British Jetliners 2 – CONCORDE
What is there to say? BAC and Aerospatiale; and a beatuiful baby was born.
In the 1950s De Havilland (later BAC) and Sud Est (later Aerospatiale) were independently designing a super-sonic airliners. Sud Est had already built the successful Caravelle and De Havilland the Comet 4. Governments got involved with the prestige of an SST airliner and it was realised that the cost was increasing the two governments agreed a joint program partly funded by each nation.
The original drawings for the British airliner showed a rather unatractive design based on a small prototype aircraft that had been built to test the wing shape. There were no beautiful curves to the British BAC design. It looked very ‘soviet’.
The French design, already named the Super-Caravelle, was the design that had the beautiful curves although it, like the BAC design, was rather small. So it is the French designers at Sud Est who gave the concorde its esthetic beauty.
The Olympus engines came from the Vulcan V-bomber but with re-heat gave much more power. BOAC originally ordered it along with PanAm and many of the worlds first tier airlines but after the anti-noise pressure groups in the USA tried to ban it from the trans-Atlantic routes for which it was built the airline options on the aircraft all slipped away. It was flown out to the middle east (Bahrain) for a year before finally getting a fair shot at JFK. The pilots took great care on departure to keep engine noise low because noise was being measured by protestors and they were successful as it made less noise that a 707.
After this success with the Americal public the aircraft started sheduled services from London and Paris to America shortly after this successful visit. The aircraft were effectively given to British Airways while it was still the state carrier. Air France had a similar fleet.
A thing of beauty to watch fly for those of us who lived close to the airport or under airway Green One. Twice a day it went to the States and it was the only airliner people would stop in the street to watch fly over.
Magic powered by Jet-A1.
British Airways Concorde in first BA Concorde livery lining up on 27R
British Airways Concorde in second BA Concorde livery crossing the peri-road out of mainenance to terminal 3.
The second prototype G-AXDN and the first British Concorde to fly. Seen here at Yeovilton Naval Air Station in 2010. Many of us
first saw if fly at Farnborough Air Show 1972.
Concorde 002 from the front door looking back at the beautiful wing
Concorde 002 tail. G-AXDN was re-registered G-BSST for obvious reasons
Concorde 002 cockpit and nose
Concorde 002 Captain’s panel
Concorde 002 emergency escape ladder (can you believe it?)
By: PeeDee - 30th May 2011 at 21:37
VeeOne. I think you are thinking the same way I did upon first seeing TRIDENT MAN’s photo ……. I think what we see as the upperdeck of a 747 ….. is in fact the outer wing panel of concorde ????
Keith 🙂
LoL. Me too (Blush)
It’s the outer flap of Conc.
It’s a 707 alright, look at the front top of the nacelle.
By: keithnewsome - 30th May 2011 at 19:47
VeeOne. I think you are thinking the same way I did upon first seeing TRIDENT MAN’s photo ……. I think what we see as the upperdeck of a 747 ….. is in fact the outer wing panel of concorde ????
Keith 🙂
By: VeeOne - 30th May 2011 at 19:30
Vee One wrote..
Saadly not it’s a UAE B707..
Or a 747, even?
By: TRIDENT MAN - 30th May 2011 at 18:26
Vee One wrote..
Trident-man, is that the first jet conversion of the Aviation Traders Carvair in the background?
Saadly not it’s a UAE B707..
By: longshot - 30th May 2011 at 17:51
Early Anglo-French Concordes
This was at the 1975 Paris Air Show, the year before services began in the traditional Air France colours (pre-production F-WTSB)
And this was the second visit of Concorde to Heathrow 1July 1972 (World Tour)…it had visited briefly in 1970 after Farnborough apparently ( UK prototype G-BSST)
By: VeeOne - 30th May 2011 at 17:23
Just for you Pee Dee….Alpha Fox (in Landor) being towed into TBB circa 1992.
Trident-man, is that the first jet conversion of the Aviation Traders Carvair in the background? 😎
I quite liked the early Air France Concorde livery, myself.
By: TRIDENT MAN - 30th May 2011 at 08:37
Just for you Pee Dee….Alpha Fox (in Landor) being towed into TBB circa 1992.
A few years after i took this photo G-BOAF had her nose bent and the nose of G-BBDG was used to replace it,i have photo’s of the damage and a blunt B-BOAF!
Incedently i flew on this aircraft in March 1989 and in my humble opinion this was the best livery worn by the aircraft.
By: PeeDee - 30th May 2011 at 01:24
Oh my, Oh my, keep this thread going forever.
The most beautiful object designed by mankind.
Branson could have made the last few pay too, but no way would Airbus and the Governments allow a wide-boy-done-good to run such a flagship.
I was heavily involved in the repair after Paris situation and, years later the eventual refusal of Airbus to grant the licence. Basically they couldn’t be bothered to guarantee the Spares as it was costing a lot to manage 12 ships.
Bransons plan to save 4 and use the rest as donors was good. He was prepared to fund the Spares too. The Main (Non replaceable) structure had thousands of hours left on it too. And, naturally the servicing was always the very best (Apart from latter years in France of course).
More people have been qualified on Space Shuttle than qualified to fly Concorde.
I can still feel the hairs stand up on my neck when I remember seeing it.
A mate of mine, jammy git, had a flight from Ringway to Heathrow on it….they put it on the morning Business Shuttle…it was to celebrate something to do with the shuttle. Early to mid 80’s? Anybody remember?
By: VeeOne - 30th May 2011 at 00:30
I have a feeling I saw this Concorde permanently parked at Paris Orly back in the early 1980s and still in this original AF livery.
By: waghorn41 - 29th May 2011 at 19:46
Please excuse the quality, the negs are over 40 years old and some of the days the weather was murky. Here we go, F-BTSC Concorde demonstrator at Kai Tak. Notice on pic 5 how low Concorde is flying through the harbour !
By: VeeOne - 28th May 2011 at 22:30
I’ve got some of the French demonstrator at Hong Kong, including some close ups. Would anyone like me to add them here?
Yes! Please do… I would love to see them. 🙂
By: waghorn41 - 28th May 2011 at 21:21
I’ve got some of the French demonstrator at Hong Kong, including some close ups. Would anyone like me to add them here?
By: VeeOne - 28th May 2011 at 17:36
A gracious response V1, especially since my post looks a bit po-faced with hindsight. My only excuse is that I was a junior press officer at Filton in the late sixties and early seventies, so I get a bit protective of the details from what was an exciting time for me … especially looking after Reg Turnill and his BBC crew for the first UK flight in 1969!
Ned
Wow, great days.:)
You were quite right to correct my dumb mistake. Not Poe faced at all. You have the background to tell it as it was. The Concorde evokes strong feelings in so many of us. 🙂
PR released illustration of BOAC Concorde…
By: Steamer Ned - 19th May 2011 at 13:24
A gracious response V1, especially since my post looks a bit po-faced with hindsight. My only excuse is that I was a junior press officer at Filton in the late sixties and early seventies, so I get a bit protective of the details from what was an exciting time for me … especially looking after Reg Turnill and his BBC crew for the first UK flight in 1969!
Ned
By: VeeOne - 19th May 2011 at 00:43
Yes, my ‘de Havilland’ comment was quite wrong, I am not sure where that came from, even. I am getting old I guess, my memory doesn’t always work that well these days. 🙂
I recall a plan view of these two designs and the Super Caravelle seemed the more elegant with the 223 rather more basic. Together they made a magical combination. 😉
By: Steamer Ned - 18th May 2011 at 17:53
V1: re your original post, a couple of corrections.
De Havilland had no connection with the Concorde programme. The UK progenitor was the Bristol Type 223, which was renamed BAC 223 in 1963 when the UK aircraft industry was rationalised into two groups: British Aircraft Corporation included Bristol, Hawker Siddeley Group included De Havilland.
The drawing below, which I have posted before in a thread within Historic, was released by BAC in 1969 to illustrate the main similarities/differences between Concorde’s two immediate ancestors.
By: longshot - 17th May 2011 at 22:26
Concorde’s Ist commercial flight from Heathrow to Bahrain January 1976
By: VeeOne - 17th May 2011 at 14:18
British prototype Concorde 002/G-AXDN at Filton.
Public release photo; copyright British Aircraft Corporation
By: VeeOne - 17th May 2011 at 02:07
I was born too late! Cursing… 😀 Great posts VeeOne, please keep on posting.
Ok, thanks for the interest. 🙂
By: 69bertie - 16th May 2011 at 22:53
Concorde on approach into LHR http://www.flickr.com/photos/bertie_is_here/3976648963/in/photostream/
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May 16, 2011 at 4:05 am