Cron
The crews, the engineers and anyone 'hands on' with the aircraft would have known that they were involved with something very special. Moreso I detect from such posters that they seemed to have a relationship with the aircraft which went beyond the normal level of any professional working with interesting technology. Were these people such well balanced types that they shrugged and took in their stride or was there seething but repressed anger? Was there a feeling of personal loss that such a thing would never happen again?
You sure touched a nerve or two there Cron. I can only speak for myself, but to me Concorde was more than a job, far more than just 30 years of my life, she was (and still is) an amazing and astoundingly beautiful aircraft. She was flown by dedicated, highly professional crews, some of which I still regard as some of my best friends. She carried an enormous variety of people, from the wealthy and famous to old Granny having a chance of a lifetime birthday treat. She epitomised what dedicated men (and women too) can achieve in the field of adversity when there is sufficient talent and dedication available to overcome massive political and technical hurdles. These guys and gals produced what is to me simply avaiation perfection. There is another aspect of Concorde's life that is seldom mentioned, that of live organ transportation across the Atlantic (in both directions I might add). I wonder just how many lives were saved by this marvelous use of speed. (The organs were transported in refrigerated containers and the speedy transport from the aeroplane was both slick and professional. I could go on.... but will give instead my personal feelings regarding this 'world without Concorde. The real TRUE story of why Concorde was withdrawn from service is for another time (this story has already been alluded to several times in this thread), but I am stilll filled with feelings of sadness, of guilt (was there really nothing any of 'us' could have done?) but mainly a deep feeling of anger and revulsion towards a small handfull of nasty little individuals that managed to destroy something so wonderful, so unique and so special for ALL the wrong reasons. I just hope these characters look back and are truly proud of themselves; this aviation 'crime' is right up there with the TSR-2 cancellation in my view.
But life goes on, and I had to spend the next few years learning all about those Boeing things. (You know I never realised that it was possible to fly WELL BELOW the speed of sound
).
BN2A
PS - Was there ANYTHING on the Charger(ski) that was better or more advanced??
errrr nope.
Regards
Dude
