DUers who have flown on the Concorde (or those that wanted to)?

[DemoTex]

I flew Air France from CDG (Paris) to JFK on the Concorde about ten years ago. Fantastic! The westbound flight took 3 hours and 36 minutes. We hit Mach 1 fifteen minutes after takeoff, and settled into a cruise climb at Mach 2.10. Top-of-climb was over Nova Scotia at almost 65,000 feet (I was in the cockpit at that time).

[Thtwudbeme]

1. I was on the runway the day it landed

in Asheville---

Private plane, a small jet that was flown and owned by the Hunter Nissan guy---he, his friend, two sons, and my friend and I flew to Asheville from Hendersonville (when the Cowans owned that cute little airport)...and then almost had to go to Greenville, SC instead of Hendersonville because the weather got suddenly bad.

I was scared shitless by the way on the flight back to Hendersonville---the little jet was bouncing, and Mr. Hunter had switched to instruments---he said it was one of the worst landings he ever had.

I thought I was going to vomit.

;)

Yes, I HAVE seen the Concorde.

BTW---if you ever see a video tape of that from the news...the plane that landed right in front of the Concorde was us.

[DemoTex]

3. There is a picture at the US Airways gate in AVL of the Concorde visit.

If I recall, there was snow on the ground. Right?

[Thtwudbeme]

5. Oh yes!

That was the storm that came in!

And that's why the Concorde spent the night at the Asheville Airport! I am sure that the passengers had a wonderful time at the ONLY hotel near the airport at the time: the Holiday Inn with the Disco!

[DemoTex]

8. Yep! I remember it now!

The Concorde did RON because of the snow storm. For my records, can you pin-point that date? No biggy, if not.

[Thtwudbeme]

10. Wikipedia says 1987

I thought it was '86--- I could swear I was 22.

I will keep looking; oddly, it wasn't a big deal to many people.

[DemoTex]

12. U-B young! Still.

Mac

[Hugin]

2. Very cool!

You know... Why'd we stop moving ahead with things like that?

Congratulations on being there!

What a story!

[DemoTex]

7. The rest of the story is even better ..

I had been in Bordeaux at the Dassault plant for the roll-out of a new variant of the Mirage fighter. Then there was lunch at Chateau Dassault. Then the TGV back to Paris. Then dinner at "The Lila's" (a chapter in Hemingway's Movable Feast) in Montparnasse.

I was there as a guest of Dassault. As an aviation writer on the civilian side, my editor and publisher approved of my attendance at this celebration. Four other aviation writers from the US were in the party (Flying Magazine, Aviation Week & Space Technology, Business and Commercial Aviation, Aviation International News, and I represented Professional Pilot Magazine).

We all met in the Concorde Lounge for strong coffee and pastries before the flight. We were all in jeans and sneakers. The Concorde captain came in and the room got quiet. He came up to us (at the coffee bar) and said, "You must be the famous American aviation journalists, no? You are welcome in my cockpit! No? Please, have the wine. Have the lunch. Then come to my cockpit. My crew will be honored. Please."

Well, that's why I was in the cockpit over Nova Scotia! A little wine, a petite steak, and a spot of brandy gets you across the Atlantic at Mach 2.10!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. I saw one take off once

at the Oshkosh air show. Very loud, very cool. And I went inside the one that's now on display at the Boeing museum in Seattle. I also have 2 little Concorde models in my cubicle at work. Obviously I've been as close as I'll ever get...

[wain]

24. I saw the British Concorde taking off over Jamaica Bay

A fantastic sight, a beautiful plane.

I agree, the roar of the four engines echoing and reverberating off the bay and low clouds was unforgettable. A deep, rumbling sound much like an Apollo rocket launch.

[GOPisEvil]

6. I always wanted to fly on the Concorde.

*sigh*

[KitchenWitch]

11. Me too

I always wanted to eat at Windows on the World too. :cry:

[madinmaryland]

22. I've been to Windows on the World a couple of times.

$10 cocktails (15 years ago). Spectacular view over NYC. No other view in the city compares.

:sad:

[pokerfan]

9. Could you see the curvature of the Earth?

You should have been able to at that altitude.

[DemoTex]

13. Not really. I could imagine it, I guess.

The really neat thing was my shoulder warmer. I had the window seat and the surface friction at Mach 2+ warmed the skin and my shoulder.

[pokerfan]

16. I was going to ask about that next

I understand that the air friction would cause the skin at the front of the craft to exceed 100°C!

It was a marvelous piece of engineering. It's a damn shame that it's retired from service.

Here's an interesting interview with the author of Flying Concorde:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/concorde/flyinghigh.html

NOVA: Do you think Concorde was a he or a she?
Calvert: She.
NOVA: And you loved her?
Calvert: Isn't that obvious?

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. My boss used to fly it a lot. He liked the time savings, hated the plane.

Said it was cramped and not overly comfortable. But it got him home a few hours earlier so he could be with his family, so he flew it whenever he could.

His last time on a Concorde was a week before the one crashed.

[DemoTex]

15. About the same diameter aluminum tube as a DC-9.

But, oh so fast!

[Aristus]

17. You never fail to amaze me, Mac. All the things you've done!

That's quite an experience, to have been on the flight deck of the Concorde goin' Mach 2. I envy you. That's an experience I'd love to have. B-)

[malmapus]

18. Never flew it, but have a question. What did kill it?

I mean even with the one accident, it still had a very impressive safety record over the years it was in service. Even the accident wasn't totally it's fault from what I understand. Was it fuel costs?

[kay1864]

20. According to Wikipedia...

On April 10, 2003 British Airways and Air France simultaneously announced that they would retire the Concorde later that year. They cited low passenger numbers following the July 25, 2000 crash, the slump in air travel following 9/11, and rising maintenance costs.

[malmapus]

21. Thanks for info, never thought of checking Wikipedia

Gotta do that one of these days :D

[bumblebee1]

19. I've seen two concordes.

both were on the ground at JFK International airport. They were from British Airways and Air France. I was getting ready to fly to Greece at the tims.

[billyskank]

23. I wish I could have experienced

the acceleration of takeoff. I mean, I like that even in regular civil jets, but Concorde with those four Olympus engines must have been really something.

[ucmike]

25. never flew it but experienced a landing outside my window

i worked in a construction trailer next to the main runways at newark airport. we were literally a few hundred feet from the runway. i heard hundreds of take-offs and landings a day, but on a particularly cold and foggy day i felt a vibration, then heard a rumble...seconds later the whole trailer shook, rattling things off the wall and making the stuff on my desk hop. there was an enormous noise outside, i knew it was a jet engine, but it wasn't like anything i had ever heard. i was sure that a plane had skidded off the runway and was heading straight for us. i ran to the window and saw the one of the concordes just as it touched down on the runway nearest to the trailer. we found out later that they had landed in newark becasue JFK was fogged in. i believe that was the only time it ever landed at newark.

[NJ Democrats]

26. I never flew in one

but I walked through one! I did at 2 years ago, at the Intrepid in NYC.