Concorde AA at East Fortune
 

Gdday,

Went to see the old girl looking rather sorry for herself in the hangar at East Fortune, had no idea the wings were cut off, l thought they could be removed then refitted???

Also they have put it in this hangar where it now cant be removed, would have been nice if they just built a new hangar and made it able to be towed in and out for special occasions.

Apparently it is being put out to tender who will refit the wings, l guess it could be anyone as it doesnt excatly have to be a company with any type of CAA approval seeing as they sawed the things off.

Hope they get it looking good again but she looks very poorly right now.

Ta
Caley

Back to the top with this one, am puzzled why no one has any input to throw so soon after the old girl retired.

Give em time ... only been there less than a month for God's sake :)

Seeing that beautiful shape back in the air again would be wonderful, but I really do think we need to face facts here; the aeroplane has been withdrawn from service, the maintenance facilities are no longer there, there is no manufacturer support, the costs involved in operating one would be prohibitive, and the CAA won't sanction private operations of a large complex supersonic jet anyway. It simply ain't gonna happen folks. Put the money towards hangarage instead, get some of our unloved and neglected airframes safely under cover before throwing cash at pie in the sky schemes like this and the Vulcan.

BeauMan.

I agree with you, I don't think the CAA will ever let a Concorde fly in private hands, they won't even let a Lightning fly so there is no way they will let a Concorde take to the skies again.

However, I have to disagree with you about the Vulcan being a pie in the sky project, it is looking more and more likely that the Vulcan will fly again.
All the effort that has been put in to it looks like it is going to pay off and it could be back flying as early as next year according to a report I read, and what a great day that will be.

AA at East Fortune in July

http://www.pbase.com/image/31173643.jpg

Caledonian,

Are you serious? The wings have been CUT off as opposed to having been properly disassembled? I can't quite tell from the picture, as I know the wing tips were separate components which could be removed from the single piece central 2/3 span. If the wingtips were cut off, that would be absolutely appalling, and whoever was responsible should never have been entrusted with such an aircraft.

I saw www.save-concorde.co.uk recently. Commendable but stable doors and horses come to mind.

Stout.

If Virgin weren't able to keep the Concorde in the air because of a lack of Manufacturers support and therefore nil approval from the CAA, how do a group of well intentioned enthusiasts think they can get one in the air.

Where is the money this group are collecting going? Is it admin costs and expenses for those running the campaign? That isn't supposed to be a nasty comment, just a reality check.

AA's wing tips were unbolted, but at 14M you were ot shipping that width anywhere.

As you needed to go via a barge with a mix width of 8.8m the aircraft's width needed to be reduced further, so a plan was formulated to cut the wings to allow it to be moved.

A serious amount of planning went into the best methods to cut them off so that they would go back on. Some of the unconstructive comments here would very hurtful to the teams of people who worked long and hard to save these aircraft from being turned into beer cans.

There were 2 methods:
Cut round the landing gear bays - used on Concorde 206
Cut through the landing gear bays - Used on Concorde 202

Both methods were equaly as good with each having pros and cons. First mehod allows complete structural integrity on the landing gear, 2nd is an easier and stronger repair.

AA's main wings are nearly fixed in place
http://homepage.mac.com/gordonroxbur...oaa/aawing.jpg

unless you really go looking you will not see the cut, it will simply be like another production join....just going at 90 degress to the others!

She should be essentially complete by the end of October, with just a few restoration issues to sort out in the months beofre she opens to the public, as well installing systems such as lighting and fire detection

Good!. At least one Ex B.A. aircraft is inside!. Hear at Manchester G-BOAC is still out in the rain. Not a scrap of maintenace has been done on her, She's been cleaned once and the hangar the airport promised for her has been forgotten about!.
It is only a matter of time before the aircraft becomes an embarisment to the air port and they will ask B.A. to move it and it will end up being scrapped. Shame realy. Not B.A's fault as well, they tried to get each aicraft under cover but the were deceived!

Rant over I wish all those involved at East Fortune the best with ALL thier projects. I must get up there to visit

Rgds Dr.I.

What crap!

She is washed monthly and has been polished all over. A full time engineer is working on all areas of the aircraft (and other on the AVP), if you look closely you will see that landing gear is spotless.

A few areas need a touch up and have done on G-BOAC for 3 years, these will be done once the hangar is complete, which should easily be in time for the winter of 2005/6

Please check you facts before you rant off and speak total crap.

Total crap eh?.
intakes and exhausts un-blanked
tail skid bay open to the birds
u/c bays open to the birds
not to mention the fact that the aircrafts wheels were so flat that when, the u/c polisher finaly noticed them it was nearly impossible the re-infate them!
Also has anybody thought what they are going to do when one of the oleo's collapses?
As I said the airport authority made big promises to get the aircraft but will end up having to scrap it.

Rgds Dr.I.

Interesing to see the picture of AA in Aeroplane Monthly. Was there a fire on the stbd wing as the underside looks somewhat
crispy! What amazes me is the need to actually get the East Fortune machine undercover to the detriment of just about everything else at East Fortune.
I would have thought it was feasible to build a temporary structure around each wing whilst the wings were mated back on .

Just to reinforce what gordonroxburgh said - Dr I. is talking crap. AC is lovingly cared for, and all openings are regularly checked for bird ingress (do we really want to see anti-bird nets stretched across U/C bays, greatly restricting the view into the bay, or across intakes so the ramps and engines would be difficult to see?).

We are very proud of our 'flagship' Concorde at Manchester and love to show people around her. AFAIK she is the only one where visitors can not only enter the flightdeck, but can actually sit in the P1 seat. As gordonroxburgh says she is regualarly washed and polished, not only by the on-site engineer, but by volunteers as well. Money raised through public tours around the aeroplane goes towards getting her under cover as soon as we can.

Her paint does need touching up in a few places, and did while she was in BA service. She was retired before that was done, but she is in at least as good cosmetic confition today as the day she flew into Manchester late last year.

Come and see her later this month or next summer! (Call the airport tour centre for details).

SSD