Concorde Flies Again (merged)
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To be at Filton today was bitter-sweet. So glad I made it. Can't believe my luck with a day off work. I didn't win a ticket for Filton so I was going to have to improvise! I parked at the Mall by 0930, recce'd the mound behind Kentucky Fried Chicken on the perimeter and to my delight it was halfway along the runway with a great view.
We got so many bites of the cherry - first the sombre flypast into the clag over the severn estuary, saw her turn left for Weston, then out of sight. Enter stage left Spitfire - awesome display - fast, low and sounding so British.
Concorde appeared again, this time from the south and was obviously over the suspension bridge as she jinked towards Filton again. Long sweeping turn overhead south of the field planforming that shape against a broken sky. Seemed to hold the turn forever giving a lasting view of the delta.
Out to the west she went before aiming for Filton once more - long slow approach seemed so very reluctant and slow. She flared and touched down with just the tip of the flight deck visible given the lower ground at the threshold.
She thundered by with some spray and catching everyone unaware the Spitfire victory rolled over the slowing Concorde. Fan-bloody-tastic. Thankyou.
Concorde backtracked and most surprising and unexpected of all she turned obliquely on the runway towards the assembled crowd of joe-public, stopped, raised her nose and sat for a few minutes. The crew opened the windows and flew Union Jacks to massive cheers. Everyone cheered - grown men wept.
She lowered her nose and proceeded, repeated the nose raise and shut down in front of the Filton VIP tent. Silence.
Thankyou to the crew for that most thoughtful of actions, the turn, stop and nose raise for the assembled crowd, most of whom had waited in the rain for hours. It was a superb moment that made our day.
THANKYOU
Piton - Great wasn't it!
We got so many bites of the cherry - first the sombre flypast into the clag over the severn estuary, saw her turn left for Weston, then out of sight. Enter stage left Spitfire - awesome display - fast, low and sounding so British.
Concorde appeared again, this time from the south and was obviously over the suspension bridge as she jinked towards Filton again. Long sweeping turn overhead south of the field planforming that shape against a broken sky. Seemed to hold the turn forever giving a lasting view of the delta.
Out to the west she went before aiming for Filton once more - long slow approach seemed so very reluctant and slow. She flared and touched down with just the tip of the flight deck visible given the lower ground at the threshold.
She thundered by with some spray and catching everyone unaware the Spitfire victory rolled over the slowing Concorde. Fan-bloody-tastic. Thankyou.
Concorde backtracked and most surprising and unexpected of all she turned obliquely on the runway towards the assembled crowd of joe-public, stopped, raised her nose and sat for a few minutes. The crew opened the windows and flew Union Jacks to massive cheers. Everyone cheered - grown men wept.
She lowered her nose and proceeded, repeated the nose raise and shut down in front of the Filton VIP tent. Silence.
Thankyou to the crew for that most thoughtful of actions, the turn, stop and nose raise for the assembled crowd, most of whom had waited in the rain for hours. It was a superb moment that made our day.
THANKYOU
Piton - Great wasn't it!
Last edited by slider; 27th Nov 2003 at 04:58.
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I also was in Filton from about midday - found the embankment behind the shopping center mentioned earlier in this thread (thanks to whoever posted the info - it was great and I would've never found it on my own).
Waited with several hundreds - maybe more.... saw the spitfire, got a bit wet and thoroughly chilled but then there she was! The flyby was cool but even better was when after the landing and the 180turn at the end the crew stopped opposite where we were watching, turned 45 degrees towards the crowd on the embankment and stopped, lowered & raised the nose and waved their flags at us before continuing to the VIP stand further down.
Truly a goosebump moment and worth the 340 mile round trip.
Oops - I guess I was still typing while Slider was posting - Slider your report was way more eloquent than mine. Strange to think of all the prooners on the embankment not knowing each other!
What a day.....
Waited with several hundreds - maybe more.... saw the spitfire, got a bit wet and thoroughly chilled but then there she was! The flyby was cool but even better was when after the landing and the 180turn at the end the crew stopped opposite where we were watching, turned 45 degrees towards the crowd on the embankment and stopped, lowered & raised the nose and waved their flags at us before continuing to the VIP stand further down.
Truly a goosebump moment and worth the 340 mile round trip.
Oops - I guess I was still typing while Slider was posting - Slider your report was way more eloquent than mine. Strange to think of all the prooners on the embankment not knowing each other!
What a day.....
Excellent programme tonight on Sat 956 (BBC Points West) - I still cannot believe that the soulless Australian who runs ba can have destroyed this national icon.
I never flew on Concorde - not because I couldn't afford to but because of ba's dirty tricks era. Regrettably my personal vow never to fly ba until Marshall, King and the rest had no further influence on the company have gone forever caused that.
Skippy - you and your henchmen killed a national treasure. We will never forgive you. Thank God Brian Trubshaw never had to witness your miserable treachery.
I never flew on Concorde - not because I couldn't afford to but because of ba's dirty tricks era. Regrettably my personal vow never to fly ba until Marshall, King and the rest had no further influence on the company have gone forever caused that.
Skippy - you and your henchmen killed a national treasure. We will never forgive you. Thank God Brian Trubshaw never had to witness your miserable treachery.
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I was on the Clifton suspension bridge, surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of people on all the obvious vantage points. Quite a sight in itself. The bridge, the camera obscura, the Regency terraces of Clifton, the floating harbour - all that Victorian engineering, all that architecture, such a concentration of the very best of British over the past two hundred years in an extraordinary natural setting. And then over she came. Even Brunel would have been awed by what his descendants had achieved.
Just a numbered other
Sad irony that as we prepare to celebrate a century of powered flight next month, we will, for the first time in 100 years be taking a step backwards!
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As luck would have it I was in Bristol on business today and got a superb view of the Concorde as she flew overhead the Clifton Downs and indeed the clouds literally parted until she landed, then the skies wept ...
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Saw the Anti-Skippy posts - Dont feel sorry for Skippy - anyone heard the rumour that he has been offered a job to run QANTAS when his BA contract ends - now that he has got rid of the BA 'halo' effect that took a lot of business from them - and others = Concorde?. Because pax flew BA subsonic in preferance to other carriers as they felt the higher engineering and flying standards needed to operate Concorde rubbed off to the whole Airline - and it was true - because at the end of the day BA skills levels are just great - its the Manager - Bread Rolls and the other hangers on draining the cash that bring BA down.
Also heard that a big American Airline had a Concorde retirement party last week and had a toast to Skippy as he has made BA - 'just another airline' that will be a lot easier to compete with now.
The business we have chosen to be in like being in a war -and we all sat back (me included) and allowed the enemies victory to happen.
I felt phsically sick seeing a Concorde on the barge on the Hudson - dont they have any shame? How could they agree to that? silly me why ask the questions - we all know the answer is NO. Its all about money.
As one great statesman said "never has so much been done to so many by so few"
Well its over now thay have won and after they killed her off they didnt just leave her - they dismembered her to make sure no one else would ever ever ever could make her better again.
Brunel to Concorde
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I was on Dundry Hill which is to the south of the city and affords a panoramic view of the whole of Bristol, the Severn Bridges, South Wales to the west and the southern Cotswold escarpment to the east. The morning had been frightful with heavy showers of rain and hail. Then around 1240 GMT the sky lightened, the sun came out to highlight a beautiful rainbow beyond the city.
Dundry is a small village and is reached by country lanes. These were congested by sightseers and parked vehicles but a large field had been opened near the church and into this poured over a hundred motor vehicles including mine.
Minutes later AF appeared from the east over the Cotswolds. She flew westwards over Filton airfield which is on the northern edge of the city, about ten miles in a direct line from my vantage point. She reached the Severn estuary before turning south along the Bristol Channel coast to overhead Clevedon and Weston, where she was lost to our sight for several minutes.
She then re-appeared from the south west almost above us before snaking in over the city above the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Downs. We were able to follow her course easily as she flew over the north of the city and back out to the Cotswolds above which she turned to prepare for her last ever approach. We watched every second of that approach to the landing point, and it was only when she actually touched down that we lost sight of her behind buildings.
A spontaneous round of clapping broke out on the windswept hillside ten miles away. I was able to capture most of her final flight over the city and her landing with my video camera. The 20:1 optical zoom has left me with some clear pictures and poignant memories.
Somehow Dundry hill was the right spot from which to both mourn and celebrate the passing into history of the world’s only supersonic airliner. Because just behind us was a steady stream of Boeings, Airbuses and Embraers on final approach to Bristol Airport less than three miles away, a reminder that the aviation world lives on.
The local Bristol radio and television channels provided excellent coverage, with some superb pictures on their early evening bulletins which were devoted entirely to Concorde. There was one incredible sequence taken from above of AF flying over Brunel’s Bridge, the Downs and Clifton’s Georgian crescents.
Surprisingly, the event did not receive the national coverage I expected. Still, we always keep the good things for ourselves in these parts.
Dundry is a small village and is reached by country lanes. These were congested by sightseers and parked vehicles but a large field had been opened near the church and into this poured over a hundred motor vehicles including mine.
Minutes later AF appeared from the east over the Cotswolds. She flew westwards over Filton airfield which is on the northern edge of the city, about ten miles in a direct line from my vantage point. She reached the Severn estuary before turning south along the Bristol Channel coast to overhead Clevedon and Weston, where she was lost to our sight for several minutes.
She then re-appeared from the south west almost above us before snaking in over the city above the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Downs. We were able to follow her course easily as she flew over the north of the city and back out to the Cotswolds above which she turned to prepare for her last ever approach. We watched every second of that approach to the landing point, and it was only when she actually touched down that we lost sight of her behind buildings.
A spontaneous round of clapping broke out on the windswept hillside ten miles away. I was able to capture most of her final flight over the city and her landing with my video camera. The 20:1 optical zoom has left me with some clear pictures and poignant memories.
Somehow Dundry hill was the right spot from which to both mourn and celebrate the passing into history of the world’s only supersonic airliner. Because just behind us was a steady stream of Boeings, Airbuses and Embraers on final approach to Bristol Airport less than three miles away, a reminder that the aviation world lives on.
The local Bristol radio and television channels provided excellent coverage, with some superb pictures on their early evening bulletins which were devoted entirely to Concorde. There was one incredible sequence taken from above of AF flying over Brunel’s Bridge, the Downs and Clifton’s Georgian crescents.
Surprisingly, the event did not receive the national coverage I expected. Still, we always keep the good things for ourselves in these parts.
Concorde flies again
....watched the proceedings from the A38. A memorable event to put it mildly.
Don't forget the marvellous display put on by the Spitfire in conditions which were not entirely easy, judging by the number of brollies which ended up inside-out!
No mention as to who was piloting the Spit...can anyone advise?
Don't forget the marvellous display put on by the Spitfire in conditions which were not entirely easy, judging by the number of brollies which ended up inside-out!
No mention as to who was piloting the Spit...can anyone advise?
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Interesting about the jet age.
Aeroplane designs come and go, and yet the two original attempts at jet engine airline transportation still soldier on...the Comet (looking rather strange now in Nimrod disguise), and the Boeing 707, still earning its keep for a few operators (even a few of these stage III).
Concorde, a flash in the pan, which never made a cent (using proper accounting methods, not pie-in-the sky nonsense)for any airline operating it.
Aeroplane designs come and go, and yet the two original attempts at jet engine airline transportation still soldier on...the Comet (looking rather strange now in Nimrod disguise), and the Boeing 707, still earning its keep for a few operators (even a few of these stage III).
Concorde, a flash in the pan, which never made a cent (using proper accounting methods, not pie-in-the sky nonsense)for any airline operating it.
Watched the Bristol flyby from the pan - very nice handover from Tower back to Filton Approach, along the lines of:
"Well, I saw the very first flight of your aircraft and today I've seen the last - call Filton Radar on...."
Cool.
Much better than Tricky Dicky getting hold of them for a couple of months of free advertising.
Cheers
WWW
"Well, I saw the very first flight of your aircraft and today I've seen the last - call Filton Radar on...."
Cool.
Much better than Tricky Dicky getting hold of them for a couple of months of free advertising.
Cheers
WWW
Nice
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Great shot, thanks for sharing it. A truly terrible and backward day for avaition, can't believe that its been allowed to happen.
Fingers crossed that one day, just maybe, she will be airborne again, where she belongs.
Fingers crossed that one day, just maybe, she will be airborne again, where she belongs.
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Today was a Sad Sad day for British Aviation....No More will her wonderfull grafull lines grace the deep blue yonder.
I had the pleasure of being involved with some of the Concorde op's with my previous employer when she used to do her occasional charter's from Filton and i will personally sorely miss her as will my Father who was involved with her also when she was being built as he was Chief Avionics engineer on the Concorde project and was a good friend of Brian Trubshaw who was his boss.
I just wish i had been able to get to Filton myself today to witness her final landing - but alas i am in the middle of working night's.
She was and always will be the crowning glory to British Aviation
History and she will never be forgotton by the those who had anything to do with her or by the British public.
She will be rembered fondly by everyone - and she just goes to show that the American's cant beat us at everything.......
Folkyphil - the spit you saw would have most likely been piloted by Andy Sephton - Chief Pilot for Rolls Royce.
W.G
I had the pleasure of being involved with some of the Concorde op's with my previous employer when she used to do her occasional charter's from Filton and i will personally sorely miss her as will my Father who was involved with her also when she was being built as he was Chief Avionics engineer on the Concorde project and was a good friend of Brian Trubshaw who was his boss.
I just wish i had been able to get to Filton myself today to witness her final landing - but alas i am in the middle of working night's.
She was and always will be the crowning glory to British Aviation
History and she will never be forgotton by the those who had anything to do with her or by the British public.
She will be rembered fondly by everyone - and she just goes to show that the American's cant beat us at everything.......
Folkyphil - the spit you saw would have most likely been piloted by Andy Sephton - Chief Pilot for Rolls Royce.
W.G
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MerchantVenturer,
"Surprisingly, the event did not receive the national coverage I expected. Still, we always keep the good things for ourselves in these parts."
Luckily the Clifton overflight and arrival at Filton was included in the BBC Nightly News on PBS here in the US - even to the interviews so it may have been the Bristol area report.
Can't beleive it's nearly 30 years ago I was woken up by a VFW614 while staying at the BAe Hostel in the old Married Quarters on the other side of the runway. We were part of a Hurn team helping out No. 8 D.O. (aka Concorde Design).
One question - why Barbados?
"Surprisingly, the event did not receive the national coverage I expected. Still, we always keep the good things for ourselves in these parts."
Luckily the Clifton overflight and arrival at Filton was included in the BBC Nightly News on PBS here in the US - even to the interviews so it may have been the Bristol area report.
Can't beleive it's nearly 30 years ago I was woken up by a VFW614 while staying at the BAe Hostel in the old Married Quarters on the other side of the runway. We were part of a Hurn team helping out No. 8 D.O. (aka Concorde Design).
One question - why Barbados?
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folkyphil
Spit display was flown by Phil O'Dell (known to all as 'POD') who replaced Andy Sephton last year.
Fugazi
PF was Les Brodie, PNF Mike Bannister, can't remember Eng's surname but first name was Warren.
CM (the last person ever to vector Concorde onto an ILS )
Spit display was flown by Phil O'Dell (known to all as 'POD') who replaced Andy Sephton last year.
Fugazi
PF was Les Brodie, PNF Mike Bannister, can't remember Eng's surname but first name was Warren.
CM (the last person ever to vector Concorde onto an ILS
)
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I was proud to have been at LHR yesterday to witness that beautiful aircraft roar down 27R for the last time. There were many big men with damp eyes as she lifted off and powered upwards on what seemed to be a never-ending climbout into a magically clearing sky.
So, now she is back whence she came all those years ago, and thankfully free of the BA beancounters, what are the chances that her erstwhile makers will just manage to find a way to keep her flying after all?
Or have the "decommissioners" already been at work on alpha foxtrot too to make sure that no one will ever be able to get her airborne again..........
So, now she is back whence she came all those years ago, and thankfully free of the BA beancounters, what are the chances that her erstwhile makers will just manage to find a way to keep her flying after all?
Or have the "decommissioners" already been at work on alpha foxtrot too to make sure that no one will ever be able to get her airborne again..........
Last edited by Seloco; 27th Nov 2003 at 16:26.
Very sad day.
I managed to get a ticket so was on the airfield north of the runway. It was packed. I have also taken a few pictures, if they come out good I will put some here but as my hands were frozen to my camera I am not holding my breath.
I managed to get a ticket so was on the airfield north of the runway. It was packed. I have also taken a few pictures, if they come out good I will put some here but as my hands were frozen to my camera I am not holding my breath.