Concorde Supersonic Celebrity. The Original full programme charting Concorde's final years as a magnet for jet-setting celebrities and members of the royal family. Compulsive viewing for aircraft enthusiasts and celeb spotters.
Absolutely AMAZING how a machine can whisk 100 passengers and crew smoothly at a speed of about 2,000 or so feet per second, which is considerably faster than a typical .22 rifle bullet! Only wish BA/AF/Airbus had agreed to keep one Concorde airworthy for special exhibition flights, and a couple of Concordes on the side for spare parts.
I repainted the leading edges of Concrode's left and right mainplanes in 1987 as part of my RAF trade training in aircraft refinishing. I had a great look inside, however, when it was firmly on the ground! It was ana absoultely stunning sight to behold. I am confident that the demand for supersonic passanger flight will return but viaa smaller and more eccomical model. I did fly supersonic, very breifly, however, over the Southern Atlantic in a RAF Tornado F3 during a stint down the Falklands and that was very nice indeed!
Unfortunately after the Air France crash Concorde lost its airworthiness certificate and the inspectors moved in . After a few safety modifications it had a brief return to its former glory until 2003 when Concorde was grounded for good... it amazing to think that such a fantastic airplane was taken out of service through no fault of its own..
The Concorde ("Harmony") -- what a gorgeous piece of machinery! I flew her in about 1974 or 5, from JFK (NY) to Orly (Paris). As a GA pilot and aviation enthusiast, I had been wanting to fly her for a while and received a trip as a Christmas present. I was a bit surprised at finding the cabin smaller than I had expected (narrower) but was seated just in back of the bulkhead so could see all the numbers, and spent quite a bit of time on the flight deck. I will never forget the experience, truly a thrilling one, especially the take-off, totally exhilarating! What a ride! To me, she was the most beautiful aircraft on earth and still is! I would like to fly the SS "Baby Boom" ( XB-1) when that aircraft flies the skies, maybe in 2019 or 20, IF I'm still here and get the chance! (AND, if the noise-complaining public ever allows it to fly.) But Branson's baby isn't nearly as beautiful as the Concorde, IMO, though it has more of a needle-nose and swept-back delta-type wings but the wings seem much smaller than the Concorde. We'll see what the end commercial product is like soon enough. The world is becoming more and more populated -- pretty soon, they'll have to build islands in the ocean just to accommodate airliners, and regional hoppers to get people to land, all because people won't tolerate a short bit of noise twice a day! (I'm sure a lot of people reading this will have a conniption about that opinion, but we don't care!)
M.J. Leger Well, I'm not so certain about your memory, it wouldn't have been 74 or 75. Concorde didn't start flying until 1976 commercially. Maybe you meant 76 yes?
Note how they bring the nose back up into position once they're stopped -- it's because it's more cosmetically pleasing in that position and, EVERYONE is watching her come in! In the fly-over shown above, at 14:15, that center fighter jet must be higher or lower than the Concorde to escape its rear air vorticies, below, I would assume, since hot air rises, (though it appears lower). One of the amazing things about the Concorde, is how they can move the fuel around from tank to tank to balance the aircraft. Ingenious!
I had a dream theres only 2 planes Ive ever wanted to fly in the Concorde and a Boeing 747 ...as I near the end of life I never achieved either Im glad there are videos like this so I can experience what I was like, sad to see such a beautiful plane retired and never to grace the skys again
Flew it twice on AF. First thing you noticed was how crammed it is inside and how small the windows are. On takeoff you can hear the reheat being turned on, in pairs. Sounds like lighting a blowtorch, which it in essence is. Acceleration is much faster than normal and the rotation angle really steep. When they turn them off 45 sec after takeoff the sensation of slowing down is quite strong. When off the coast and turning on reheat again, you also feel the instant acceleration, like you do it slowing down at M 1.70 when they are turned off. The biggest surprise for me was the deceleration from M 2.0. The speed dropped to M 1.70 in what felt like 15 seconds. I had a glass of water on my table which continued at M 2.0 straight into my shoe. I wish there had been some kind of warning. Concorde was the only commercial airplane to use reverse thrust inflight. Fond memories. Paid USD 63 in taxes and 200.000mls off Continental OnePass program. Flew in March 2003, just 2 months before AF stopped. Crew told us to feel free to take "souvenirs" but did not reveal they already knew about the termination, which had by then not yet been made public. What has been almost completely forgotten is that there were ready plans for an upgraded B version Concorde with significantly reduced noise footprint, but it never got off the drawing board.
Your ending statements have really made me happy & proud, & very expectant of seeing the upgraded beautiful bird that has ever been made in life back in the sky again in the near future. I just hope that what you have said is true..
@@samuelbanda1677 That was a long time ago and put in motion by the noise protests. They will not bring it back, but had the B version been built, there might well have been a successor for it today.
It was a very safe plane. The one that caught fire and crashed only did so because a US DC10 was repaired improperly and had left a jagged piece of metal on the runway.
It was one of the safest aircrafts. They didn't just burst into flames. It was a chain on events that really had nothing to do with concorde itself. Educate yourself!
Appalling music?? Hadn't noticed. But, Gee? Some of those people ("celebrities" that we don't recognize) prove that MONEY CANNOT BUY BEAUTY! Even disguised in blond wig, normally beautiful Elizabeth Taylor, my favorite movie actress, looks TERRIBLE! And a couple of others look revolting! Oh well! You can't say it was a long flight that caused that!
A lot of Aviation videos use this kind of elevator music in the background. Train videos too etc. There are a lot of quiet moments so it just pushes the action forward a bit..
Although the Air France so-called accident was not planned the French I understand wanted to retire the Concorde for years. British on the other hand would have just as soon continue. They found a way to make it profitable by just jacking up the prices. It turned out that no one riding on it cared what the price was.
Nah.. They could have made the fuel tanks more sturdy in the first place, and did better maintenance to the wheel and that stupid DC 10 that lost a piece of metal. Although with small design changes this could never happen again, as they did. That crash was absolutely no reason to retire the plane.
@@RoderikvanReekum no, it was just an excuse really. It is a damn shame. But the Air France accident really was just a chain of unlucky coincidences, initiated by the departing aircraft losing something on take off, ground crew not performing a sweep of the runway, and the trajectory of the metal and chain of events, that individually would not have resulted in the plane crashing..nobody can safeguard anything 100% from freak accidents like that.
I sincerely hope that relatively soon we'll have a affordable supersonic transport plane that'll be able to fly everywhere without the pesky sonic boom with all it's disruptive effects
Sorry, but I'm still a bit confused as to why BA discontinued flights with Concord? Could she not have been updated with more modern, fuel economic engines, etc?
that's the only disadvantage. it was built to transport snobby rich people. too bad ordinary people couldn't travel. I believe it is a great experience to fly through time
Not exactly, it was built in the 60's, when tickets where cheap and fuel was plentiful, however it entered service in the 70's, the market had changed. BA managed to make a profit by increasing the ticket price, but by also increasing the service quality, Air France on the other hand, never made profit with it
@ 11:10, Guiliani speaks of "this terrible attack", but with a smile on his face. I think he he knows a lot more than we do. His tone of voice is like he's talking about the fantastic lunch he had at the Four Seasons Restaurant yesterday. Self-serving person, probably with mafioso background! Great airplane, though.
Там сплошные "звезды" и "крутьки" на "Конкорде" летали!! После катастрофы "Конкорда" авиакомпании Air France- руководство обеих авиакомпаний-эксплуатантов "Конкорда" - (Air France, British Airways) - ИСПУГАЛОСЬ!! - Представляете, "плюхнулся" "Конкорд", а там - одни миллионеры и еще какая-нибудь Мадонна, Стинг или Пол МакКартни летели!!
They're not saying anything important. Probably complaining that their million-dollar steak didn't come fast enough or that the janitor was too ugly to stand within 50 ft of the plane.
It makes a lot of noise to carry so few people. These are the same people telling us we should walk, of course ! Oh, before I go - the last thing one should be in the custody of British Police is frightened. You`re in the safest place in the world notwithstanding Cousins.
Does anyone give a damn about the Spice Girls anymore? Come on! It's the biggest girl group in the world flying on the fastest airliner in the world. The Spice Girls flying on Concorde fits perfectly.
Lovely to see the “proper celebrities” here … Diana Ross, Elton , Rod and Mike Tyson……. As opposed to imbeciles like Rylan or “strictly / bake-off types that get thrust onto our screens in 2021.
But..Weren't they worried about its effect on the climate? I am a absolute Concorde fanatic but this video was creepy. From the de icing comment, the special boardings, the politicians who have no care of a tickets cost. The Willy Wonka type give a way for us *little people*. I just feel dirty after watching Royals and 1%ers.
