Bye bye Concorde !!

[The Viceroy]

As an employee of BA, ive got to see this old bird take of and land many many times over the last 6 years, not to mention the fact I once lived under one of the flight paths into Heathrow. Today, is Concorde's final flight out of Heathrow ..

Has anybody here had any experience flying on Concorde ?

What do you think the chances are now of a new supersonic passenger airline being put together, and how long before it happens ??

Currently most aircraft manufacturers seem more interested in creating bigger and more economical aircraft, which are not particularly fast .. is this the only way forward ? is there a future for supersonic passenger planes ?

Concorde RIP.

[Zylka]

Sad, it still made a bit of money with the 10k a pop jet set crowd. Was this solely due to the tragedy a few back?

[The Viceroy]

I think that certainly did have an impact yes. A lot of work had to be done to get the planes back in the air, and the companies that provide the spare parts were finding it harder and harder to source materials needed for them. The running costs were increasing all the time, and having them sit on the ground for a good while, with passengers affraid to use them certainly was a final nail in the coffin.

[Zylka]

Oh well

There will always be a market for people wanting to travel fast. I imagine there could be a midsize supersonic addition within the next 10 years (Go Bombardier!), but it probably won't happen due to upcoming (sub?) orbital flight technologies.

Ever make that move to Canada, btw?

[The Viceroy]

Zylka,

Nope .. Got a nice offer to return back to London, and my wife suddenly came on "Thank God .. I didn't really want to move anyway" ..

A shame, but hay .. I work for BA, so I will be visiting as often as I like

I agree though, I think the absence of a supersonic passenger airline may spur a company somewhere to put something together .. Im guessing, but I don't think it will be UK/France next time

Why not UK/Canada ?? ..

[Spiffor]

That's too bad. Supersonic civil aviation would have been really a breakthrough if it wasn't for the ridiculous costs. But indeed, maybe mid-sized jets with flexible schedules would do the trick nicely in the future.

BTW, I heard of stratospheric civil planes. Will it ever be a reality ?

[The Viceroy]

Technically I guess such planes could be made, but it just seems to me that businesses (especially in the UK) wants 200% profit and no risk ..

So, such technologies sit on drawing boards, with eager engineers and aviation enphusiasts merely dreaming.

It amazes me that Concorde ever got built at all.

The age of governments doing things for civic pride are long gone, and are now left to the up and coming nations, trying to build a reputation in the world.

[Seeker]

Got a nice offer to return back to London, and my wife suddenly came on "Thank God .. I didn't really want to move anyway" ..


A Marital Communication Moment

Better than finding out months later in Canada...

[The Viceroy]

Ha ha ha .. one of those rare moments, to be cherished for a lifetime.

Last concorde flight out at 2, so see you all later.

[Provost Harrison]

Concorde is a nice concept, but not really much more. It is small, it is noisy and it is a fuelguzzler. I think it is a marvellous piece of aviation engineering and history but it just isn't practical.

[alva]

/me mumbles something 'bout rich man's toy and Louis IV..

It is a beauty though.

[The Mad Monk]

They're having parties in certain neighborhoods in NYC today -- they really hated being in the flight path.

[Provost Harrison]

I can imagine Mad Monk, they are supposed to be really noisy...

[The Mad Monk]

...and smelly.

Apparently, it always came in so low that, not only would it rattle the windows, the windows would have to be closed because they could smell the exhaust.

[Solly]

One went over us in Reading didn't it Prov?