Concorde Doco last night

[Russell D]

Just wondering if anyone else watched the documentary last night about the trials and tribulations of Concorde on Ch 7 at 9.30pm.

I watched the whole thing, and I must say that I found it quite interesting.

One thing that really touched me was how emotional some of the former Concorde pilots (i think all of them but one were Captains) got recounting their experience with the amazing bird.

Also, I was rather surprised to find out that Sydney gave the Concorde a "bad reception" when it first came out here on its round-the-world promotional flights prior to beginning operation with airlines.

I know it might be pretty noisy and expensive to ride on, but I wonder what the general reaction of the public would be if it were ever to return to the skies.

Of course as they mentioned in the show, its cost to operate in addition to the near impossible chance that it will ever pass the safety certification, I doubt there is much hope other than museums.

[Peter Agatsiotis]

Damn!! missed it.

Beautiful aircraft and my travels around the world have 14 logged including the 2 prototypes G-BSST at Farnborough 1970 and F-WTSS at Orly 2008.

Got up really close to G-BOAC which is parked at the Manchester Airport viewing area.

Pretty sure that G-BSST visited Sydney in 1972 as I was still living at my parents place after arriving in Oz in April that year.

G-BOAE visited Sydney in 1985 and for those of you who remember, it was parked at the Jet Base and Qantas Drive and a few other roads were all jam packed with cars (to hell with the signs!).

From memory we had about 5 or 6 visits from the BA/AF fleet.

Very popular with the general public but I think the sad crash out of CD Gaulle would have put people off of actually flying on one.

Now we have to wait for Virgin Galatlic in a few years time.

[Bernie P]

I have it on TiVo, which I can move to my PC and then make a permanent copy for view on any DVD player... ;)

IF you know what I mean...

[Peter Agatsiotis]

Found some photos I took of G-BOAC at Manchester and the close up of this plate on the engine says it all (sorry can't get to the dig image on an old pc):


'Engineered to be the best

CONCORDE

flew above the rest'

[Russell D]

Absolutely gold :)

By the way, the show was called "The Rise and Fall of Concorde".

I can't find any links to view it online.

[Peter Agatsiotis]

Thanks Russell

I will check yahoo/Ch7 later or might have to take up the 'hint/offer' from Bernie.:D

[Michael Arentz]

If you ever happen to be hanging around Frankfurt in Germany and have half a day to kill I can highly recommend the Auto & Technik Museum Sinsheim (http://sinsheim.technik-museum.de/en). They've got Concorde F-BVFB mounted on poles on the roof of one of the exhibition halls alongside a TU-144, both are open to walk through. The cabin is intact but they have removed a large number of the seats to provide open space and put up exhibit info boards but they have preserved every few rows behind perspex. The cockpit is also behind perspex. Still, well worth the experience if you're in that neck of the woods and there's a hell of a lot more at the museum that makes the whole experience even better. I went on a particularly nasty, drizzly day but managed to snap a few photos (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chickenwreslting/sets/72157622823352316/)

[Peter Agatsiotis]

Nice photos Michael; I was in Frankfurt in May'05 but too busy writing reg's for 3 days. Took the midnight train to Dusseldorf.

[Jethro H]

If you can get a copy of "Rise and Fall of the Concorde" than do so. It was an enjoyable doco.

In the early 1980s I trained as a cinephotographer with a retired BBC cameraman who worked on filming the early days and testing of Concorde. What he tells me is pretty much on the money in this doco.

[Peter Agatsiotis]

Cheers Jethro

Luckily a friend of mine has made a DVD for me.


Those early days of filming would have been interesting. As stated earlier I did see G-BSST at Farnborough 1970 - awseome flying demo.

[Russell D]

A must say though that it brought a wicked smile to my face and a sense of satisfaction when i watched the pilots bounce the Concorde a on landing a couple of times. Makes some of my landings pretty good all of a sudden :D

[Jethro H]

Cheers Jethro
Those early days of filming would have been interesting. As stated earlier I did see G-BSST at Farnborough 1970 - awseome flying demo.
It has been 20 years since I have seen this cameraman, whilst the majority of his work was filming from the ground, he rocked up to work one day and they told him that they were 'going-out-for-lunch', thinking the bosses were taking him to some restaurant near the airport at Fairford,,,, well it was a restaurant, near the airport... Jan ****s Airport at Johannesburg via Concorde on a test run. (I think he said it was G-BSST whic was one of the prototypes)

Later years when it was operational, he stated that BBC Cameraman were often given a seat if they had an "urgent" job in the USA. He flew about a dozen times to get to jobs over there, but often return flight was back on a 747

It is still sad there is nothing to replace them.

[Peter Agatsiotis]

Thanks to Noel White who gave me a copy of the doco which I have just finished watching. Very interesting and still a few questions that need answering.

I have scanned some photos of G-BOAC at Manchester; quality not the best as they are prints made on an old printer which don't copy very well.

This is the plate on the engine I mentioned in a previous post plus nose and tail sections (Very overcast day back in May'05)

[james baker]

A little off the topic of the tv show but my best viewing experience of Concorde is seeing it at Filton UK. I recall as a youngster, standing on my great aunts draining board looking across the way to see BA Concordes arriving and departing. My more recent viewing of the beautiful aircraft was at Seattle, New York and Filton once more. The filton experience was by far the best with an up close inside and out viewing of the beautifully kept "alpha foxtrot".



Awesome stuff.

[Peter Agatsiotis]

Small world James, I used to attend Monks Park secondary (1963-1964) but before Concorde's time. Mostly Super VC10's on touch and go's.