Concorde - Keep it flying

One of my ambitions was to take a trip on Concorde, but I never got the chance. Has anyone else had this experience? Should Concorde have been grounded? I have always had a soft spot for the plane and think it's a remarkable engineering achievement. Branson wants to continue flying some, should he be allowed or is it time to put this beauty to rest?

I'd like to see a couple of them kept in flying condition just like we have Spitfires, Lancasters and Vulcans. They can canibalise the fleet to stockpile the vital parts and make static displays out of the rest perhaps.

I too always wanted a trip on concord, and I heard that before they grounded it they were going to be offering low cost one ways to NYC for those without £5000 for a ticket.

Did this not happen?

Yeah Mr Branson should be allowed to keep flying them ifhe desires. Long live concord I say!

Originally posted by Lickszz

One of my ambitions was to take a trip on Concorde, but I never got the chance. Has anyone else had this experience? Should Concorde have been grounded? I have always had a soft spot for the plane and think it's a remarkable engineering achievement. Branson wants to continue flying some, should he be allowed or is it time to put this beauty to rest?

 

I'd like to see a couple of them kept in flying condition just like we have Spitfires, Lancasters and Vulcans. They can canibalise the fleet to stockpile the vital parts and make static displays out of the rest perhaps.

I also, always wanted to fly on Concord, and it had an excellent safety record until the diaster, when it crashed and killed everyone on board. Barnes Wallace, who invented it was a genius, it being just one of his many accomplishments, even then, there was nothing technically with with the machine itself, as it was metal on the runway which caused the accident.

Originally posted by Lickszz

Branson wants to continue flying some, should he be allowed or is it time to put this beauty to rest?

I was speaking to a relative who is a BA pilot about this a month ago. Basically what he was saying was that Branson's bid was nothing more than bravado. There was no way he could have flown the fleet for the simple fact that the company that is responsible for maintanence said they would only continue support if it were BA flying them. So the Virgin bid was just publicity really, never a realistic prospect. The planes are old and decrepid. If they continue to fly, more will crash.

How much of that is BA spin I don't know but that was the line he was taking anyway.

Originally posted by chill

I was speaking to a relative who is a BA pilot about this a month ago. Basically what he was saying was that Branson's bid was nothing more than bravado. There was no way he could have flown the fleet for the simple fact that the company that is responsible for maintanence said they would only continue support if it were BA flying them. So the Virgin bid was just publicity really, never a realistic prospect. The planes are old and decrepid. If they continue to fly, more will crash.

 

How much of that is BA spin I don't know but that was the line he was taking anyway.

Well, I also heard that Branson wanted BA Staff to keep on maintaining it at next to nothing cost.

Theres a documentary about Concorde, by Richard Branson, on C5 tomorrow night.

The bottom line is yes, Concorde is old. But, many of the parts on it have been replaced many times so the Concorde you see today isn't really the same as the one launched back in the 70's.

It's about to take off for the final time from JFK. There are 3 Concordes all due to land around 4pm at Theifrow.

I heard about that on the radio this morning too. I think it's a shame that Concorde will be no more.

Couldn't agree more.

Jeremy Clarkson - "A giant leap backwards for mankind"

I've just watched the take off from JFK and it was delightful. Pure power while tilting into a tight left turn. Back to the boring Jumbos.

It's a shame that nothing was ever developed to replace Concorde. If a new plane was to come out, it would take decades to come to fruition.

I was lucky enough to go on a prototype Concorde back in the 70's. I was only a little 'un but I can remember it as if it was yesterday and always will.

Its a great loss,the most beautiful plane in the world in my eyes.

From what i've heard/seen/read a replacement would just cost far to much to develop, so it looks like were stuck with subsonic flight for some years to come.

So much for advances in technology.

Originally posted by Lickszz

One of my ambitions was to take a trip on Concorde, but I never got the chance. Has anyone else had this experience? Should Concorde have been grounded? I have always had a soft spot for the plane and think it's a remarkable engineering achievement. Branson wants to continue flying some, should he be allowed or is it time to put this beauty to rest?

 

I'd like to see a couple of them kept in flying condition just like we have Spitfires, Lancasters and Vulcans. They can canibalise the fleet to stockpile the vital parts and make static displays out of the rest perhaps.

There is only one Lancaster is flying condition in thsi country, and one which is able to taxi - but it would cost millions to bring it back to flying condition. There is one more Lancaster flying in Canada

There are no Vulcans in flying condition, although there is one being restored, hopefully to flying condition. See Vulcan

Concorde is a beautiful aircraft, ahead of its time. Lets hope that people aren't short sighted enough to ground them all forever - and have to run some kind of appeal to restore one in 20 years time. They must keep a couple in flying condition for special occasions and air shows, just to keep the dream alive!