Anyone know the latest on this? I guess the British ones are out of the question now. However, I know that the ones at Le Bourget and Toulose have been kept in pretty reasonable shape and have had engine runs but i am not sure how recently. Apparently the one at Le Bourget has also had Sir Richard Branson interested in it and he has allegedly offered around £1 million towards getting it back into the sky!
Victor:the one at Le Bourget has also had Sir Richard Branson interested in it and he has allegedly offered around £1 million towards getting it back into the sky!
Ha ha ha! Man, I haven't heard a joke like that in ages!
When are people going to finally realise that Concorde is never going to fly again?
Now, I'm not out to offend anyone when I say this - I'm simply being realistic, based on what I know - but the only way that Branson will ever succeed in getting any one of the Concordes off the ground ever again is if he uses a crane.
Aside from the obvious, one of the main reasons behind the retirement of both the AF and BA fleets was the fact that most of the aircraft were due a D-check (which ain't exactly cheap) and from 2003 I believe it was mandatory for all aircraft entering US airspace to be equipped with reinforced cockpit doors, etc. I read a while ago that the costs of post-9/11 security measures on board most aircraft were put at something like $30,000 per aircraft; quotes for outfitting the Concorde fleet with the neccessary modifications were as high as $250,000 per aircraft.
The modifications to the aircraft needed in the aftermath of the Gonesse crash cost BA something in the region of £31 million, including the back-to-service flight testing program.
Branson is living in a dream world if he thinks £1m is gonna get him anywhere close to having a fully-servicable Concorde back in the skies. Plus, you'd think that it would be an idea to run the idea past EADS again, just to make sure that they haven't changed their minds about providing technical support to the project.....
Technically, F-BTSD (at Le Bourget) and possibly F-BVFC (at Toulouse) could fly again, but the likelihood of it happening is pretty much a gazillion-to-one. Besides, nobody makes spares for the damn things anymore. Just because AF have kept the hydraulics in an operable condition to move the nose up and down, doesn't mean for a second that it would be easy to get it back up to flying condition.
Personally, I'd love to see one flying again. Heathrow was a far more interesting place when one of those fine machines rocketed off 27R.
Realistically though...... Never going to happen.
Titch
Vidi, Vici, Veni. I saw, I conquered, I came.
US airspce restrictions would have no impact on the decision to get Concorde flying again. The idea is to only get it flying for special occasions. Also check out http://www.clubconcorde.co.uk/. These arent no hopers behind seeing concorde flying again they are ex Concorde captains! Never say never!
Ha Ha Ha Ha ha, Concorde captains!
Just had a look at their site; It would appear these no hopers are seeing to little more than selling off their ties, prints and memorabilia in recognition of Concorde's last flight.
First of all, Richard Branson didn’t expect to get Concorde flying again for one million pounds, he offered this amount towards anyone efforts for a heritage flight.
As for the French Concorde F-BVFC, it’s in the very worse state of any of the Concordes, so let’s rule this one out, and as for F-BTSD at Le Bourget, its hydraulic have not been kept running, only part of green system is in some sort of use. You still have to consider that the rest of green system, plus blue system and add to that yellow system are dead and have been since 2003.
As for parts, this isn’t a problem; there is a source of parts on the rest of the fleet, this is something that BA did for years, first using G-BOAG, and then G-BBDG and during the last two years of service G-BOAA was the main source for the rest of the fleet.
Items and part could be sent off to have them reworked by the manufacture that made them; this is something that Vulcan to the skies do.
Be careful not to listen to the ones that say this can not happen, RTF can, and it’s very doable and should be done. What we need is an engineering based team, who can look at the aircraft, pick the best one and carry out a study into the costs and what’s required, I remember when we were all told by armchair experts that Vulcan will never fly again, and that it’s a waste on money, who was right in the end?
For Concorde, one the work stated the money would flood in!
Steve de Sausmarez
Heritage Concorde
Steve de Sausmarez,
From British Airways by way of BBC:
British Airways is incredibly proud to have flown this marvellous aircraft for 27 years. The decision to retire Concorde in 2003 was not taken lightly but was due to a combination of commercial and technical reasons.
We have loaned our Concordes to various museums and collections around the world following the retirement of our fleet from service in November 2003.
We carry out maintenance audits of all of our Concordes around the world and are satisfied with their structural condition and how the respective new homes are looking after each of them.
There is a huge difference between keeping Concorde in an airworthy condition and maintaining them as ground based museum exhibits.
In the summer of 2003 before Concorde retired from commercial service we conducted a detailed study with Airbus which regrettably led us to conclude that it would not be feasible to keep a single Concorde flying on a ceremonial basis.
British Airways and Airbus know the aircraft's history in greater detail than anyone else and we firmly believe that the technical challenges of keeping a single Concorde airworthy are absolutely prohibitive.
Concorde is one of the most complex passenger aircraft ever built and has many specialist parts which are no longer available or technically supported.
Airbus has said on numerous occasions it is not possible to support British Airways, Air France or any other operator flying Concorde.
The aircraft no longer has a Certificate of Airworthiness which would enable it to fly in any capacity and without the manufacturer's support it is impossible for that certificate to be re-issued. "
Let us end the dreaming and get on with life, If you want to dream read one of countless books by ex-Concorde crews or watch the thousands of videos and photos available.
Source: BBC,
Related to Concorde... this is going to be the next new hi-tech supersonic jet: http://hypermach.com/
www.vizajet.com