Concorde at Heathrow ?

[Gunship]

Sorry if it has been discussed at length but I can not find it ?

Why is the Concorde standing at such an awkward position on a taxi - way ?

(I was a pax on BA 59 to Ct last night)

[Young Paul]

It's not the final resting place - it will eventually appear as a static display in T5, apparently. This is just for now.

[TopBunk]

Gunship

There is not a great deal of excess tarmac at LHR. Concorde has been handed over to the BAA, so it is their responsibility. They have chosen to park it off the edge of old runway 23 (RIP) and it still leaves more than enough room to taxi a 747-400 past - so hardly awkward.

[phnuff]

Besides which it looks like an abandoned car waiting to have its wheels nicked !!

[World of Tweed]

The Ol'Girl has been strategically positioned outside the Virgin Atlantic Hangar. Whats that phrase they use to describe a dog training technique?.......... Oh yes, Nose/In/Rub? ?

Rumours oozed that there was a plan hatching to project the VS logo onto the tail/aircraft.....

....Can't really see it happening though - laser projection at the threshold of a runway....unless they spin it as an innovative approach aid!

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Does it belong to BAA? G-BOAC at Manchester is still owned by BA, and is on permanent loan to the airport. This enables BA to retain some control, such as what can and can not be done to the aeroplane, and the condition it has to be maintained to.

SSD

[Taildragger67]

BA still own all their old Concs and have simply long-term loaned them to the various displayers. So, if it ever became feasible to run them again, there remains a very small, slight, glimmer of hope... Also does mean that BA gets to say what is put on/in them & their condition.

Not sure if BA are keeping them in/near an airworthy condition but I read somewhere that maint crews will be looking them all over from time to time.

The one at LHR is going to be static inside T5 but they have to store it somewhere at LHR as it's one of the ones that didn't get the fuel tank mods. It hasn't flown since about 2000, I think.

Even standing still, though, it still looks like it's going faster than anything else there.

[grow45]

At least its out of the way and not making some other rather more significant items of our aviation heritage homeless and unloved -- see - http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=670442004

g45

[Globaliser]

Taildragger67: The one at LHR is going to be static inside T5

Is this confirmed now? Id heard that there was some controversy, with the architects saying the floor wasn't strong enough to take her weight.

[Spot 4]

In military circles; she would have received a professional paint job on her tail in the space of a nights work* / vandalism* (delete according to taste). ..... and if the Gemini jet Concorde that I have in Virgin Atlantic colour scheme is anything to go by, she could be looking REALLY good after a few hours work.

Come on Richard, it would be well worth the contraversy.

[Gunship]

Thanks for all the replies .... let's not forget she DOES still look beautiful that is for sure.

Topbunk, as I say I am just a pax and do not know of closed runways and the rest ... still remains quite akward to me to have such a beauty half way on the "old unused runway" with cone type of barriers / indicators around it.

Why not park it in the mean time at the entrance and replace that "midget Concorde"

Tx for the replies.

Cheers from cold and a very wet Cape.

[gordonroxburgh]

The plan as it stood last time I was speaking to the BAA people, was that it would be moved to be a gate guardian at T5 alongside the new M25 spur road.

I guess it will move to that area in the next year or two.

It will never be open to the public. Its interior was removed when they used it to prototype fit the new toilets that were to be fitted fleet wide in 2002/3. Sadly that plan never happend, and the Galleys and lavs were sold at the recent auction

[Gunship]

Thanks Gordon,

Even as "just a frame" she looks beautiful !!!

Confirm T5 is terminal 5 - the new area where all the construction is going on ?

All the best,

Gunzzzzb

[norodnik]

As I have just posted that they are going to let a Vulcan fly again (see thread), what would be the chances of a similar thing happening with Concorde.

Are any of the BA Concordes being kept in a condition where they will not rot from being kept outside. I know they look nice with a lick of paint but once the corosion sets in then they will become forever static.

I remember someone posting that Air France was keeping one of its Concordes in a hangar with a skeleton maintenance crew, the feeling being that an Air France Concorde might yet steal the last flight rights sometime in the future.

Well aware that it would be a massive undertaking and that it would probably never again exceed Mach 1, but if they can get a Vulcan back in the air, then anything is possible!!!

[London Jets]

As I posted on the Vulcan to fly again thread, check out www.save-concorde.co.uk

LJ