Concorde at Filton July 2005

orina and I made an eagerly anticipated visit to see Concorde at Airbus UK in Filton, the world famous Concorde 216, which made its spectacular final flight home into Filton - Bristol on 26 November 2003. Concorde at Filton is a temporary home for Concorde 216. Local organisations and companies are supporting the creation of a major aviation heritage centre, where Concorde 216 will be under cover as the centre-piece of displays and exhibits that detail the story of the regions long-standing role in the world of aerospace. British Airways has loaned Concorde 216 to Airbus UK, who campaigned hard to bring the aircraft back to Filton. The Bristol Aero Collection, a local aviation preservation charity which looks after much of Filton's aviation heritage at Kemble (near Cirencester), is managing Concorde at Filton through its team of enthusiastic and hard working volunteers. Funds raised by the Concorde at Filton Visitor Centre will go towards creating a permanent home for Concorde.

Concorde 216 was the last to remain flying and fly supersonically on its flight home to Filton in November 2003

Concorde 216 flew 18,257 hours, made 5,639 supersonic flights and completed 6,045 landings

Concorde 216 was delivered to British Airways on 13 June 1980 and flew in service with the registration that it carries today, G-BOAF

The Captains hat still remains within the heat expansion gap from it's last Supersonic Flight

35 years after its maiden flight, Concorde is now on display in museums all over the world, including Concorde at Filton! Even today, the challenge of designing a plane that could fly passengers in comfort at a speed which most fighter planes could not even reach for a few minutes, remains impressive. Here is the story of Concorde, a unique and truly special airliner

Concorde has an average cruise speed of 1,320mph (Mach 2.02)

Typical take-off speed of 250mph (220kt)

Max take-off weight of 185,070kg (408,000lb)

Cabin width of 2.63m (8ft 8in)

Height of 11.30m (37ft 1in)

Wing span of 25.56m (83ft 10in)

Length of 62.10m (203ft 9in)

In May 1993, Concorde 216 was the first to be fitted with a refurbished interior and repainted in the final livery sported by all the British Airways fleet

Concorde 216 at Filton, is the third retired Concorde that I have seen, the other two were at On Display at London Heathrow Airport alongside Runway 23, and at the Museum of Flight in Seattle

In total 20 Concordes were built between 1966 and 1979. The first 2 Concordes were prototype models, one built in France and the other in England. Another 2 pre-production prototypes were built to further refine design and test out ground breaking systems before the production runs, of only 16 aircraft in total, commenced in both countries. The first production aircraft off each production line did not enter service but acted as a test bed for production techniques, airline training and further development work. They also paved the way for the granting of airworthiness certification as well as providing extensive route proving information. In the end only British Airways and Air France purchased Concordes, with the airlines initially purchasing 5 and 4 aircraft respectively. The 5 surplus models were placed with the airlines in 1980 and eventually purchased for a nominal cost of £1 / 1 Franc each at the end of the Concorde programme a few years later, as part of a multi million pound support costs deal. British Airways acquired the 2 unsold UK built aircraft, while Air France bought the 3 unsold French built craft. British Airways have a fleet of 7 aircraft while Air France had 5 aircraft. The British Airways Concordes have nearly 150,000 hours of flight time so far, which equates to roughly 52,000 flights,while Air France have over 105,000 hrs of flight time. The two prototypes, two pre production and one first production model are now on show in museums on both sides of the channel. The first British production Concorde is now owned by BA and used for spares. Air France returned 4 aircraft to service after the Paris accident in July 2000, of the others; one was retired for spares use in 1982, one never completed a D check (due to retirement) and the final one was the aircraft lost in the accident. The 4 servicable aircraft were retired to museums in France, Germany and the US. British Airways operated 5 aircraft, after the accident with a further 2 in storage at London Heathrow, that were not modified post accident. All 7 have now been retired, and are on display around the world.

Concorde – a chronology

29 November 1962 – British Aircraft Corporation and leading French airline company, Sud Aviation, agree to design and manufacture jointly a 100-seat supersonic airliner.

January 1963 – A British Aircraft Corporation executive comes up with the name ‘Concorde’ by flicking through a thesaurus.

May 1963 – It is agreed that Concorde components will be built at only one place but that assembly lines will be at both Filton and Toulouse. The UK will manufacture 60 per cent of the engine and 40 per cent of the airframe.

11 December 1967 – The first supersonic prototype, 001, is rolled out.

2 March 1969 – 001 makes her maiden flight, limited to 250 knots and 10,000 ft altitude.

9 April 1969 – The Filton-built second prototype (002) makes her maiden flight.

1 October 1969 – Concorde 001 achieves Mach 1.

4 November 1970 – Concorde 001 achieves Mach 2 and 002 follows eight days later.

June 1971 – Concorde 001 makes the first intercontinental flight to Dakar, West Africa (2500 miles) in 2 hours 7 minutes. Work begins on two pre-production Concordes (01 and 02).

June 1972 – Concorde 002 begins a 45,000 miles sales tour of 12 countries in the Middle East and Australia.

26 September 1973 – Pre-production Concorde 02 flies from Washington to Paris in a record time of 3 hours 33 minutes.

6 December 1973 – The first production Concorde (201) makes her maiden flight from Toulouse reaching Mach 1.57. The first UK-built production Concorde (202) flies supersonic two months later.

21 January 1976 – Concorde’s first airline service is broadcast live on television. British Airways’ Concorde 206 takes off from Heathrow for Bahrain as Air France’s Concorde 205 leaves Paris for Rio de Janeiro via Dakar.

24 May 1976 – The Washington service is opened from London and Paris. British Airways lands its Concorde at Washington just ahead of the Air France Concorde finishing in a nose-to-nose point in front of the control tower.

22 November 1977 – Flights begin from London to New York (Concorde had been barred from this route because of noise pollution).

20 April 1979 – The final Concorde from the twin production lines at Filton and in Toulouse, 216, (the Concorde on display at Concorde at Filton), makes her maiden flight from Filton without any airline livery.

13 June 1980 – Concorde 216 is delivered to British Airways and flies in service with the registration that she carries today, G-BOAF.

21 May 1993 – Concorde 216 is the first of the fleet to be fitted with a refurbished interior (including leather seats).

1977 – 2003 – British Airways offers twice daily scheduled services from London to New York (average flight time is 3 hours and 20 minutes; a Boeing 747 averages more than 7 hours for the same journey) and a weekly service to Barbados during August and in the winter.

It also flies three times a week to Bahrain, Dallas Fort Worth (via Braniff), Miami (via Washington), Singapore (via Bahrain), Washington Dulles and Toronto (various schedules during the summer months).

A return to New York costs supersonic passengers £6,290 plus tax.

Air France operates a five days a week service from Paris to New York and also flies to Caracas (via Santa Maria), Mexico (via Washington), Rio de Janeiro (via Dakar) and Washington Dulles.

26 November 2003 – Concorde 216, the last to remain flying and the last to fly supersonically, makes her final journey home to Filton. During her flying career, Concorde 216 has flown 18,257 hours, made 5,639 supersonic flights and completed 6,045 landings.

Today all seven of British Airways’ Concordes are on display around the world (including Concorde at Filton!). Air France retired its four aircraft to museums in France, Germany and the USA.

Concorde – a chronology

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