Concorde 001, registered F-WSST, first took off from Toulouse on this day 40 years ago at 3.40pm. The supersonic aircraft was flown by Andre Turcat, left the ground at 3.40pm and climbed to 10,000ft.
Picture credit - Rex Features
Take a look at the bulk of issue 6 March 1969 in the Flight pdf archive dedicated to Concorde, including an article on the technology used, the aircraft structure, fuel system, aerodynamics, flight testing, payload accommodation and aircraft data, a cutaway drawing and an airline pilot's view.
In the 13 March issue of Flight we published a poem of Concorde's first flight by Robert Gordon plus more pictures of the aircraft in the air.
To celebrate Concrode's first flight 40th anniversary we have five copies of the a new book of the aircraft's photographic history to give away.
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on March 3, 2009 1:18 PM | Reply
one of my best friends here in Sun City, TX, now deceased, flew the Concorde
from Dallas to Washington for Braniff Air. He was thrilled by the opportunity'
but frustrated that the FAA would only permit him to fly at the conventional
US jet speed. They had a special check in room in Dallas, and I crashed it once
from the rear door, talked to the Concorde passengers, who were the movers
and shakers of the day. When it came time for boarding, I quickly exited but
then watched the takeoff, my first for the Concorde, and it was still very
impressive with a rakish angle and lots of black smoke, which was permitted
in that era. I have chalked up two million miles in the air, but never was able
to sandwich in a trip on this magnificent plane.
on April 21, 2009 10:27 PM | Reply
I was a steward on Concorde in the very early days. My usual take-off and landing position was in the rear galley. Take-offs were quite an adventure and the galley was small, noisy, hot and smelly and could be best likened to riding on the London Underground. As there was no window we had no sense of height or speed.
We felt very proud that we had been choosen by B.A. to work on Concorde and this gave us as much pride, as working on such a wonderful aircraft. Although the galleys were very small, we all felt nine feet tall and had no trouble in negotiating the tiny cabin.
There has been much mentioned about the pilots who flew it, but the cabin crew have the real stories.
on May 18, 2009 3:02 PM | Reply
its cool