concorde came in to land an absolutely amazing site. A real shame that is no longer in the air feels like technology has gone backwards.
If only BA had sold then to Virgin thwy would still be flying.
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      07-13-2010, 03:31 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by Boyd1963 View Post
If only BA had sold then to Virgin thwy would still be flying.
Pure marketing Gold Virgin "saying" that - but they knew full well it wasn't possible. If Virgin didn't think of that statement, Willie Walsh would have come up with it .... lots of publicity.

It is not all doom and gloom :

http://www.save-concorde.co.uk/

http://www.save-concorde.co.uk/?p=54 - Testing of engines this year.

Thought it odd the documentary didn't mention this ?

D.
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      07-13-2010, 03:35 AM   #10
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I watched it too. A stunning machine. Such dedication and passion from everyone involved from the engineers to the 'trolly-dollies' . If only more companies had this sense of passion instead of shitty call centres and crap customer service .

edit - that photo of Concorde flanked by the Red Arrows is simply timeless.
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      07-13-2010, 03:51 AM   #11
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As many have already said, a truly awe inspiring piece of engineering.

I've seen it many times, never did get to fly on her though. However I was lucky enough to "fly" Concorde from Heathrow to NY in the BA training Simulator in Bristol back in 2004. I think we were the last members of the public to do it prior to it being mothballed.

You would not believe how cramped it is in the front of those things and the simulator really was fantastic, particularly when the pilot flew her UNDER the Brooklyn bridge

There sure aren't many "Concorde moments" in British engineering these days. Shame.
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      07-13-2010, 04:22 AM   #12
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Saw it on it's last flight then it came down the river on a barge - the barge turned 180 degrees right outside our apartment (6th floor, riverside gaff in the Docklands) - amazing!

And our recent feats of engineering?

Errmmm....
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      07-13-2010, 06:10 AM   #13
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1,350 miles an hour
23 miles a minute
1 mile in every 2 and 3/4 seconds
10% faster than a rifle bullet
Lands End to John O' Groats in 24 minutes...... the formidable DXB!!!!!!

I echo all the above - one of my biggest regrets not getting to fly Concorde to NYC - my mate used to be a freight forwarder out of Heathrow and i often met him at his office before heading into the city for drinks - he knew the big birds timetable like the back of his hand and he used to drive us to a certain spot just ahead of take off and we would sit on his bonnet and watch it fly straight over the top of us - the car would shake - the noise was out of this world - and those after-burners, oh those glorious after-burners!!
The only consolation is that i have flown in the legend that is the DXB!!
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      07-13-2010, 06:32 AM   #14
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Are you on the left or right???
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      07-13-2010, 06:40 AM   #15
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And so the small but powerful "build a replacement Concorde E90 group" was formed.

And in 2022 a 2,000 mph rocket powered passenger craft was born and thus is was called the DXB.
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      07-13-2010, 07:07 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by rogerxp View Post
Are you on the left or right???
LOL, very funny Rog!!
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      07-13-2010, 07:26 AM   #17
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I was amazed by the fact that is was the fasted plane at the time, full stop. i.e. faster than jet fighters etc, and that in those, the pilots were in space suites, while on Concorde people were in normal clothes eathing smoked salmon!

Awesome.
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      07-13-2010, 07:54 AM   #18
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^^ That's not strictly true - ever heard of the SR-71? That was comfortably faster than Concorde (Since 1976, it has held the world record for the fastest air breathing manned aircraft, a record previously held by the YF-12) and many others were as fast but their data was often classified. Concorde was so fast because due to its amazing streamlining it could super-cruise whereas a military aircraft with associated harware and weaponry bolted to it was not afforded that luxury.

That's not to take anything away from the magic that is Concorde but the presenters were prone to an amount of hyperbole.
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      07-13-2010, 08:03 AM   #19
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Knocking Concorde on the head, was like doing away with broadband, we all fly dial-up nowadays.
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      07-13-2010, 08:07 AM   #20
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It was a huge loss-leader though. Even if you can find enough punters to pay £5000 per trip (you probably could) it still cost more than that to fly it, given the seating capacity, fuel consumption and landing fees. With modern noise-abatement regulations it wouldn't be allowed to land anywhere nowadays, certainly not its primary desitination of JFK who always resented it through jealousy in the first place.

Shame
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      07-13-2010, 08:14 AM   #21
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True, but isn't that how things get developed and improved, make it cheaper/quieter/handle more passengers. I'm sure they said the same about the first internal combustion power road travel.
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      07-13-2010, 08:20 AM   #22
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I'm sure but it's all about numbers and efficiency. The A380 passenger costs / mile are fractional compared. These days high bypass turbofans are incredibly efficient but unsuited to faster-than-sound travel, for which you need an axial afterburning engine which is very thirsty and noisy. In terms of technology the fly-by-wire A380 and the new Boeing dreamliner are miles ahead of Concorde (obviously, given technical and computer progress) but they are obviously slower because of practicalities.

Given the ballache it is to fly these days with enhanced security check in times etc. etc. flying by private jet is the choice of the super rich.
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