The "Concorde Experience" Story

It was an ordinary day. Sitting in the 4th row of 25 on the Concorde jet watching a movie. Yep! On our recent trip to Barbados we visited Grantley Adams International Airport to see one of the surviving seven Concorde jet planes that were owned by British Airways. The name 'Concorde' was decided upon by the British and French governments who developed the plane. The French word 'concorde' and the English word 'concord' both meant agreement, harmony and union. Thus, the final name. On Friday, October 24, 2003 Concorde made her last flight into Heathrow, England. More that 2.5 million passengers have flown supersonically on British Airways' Concorde since she entered service in 1976, and after twenty-seven years of flying at 1,350 mph. Since that time the British Airways fleet have gone to their final resting places around the world. One of those places was Barbados in the West Indies. The plane was flown to the island and a building was built around the plane. The Concorde measured 204 ft. in length - stretching between six to ten inches during flight due to the heating of the airframe. I was amazed by the size, but wasn't as large as I expected. Plane could only hold 100 passengers during flight. The white paint that is on the surface of the plane is a specially developed paint to accommodate the heat changes and to dissipate the heat generated by supersonic flight. The wing span is 83 ft, 8 inches, much less than conventional aircraft, since the Concorde used "Vortex Lift" to achieve her exceptional performance. The height is 37 feet, 1 inch and the nose of the plane droops lower to improve the pilot's visibility during take-off and landing The Concorde takes off at 250 mph rather than the traditional 190 mph. It cruises at 1350 mph, more than twice the speed of sound. When traveling to Barbados, with the five-hour time difference, she arrived before she left! Cost for the flight was $8,000 US dollars. Made over 50,000 flights during its years of service. The plane suffered only one fatal crash. On July 25, 2000, an AirFrance Concorde jet crashed in Gonesse, France during take-off killing all 100 passengers, the crew of 9 and 4 people on the ground. According to the official investigation conducted by the French accident investigation bureau, the crash was caused by a titanium strip that fell from a Continental Airlines DC-10 that had taken off minutes earlier. This metal fragment punctured a tire on Concorde's left main wheel bogie during takeoff. The tire exploded, a piece of rubber hit the fuel tank, and while the fuel tank was not punctured, the impact caused a shock-wave which caused one of the fuel valves in the wing to burst open. This caused a major fuel leak from the tank, which then ignited due to sparking electrical landing gear wiring severed by another piece of the same tire. The crew shut down engine number 2 in response to a fire warning, and with engine number 1 surging and producing little power, the aircraft was unable to gain height or speed. The aircraft entered a rapid pitch-up then a violent descent, rolling left and crashing tail-low into the Hotelissimo Hotel in Gonesse. On the 6th of December 2010, Continental Airlines and John Taylor, one of their mechanics, were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Getting back to my story, we entered the museum, paid for our boarding passes and listened to our guide tell us the history of the plane. Then, we were ushered aboard the jet to view the interior. Pretty neat! Very plush, but surprisingly very little leg room. Not anymore than the AA plane I flew to Barbados on a few days before. Got to see the cockpit where the three pilots sat. The overall experience was enhanced by the music and the lighting in the museum. Felt like you were actually preparing for flight on the supersonic jet. Remembered years ago when my family doctor, Dr. Martin, told me about his round-the-world trip on the Condorde. I was impressed! But, not as much as when I found out today that the trip cost him $32,000 for the airfare!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - pixs from the top are: outside of the museum at the airport in Barbados, my boarding pass, majestic view of the Concorde as I entered, colorful lighting during a video presentation which took place on the side of the Concorde, my entrance into the Corcorde, interior of the cabin, the cockpit of the plane, colorful exterior as we left the museum.