Concorde RIP

As an apprentice I worked on the automatic landing system.

To have some thing to do with the aircraft is some thing I've always
been immensely proud of.

I've just watched on the TV, one perfectly good Concorde fly off on it's
last fight.

OK so I'm a sentimental old fart, but there are tears on my cheeks.

 

You'll need stitches then.

 

I spent some time[1] at BAE Heathrow in the Concorde hanger, it was time for
her to be laid to rest; it's only a shame there isn't something better to
replace her.

[1] About 5 years ago.

 

On Fri, 24 Oct 2003 10:51:46 +0100, Mick Whittingham

The industrial estate that Sarah works on is less than a mile from
Birmingham Airport and right over the flight path. On Tuesday
Concorde was in Brum and it took her over an hour to get out of the
estate after work as the place was packed with cars and people trying
to get a last look, the police had to be called to direct the traffic.
A guy at work even took the day off work to go see it.

Funny how these things capture the imagination.

--
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I have mixed emotions about it.

One the one hand, it's a superb piece of engineering and a thing of
beauty (IMO, of course). Even today, thirty years on people still
stop to watch when it flies overhead. It's nearly always picked
up by a cameraman when there's a test match on at Lord's.

On the other it's an expensive & un-ecomomic, high-polluting,
noisy way to save a few rich people a few hours of their time.

I'm still gutted I never got to fly in one, though.

 

Blame the spill chucker.
I'm feeling:
let down
cheated
miss informed
wondering what the f*ck is going on in this country.

The government could do something about it.
When BAE, at their own cost, wanted to add an extra tank in the tail to
increase the loiter time to make sales into the states easier the
British government classified the Concorde project a military one and
forbade BAE from altering the designs.
As a military classified aircraft the government can control who sells
and to whom any aircraft.

Thinking back:
On one hand Foot was responsible for ensuring the aircraft was completed
and after completion the government had the major jigs cut up so that no
future development of the aircraft could be done. Exactly the same as
they did with the TSR2.

BASTARDS.

 

[snip]

Indeed, and with the improvements in global communications, there's hardly
any need to get quickly across the Atlantic anymore.

 

[snip]

Why? It's spelt the same way! Blame Rexx.

 

No, it was me being silly.

I've never seen a concorde close up, I just hope that in future, they
manage to produce something as prestigious and more economical.
(environmentally friendly - aren't planes the worst contributors to the
greenhouse effect?)

 

Man, that is one fucking _high_ industrial estate.

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The speccy Geordie twat.

 

So true. Odd really - it's still 'Look! Concorde!'... I find myself
doing this and becoming mesmerised. Frustrated when it's cloudy and you
can her its distinctive noise but can't quite see it.

A shame.

 

Bloody hell, that *is* high rise

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Although Extreme Engineering on the Discovery Channel has an
episode showing thoretical plans for a transatlantic train tunnel
using magnetic, levitating trains.
New York - London in less than an hour!

 

Super tankers are top of the list[1] of actual crap spewed out aircraft
just do it at a higher altitude.

[1] 10% of the oil extracted from the ground is burnt in tankers moving
it around. That's a 1988 statistic it may have changed.

 

<stunned>

I suppose when you think about it though....

 

In fairness, they were never going to sell another one. They hardly
even sold all of the aircraft BA and AF got.

 

It's *tiny*.

There's one at Duxford, which they used to let people go on.
They may still; haven't been for a year. Tiny tiny tiny machine.
Lovely, but tiny.

 

http://www.iwm.org.uk/duxford/brit16.htm

 

Having just watched the takeoff on tv (with the sound turned up _loud_)
I'm planning to head down to Heathrow this afternoon to see the three
final flights come in to land. Traffic's meant to be awful, so it should
give me a chance for some world class filtering practice at the same time.

Anyone else going?

 

It came in over the business park here on Tuesday and there were loads
of people out to see it for the last time. Apparently there were
thousands at Birmingham airport.

The take off path is right over our house so Claire was treated to the
sight and sound of it directly overhead as it was on the way out. My 2
year old son was most impressed and I'm glad he got to see it once.

Bit sad really