Concorde Flight!!!!

Off to some museum somewhere, I'd reckon! For a final park...gonna miss 'em.

Yeah, a couple are going off to the States, apparently...

Yup, I read that the States are getting two, three or four are staying in Britain, and one is going off somewhere that I can't quite recall...

What did Air France do with theirs?

I have no idea! Maybe they will sell them to Virgin ... That would be good! LOL

I've checked! Out of five Concorde remaining in its fleet, Air France has donated one to the US, to be exhibited at the Smithonian Institute (it's the same aicraft that did the first Paris-Washigton flight in '76). One in in Baden-Baden, Germany, one in Toulouse (the museum near the Airbus factory), one at Le Bourger Aerospace Museum and the last one is supposed to stay at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, as a display.

So, no Air France Concorde to Virgin, then...

Thanks for the info, Deej.

I'm still thinking about trying to update my old Doyusha 1/100 Concorde prototype to a more modern version...wouldn't know of any quick 'n' easy conversion kits, would you?

I going to LHR, one already in Manchester , one for JFK and Seattle(rubbing Boeings nose in it) with one for Barbados.I dont know where the rest are going.
They used to train here every year, both Air France and BA, sorry to see them go.

Aah, Barbados was the exotic location I couldn't recall.
Thanks for the info, Oggy!

A series Concorde from the prototype..? It's a fairly major surgery needed, no? Isn't the fuselage quite a bit longer? I know the nose, he cockpit and the tail are different... I'll check, Brian...

Yes Deej, it does appear to be quite involved, with the fuselage differences you've just mentioned plus the windshield differences, and who knows what else? Plus, I believe the decals depict ancient BA and Air France aircraft.
Worth a shot, though!

By the way, I've never seen one fly, but I understand they are very loud.
The loudest aircraft I've ever heard was an F-14. How much louder than that would the Concorde be?

As far as loud, the KC135 taking off always seemed to me the loudest aircraft I ever heard. When I was in Air Force the damn things always took off at 3 or 4 in the morning. Gonna miss any chance to ever take a ride on a Concorde too, end of an era there.

Bob

Well, I was IN Concorde so I did not really notice that much noise... LOL The loudest I've heard was at an airshow in Belgium, with a low and really fast flying F-111 (coming from behind the public - nearly fell off the top of the truck I was on!)

But I'm sure Concorde at take off must have been louder still...

Brian,

the 001 / 002 Concorde were indeed shorter than the pre-production (01/02) and the series aircraft. I find it quite hard to pinpoint the exact differences, but the fuselage extension was of 1.98m. It's all probably in the tail of the aircraft as the rear pressure bulkhead moved back by 4.78m, giving an actual longer usable fuselage and giving Concorde its longer, fatter tail cone. This seem to have slightly reduced the area of the fin, but not much. The fin was seemilingly not moved backwards in relation to the wings. The good news is that the wings were similar, but I'm pretty positive the exhaust of the engines are different. And of course, the 001/002 type nose was modified to incorporate a 'visor' that allowed better view when 'up' (supersonic flight).

The liveries of course changed quite a bit over the years.

Just heard that my local air museum (Elvington) has failed in its bid to house one of the surplus Concordes. BA what are you playing at???????? give em one!!!!!!!!PLEASE!!!. Greg

Is any kit manufacturer going to release a 1:72 Concorde (with Barbados diorama ?!) to commemerate its demise ?

There's one available, but it's vacuform... At 1/72, it's pretty big!

Yeah, 1/72 would be pretty big! The 1/100 kit is not small by any means.
Thanks for the info, Deej. I reckon the Doyusha kit must be one of the 001/002 Concordes. I wonder which one?

good to know that they did not head them for the scrappers in order to make money.....
loudest plane ever with no sonic boom involved?.....it must be the Caravelle liner......
a real screamer!!!!!

Loud?

3 Harriers at 100feet, 80 yards in front of the crowd at Farnborough.

That and F111s at the same height over North Wales being chansed by Tornados.

Pretty scary when you are up to your knees in a bog collecting field samples for a Geography field trip!!!!!

I'll miss the morning rumble of the big bird taking off 3 miles away.

It was the only aircraft I ever heard from inside the office!!!!

Apart from some of the old Tupolevs that is!

Karl

Just to add fuel to the fire:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/11/04/concorde.memories.reut/index.html

I remember seeing one on a pylon on display at either Heathrow or Gatwick last year. Was that one of the prototypes, or was it an early production model? The SST is one of the most beautiful non-military aircraft I've ever seen. Even on the ground it looks like it is flying. O'le Whittle is probably grinning from ear to ear.

For those who do not know Whittle, an Englishman, developed the jet engine. I think his first name was Frank, but I cannot recall at the moment. Anyone from the UK want to jump in here. The English air Ministry brushed him off as a kook, so he took his ideas to Germany in the 30's. Does the ME 262 ring a bell?
rangerj

Hi there Ranger, you are corect sir whittle's first name was indeed Frank but he didn't take his ideas to Germany (the ME262 was powered by turbojet with an axiel flow compressor - the whittle unit was a centrifugal compressor) instead he persevered with his research, formed a company called powerjets and eventually sucseeded in making his dream come true, the first aircraft to fly with his engine in was the Gloster E28/39 it later powered the meteor and the Bell aircomet (the design was handed to the US by the british government they also handed it to the russians (guess what powered the MIG 15?you guessed it, a derivetive of the whittle engine. i hope this info is of use to some of you. Greg

I believe he designed the Whittle Engine That Could.

GE still have the early whittle motors in their basement apparently -
and i think the Russians got a RR (nene ?) engine for the MiG 15. look out for the noisey Olympus motors on ebay soon !

Multi Media,

I didn't mean to imply that the Germans built Whittles engine, but if I remember correctly Whittle did present his Ideas at some sort of Scientific conferance in Germany in the early to mid 1930s. The Germans took an interest, where as the Air Ministry was less than enthusiastic about "jet engines". I do, non the less, stand corrected.

It may also be that the authors I have read concerning Whittle have been a little on the inacurate side, or somewhat incomplete. There is very little about Whittle available, and it seems to me that he does not get anywhere near the credit he diserves for his contribution to the advancement of aviation. Maybe he was just lost in the shadows of the times, the big war and all.

Anyways, I think he would be thrilled at the accomplishments of the Concord. In my opinion anyone interested in aviation should know the name Frank Whittle as well as the names Orville and Wilbur Wright.

A separate topic discussing Frank Whittle, and others who contributed to the development of aviation, perhaps! Anybody interested? rangerj

Rangerj - the display Concorde just outside Heathrow in a 1/3 scale model. Wish I could have that in my back garden!

Brian - Prototype Concorde 001 was French, while 002 was British. Pre-production Concorde 01 was British, while 02 was French. And indeed the new 'hot' end of the engine nacelles were only installed from Concorde 01/02.

dj

Why be selfesh and have it in your garden. Put it in Kew Gardens!
That's a great looking model. I saw it from a distance and did not realize it was a model.
rangerj

Thanks for even more info, Deej! I know pitifully little about the Concorde.

The jet engine developed in parallel in both Engalnd and Germany in the late 1930s, with Germany's effort being the work of Dipl.Ing. Pabst von Ohain.

Von Ohain's work was the first to get into the air with the diminutive Heinkel, can't remember the number, in mid 1939, with Whittle's work not getting airborn until 1941 in the again diminutive Gloster aircraft machine.

The Concorde outside Heathrow was built by BA apprentices a few years back, and apparently cost several million!!!!!!

Karl