AFR4386 / F-BVFA / LFPG-KIAD Concorde Farewell Today

[Deeko01]

Hi,

Thought you guys might be interested in seeing the full flight plan for F-BVFA the Air France Concorde flying from Paris Charles De Gaulle to Washington its final resting place :

(FPL-AFR4386-IN
-CONC/H-SIRWXY/C
-N0538F280
-LFPG1000 N0530F280 C/EVX/M200F310F600 SL4 C/5041N01500W/M200F450F600 NATSM 42N067W SM2 CAMRN/N0530F350 DCT ZIGGI V276 RBV J230 SAAME DCT DELRO V143 MULRR DCT AML
-KIAD 0442 KBWI
-RMK ACCELERATION POINT EVX307035 DECELERATION POINT 3943N 07107W BLOCK ALTITUDE F450/F600 FBVFA LAST FLIGHT ONE WAY FOR AN HAPPY RETIREMENT IN SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM
-SEL/DHAB DOF/030612)

Farewell old girl.

Regards
Del

[BahrainLad]

BLOCK ALTITUDE F450/F600

After October, it's going to be a long, long time before we see that again....godspeed FA

[VFE]

Cheers and thanks for that Deeko.

Farewell indeed. :(

VFE.

[Tapinhas]

"Here it is. Filmed from the roof of the JFK control tower, here is footage of the last Air France Concorde departure from JFK, 5/31/03.

Things to notice!

1) Notice the spectators on the roof of terminal ONE.
2) Notice the airport manager inspecting RY 31L prior to the departure with a vehicle.
3) Notice the HUGE collection of press and airport vehicles on the surrounding taxiways as he comes out.
4) Notice the tri-color water salute from the Port Authority Police...Red, White and Blue for the colors of the French flag.

Tower-aircraft audio in real time is on the recording as well.

These are LARGE files, but the quality will bear that out. If you're on dialup connection, and you want to download them, you won't be sorry.

Two parts:

Part ONE - Water Salute, taxi (4:18 13.3MB, Stereo Sound, 320x240)

http://www.jfktower.com/concfarewell.wmv


Things to look for in part II
1) The cool shot of EVA departing 4L as AFR001 taxies to 31L
2) The emotional goodbye from the pilot
3) The JAL landing 4R as AFR001 goes into position on 31L
4) In the tower, Don saying, "Where's Ken????" See Ken? We miss ya up there!

Part TWO- Position and hold, goodbyes, takeoff, controller from top of tower, shots in the tower of the controllers that worked the flight. (3:11, 9.7Mb, Stereo Sound, 320x240)

http://www.jfktower.com/concfarewell2.wmv

SPECIAL FEATURE -- Aviation photographer Carlos Borda was on the side of the runway when AFR001 took off...heres the MPG he took with his digital camera. THIS is great stuff:"

http://www.jfktower.com/carlosbordalastconc53103.mpg

[gordonroxburgh]

Some more info

"Fox-Alpha" will be the first Concorde exhibited by a museum in the United States and is the oldest of five in the Air France fleet The airline ended 27 years of Concorde service last month and, through an earlier agreement, signed in 1989, they had promised the Smithsonian the airplane on its retirement.

“ Thanks to the generosity of Air France, this aircraft that captured the imagination of the world will now dazzle visitors at the Udvar-Hazy Center,” museum Director Gen. J.R. “Jack” Dailey said. “As we approach the next century of flight, the story of this remarkable airplane lives on as testament to the next generation of aerospace design as well as our trans-Atlantic friendship.”

In donating the aircraft to the Smithsonian, Air France Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta said the airline is confident “Concorde will be seen and admired by as many people as possible.”

The airplane will be kept at a Dulles airport storage location for several months while the museum continues to move smaller aircraft and space artifacts into the new museum facility.

The Concorde, almost 204 feet long and with a maximum landing weight of just over 109 tons, is far too large and heavy for display in the downtown Washington DC Mall building. It will be exhibited at ground level in the Udvar-Hazy Center aviation hangar at Dulles Airport

Concorde F-BVFA launched Air France’s supersonic service, flying Paris to Dakar to Rio de Janeiro in January 1976, and inaugurated the airline's Washington service later that year. The aircraft made a round-the-world trip in 1998 in 41 hours, 27 minutes. On delivery to the Smithsonian, it Fox-Alpha will have accumulated 17,824 flight hours during 6,967 flights.

The museum’s Dr. F. Robert van der Linden, who will be curator for the Concorde, was on the airplane’s last flight. The aircrafts final pasenger servcie was from New York to Paris on May30th 2003. The aircraft flew overhead the airport runway, dipping her wings, before circling around and coming in for landing