Another concorde memory.
A few years ago I was training for my IMC and whilst in the hold at a few thousand feet above the runway my instructor asked me to remove my hood and he had control.
I thought I had done something a little wrong, I mean we were on approach frequency but I was concentrating so hard that I really didn't take any notice of the speedbird callsign.
When the hood was removed my instructor asked to look down at the approach and there she was. The sun glistening off her white skin, beautifully gliding down the glideslope of the ILS to a nice touchdown rollout.
After which I couldn't really concentrate so we left the hold and flew a Procedural ILS approach to the runway.
Later in the day after she had returned once again from her Bay of Biscay trip, we all stood at the "playpen" an area of apron that private general aviation aircraft are parked up on. This is conveniently the closest we could stand to the runway, about the same distance as a holding point line. She rotated a little bit past us with the unbelievable noise of her avtur guzzling Rolls-Royce Olympus engines.
This day was a year or so before the tragic accident in France which I believe started the ball rolling to the end of the supersonic era.
Once again on Thursday, I, together with many friends, will be standing on the same "play pen" to once again witness her arrival and departure. It shall be a very tearful occassion when we see her dissapear into the airways for the last time from our home base.
"She" will be sorely missed by not only those who built her, the nations who built and flew her, but everyone else around the world who admired the amazing grace that she still has thirty years on.
Best wishes,
Charlie Zulu.