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A Concorde spotted at Heathrow today!

I went to the Heathrow Bus Terminal today ... and jumped on a route 555 bus to Hersham.The bus meanders around Heathrow for some 30 minutes visiting local Hotels and Terminals.Near Hatton Cross Station there is a hugh British Airways hanger and quietly parked outside is a glorious Concorde Aircraft.Just to let you know.A suggestion. Take a train to Hatton Cross Station and walk to the sight!

Jim Lawes ● 26d14 Comments

I flew with Laker Airways to New York in the 80s. Having taken off from Heathrow, our first stop was Glasgow, where we sat on the tarmac for about 2 hours waiting for a family to arrive. At the time, Laker was in serious financial trouble, so I assume they had to hang on to every fare they could. We arrived in New York about 3 hours late, so that when I arrived at the hotel where I had booked, it was after 6pm, so my room had gone and I had to traipse the streets of New York looking for a room. Thank you, Freddie.

Colin Jordan ● 22d

Be assured that the Concorde excursions to the Bay of Biscay and back were speedy.I recalled the information board stating that we had reached "MACH 1"... some 750+ miles an hour!We all retired to the Skyline Hotel after the trip!

Jim Lawes ● 24d

The significant thing about Concord was that such an advanced ‘Tomorrow’s World’ style technical development was, for possibly the first time, abandoned, and from then on we settled for how thing were.

Peter Evans ● 24d

I flew with Lakers three times - New York to London in 1977, London to New York in 1978, and Los Angeles to London later that year. I don't recall any issues with the flights or the service and thought they were excellent value for money.

Richard Greenhough ● 24d

Not sure if the awful and sad Paris crash or the woke police, or both, saw its demise but such a beautiful aircraft and even better, the sound - just like the SR 71 Blackbird US military spy plane awesome design and incredible sound.

Carl Johns ● 24d

A reminder of when Concorde sailed through Chiswick in 2011:https://flic.kr/s/aHsjuC11Qa(Apologies - I've forgotten how to do the 'live' link)

Ian Wylie ● 24d

Many short flights were subsonic, not supersonic, and were £200-£500. You could even fly a Concorde from Heathrow to Birmingham for around £200 at some point. But it was subsonic, like many of the short flights

Julian Pavey ● 24d

Talking about the past and moneyI remember flying Laker Airways in the 70s, which cost about £70 return to the USA.What a nightmare I remember. No room, and I was gobsmacked whenDue to staffing, we had to queue up by rows at a time to buy drinks from the back of the plane

Julian Pavey ● 24d

I don't remember any £350 flights.  That would have been very tempting.  I think flights were over £1,000 and that was far too much especially just for fun at that time in my life.  I'd have been tempted by that.  Too suddenly they were withdrawn from service.  I must have had other commitments then. There was a time when I was regularly comparing round-the-world tickets  but now the idea of 1 ton of fuel per seat means I think differently.There's a picture here in flight taken from an RAF Tornado:https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1jq54be/raf_tornado_flies_with_concorde_is_this_really/#lightbox

Philippa Bond ● 24d

Thanks for the additional information Nicholas ... a friend at Heathrow confirms that a celebration of sorts is happening.Many will recall the Concorde excursions around the Bay of Biscay and back for some £350 each. I took a group of five on one occasion and the trip's finale was visiting a Duxford Air Show... and our pilot teasing the crowds with a, anxious for us, hairy manoeuvre. My father had never flown before either!I believe that the final Concorde to actually leave Heathrow ... was the one that travelled on "dolleys"down the Great West Road in 2003-4on its way to a Museum near Edinburgh ... via Isleworth Dock,the River Thames and the North Sea!

Jim Lawes ● 24d

I remember seeing one close to when it was being manoeuvred from place to place as we were driving through Heathrow years ago on a road which crosses through the airport area.  I think they used to close that road sometimes.  I also remember it from when I lived in Bristol:https://history.blog.gov.uk/2019/04/09/concordes-first-british-test-flight-50-years-on/Wherever we were we would look up when we heard a sonic boom hoping to see it.We never got to fly on one though and too quickly the chance had gone and they had become a thing of the past.

Philippa Bond ● 25d

I saw the last Concorde flight as it went over Chiswick House Grounds towards Heathrow. What a beautiful plane it was.

Colin Jordan ● 25d

The full registration is G-BOAB. It last flew nearly 25 years ago just before its airworthy certificate was withdrawn. It wasn't modified after the 2000 Concorde Crash in Paris, unlike other BA Concordes so G-BOAB was never allowed to take to the air again.

Andrew Jones ● 26d

It's been moved from the end of the runway to the BA engineering base for an engineering open day for staff. The registration is OAB.

Nicholas Beard ● 26d