PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - The Concorde thread (Don't start a separate one!)
Old 27th Oct 2003, 08:52
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jrbt
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Aha, over on Other Aircrew Forums: Airlines, Airports & Routes: Concorde Memories & Related Threads, PPRuNer BAe 146-100 on 14 October posted the info, derived from http://www.concordesst.com/home.html:

*Concorde G-BOAD will [be] retired to the Intrepid Air and Space museum in New York. It will fly to New York on Monday October 27th , where work will begin to transport it onto a barge where it will be berthed next to the Intrepid Aircraft carrier. The museum have plans to protect it from the elements, but if their track record is anything to go by the aircraft could be in for a rough ride, as some of the aircraft on the actual carrier deck have seen better days. New York was seen as important to the success of Concorde within BA, and they feel strongly that one should go on display in the city.

*On 31st Oct Concorde G-BOAC is retired to the Manchester Airport viewing park. It will initially go on display next to the BAE Systems RJX100, currently the final ever passenger jet built in the UK. The Airport have grand plans, that will see the aircraft put on display inside a purpose built facility.

*G-BOAE will fly to Seattle (with a Tech stop possibly in Gander or Maine) on November 3rd. It will go on display in one of the world’s leading aircraft museums – The Museum of Flight, which included exhibits such as the worlds first ever Boeing 747 and a De Havilland Comet 4.

*The most controversial decision appears to be to send Concorde Alpha-Golf to Barbados on Nov 10th. Although Barbados was important to the aircraft with [its] scheduled winter services, the island does not even [have] an aviation museum. A local businessman has offered to construct a facility at Grantley Adams Airport. Although with people going to Barbados to relax and enjoy the sun, rather than going to see Concorde, the decision seems flawed, especially when there are a number of aviation museums or attractions in the UK that have missed out.

*The world’s final ever Concorde flight will be on Nov 17th [when] Concorde G-BOAF is retired to Filton. Concorde 216 was the final ever Concorde constructed and will initially be stored in the West Bay of the Brabazon hangar at the Airbus site. Eventually it will go on display when the Bristol Aviation heritage museum opens. Plans are afoot to display the aircraft at the Bristol Aviation Collection's new museum at Filton during the Summer of 2004.

There are presently no plans for a heritage aircraft to fly at special flypasts or at airshows, although if a last minute deal was struck with Airbus, G-BOAG would likely carry out this role rather than going straight away to Barbados.

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So the question is, if the "last minute deal" is still a possibility, why the rush to ship out the rest of the flock rather than retain at least some of them for parts etc.?
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