Anyone flown on Concorde?

Title says most of it really, but how was it?

Reason I ask is that we had a family trip to London over the weekend, and noted Concorde static display at Heathrow.

Wondered if anyone had actually flown on it and what the experience was like?

Watching flights arrive/depart whilst waiting for our home flight…747’s, 340’s and 380’s need a lot of runway to take off…although you can see that noise levels have reduced with more modern aircraft types.

Been inside one. Also been inside a Konkordski. Not flown in either though.

I bet CFH has

Alas no. 🙁

Mrs CFH’s first travel experience as a nipper was on that lovely triangle of power though. Am most jealous.

The wife has a few times. My father in law used to drive them. He must have done several hundred trips and I think he said he had 3 flights when nothing went wrong. You actually had to fly it, not stick a brick on pedals and go and chat with the passengers.

Went on the concorde tour at Brooklands where they have a cobbled up display model.
What really struck me was how tiny they are inside and the very British technology, example being if the hydraulic pump or altenator failed a tiny windmill dropped from below the fuselage and spun up in the airstream to power the spare pump and altenator – GENIUS !!
Never flew but was sitting on the M25 once when it took off. Fine until he hit the throttle or fired the afterburners – the whole car shook and the noise was deafening, I kid you not – vicious power !!
Locals probably got out the bunting when it stopped flying, shame though, an awesome spectacle…

My cousin went on it, he said it was rubbish. Very small, cramped and old fashioned. First class on a jumbo is a thousand times better in every respect, so much so that being in first for seven hours is preferable to being on Concorde for two. One reason it wasn’t more popular I suppose, although not the only one.

The family bought my nan a trip on one of the last flights, she said while the service was second to none, the actual flying bit was pretty unremarkable, which i guess says a lot. we went to watch the landing, it was a truly majestic thing of beauty.

No, but I started up the Virgin Atlantic Challenger 😀

Yep. Back in the eighties. Take off was unbelievable!!! Didn’t go supersonic as the flight was only around the UK but very memorable none the less.

Had a friend who arranged for me to sit on board whilst it did a few touch and goes at prestwick airport was quite fun and blagged a goody bag

My uncle flew it transatlantic a few times – he loved the speed and accepted the small form of the cabin for what it was.

I have been on the second fastest passenger airliner tho. The VC10.

Also been on a special UK only fight back in the early 80s, but we did go to the whateversphere and travel above Mach 2 (which you only know because of the display and in our case the announcement), flight deck walkabout, speak to the crew, etc.

Asking someone what they thought of it, is like asking someone what they thought of riding down that woodland hill on their bike. I imagine some people find it horrible, uncomfortable, or just plain boring. Imagine that, people have different tastes and priorities in life. 😉

I’ve never been higher, or faster, and probably never will (Mig 25 flight when I win the lottery I don’t play aside) so in that respect it was an experience of a lifetime.

I have been on the second fastest passenger airliner tho. The VC10.

meh….if only you could feel it 😉

I have been on the second fastest passenger airliner tho.

Concorde, then? Seeing as a Tu-144 was (allegedly) faster in the cruise.

*Aerogeek*

My old man worked on it at Filton in the 1960s. We treated him to a subsonic flight for his 60th birthday. He was well chuffed 😀

When you are doing Mach 2 does it look any faster? The extra altitude must be noticeable surely?

Locals probably got out the bunting when it stopped flying, shame though, an awesome spectacle…

Nope, local here and I miss it. Felt like a very sad day for the countries aspirations when they retired Concorde. As if someone had cancelled the future.

As if someone had cancelled the future.

^This^

When she flew in over London, everyone stopped and looked. Now? Just planes.

Concorde was progress, future. We’ve gone backwards since.

Used to work at Filton too, but not on Concorde. Used to live right under the final approach there, which was ace on the few occasions it would visit (and Eurofighters/EAPs too). I didn’t mind having the windows rattled… that just signified “hurry up and come out side to watch (and hear) it at 1000ft!”.

I have flown in a pair of Concorde passenger seats. They’ve been slightly modified and we only managed about 5 knots.

A bit more leg room than standard.

lasty – Member
Went on the concorde tour at Brooklands where they have a cobbled up display model.
What really struck me was how tiny they are inside and the very British technology, example being if the hydraulic pump or altenator failed a tiny windmill dropped from below the fuselage and spun up in the airstream to power the spare pump and altenator – GENIUS !!

Thats standard on nearly all aircraft and has been for many years (long before Concorde) – its known as a RAT or Ram Air Turbine.

My wife and I flew on Concorde when I worked for B.A., I remember waiting in the first class lounge looking out at Concorde, the take off was exhilarating and when we were flying I looked out of the window and you could see the curvature of the earth.The food was fillet steak and caviar with champagne, we flew to New York for the weekend and came back on a 747 cattle class 😥

My mum always said Concorde was the only plane she could be persuaded to fly on. She never did get to fly on it, sadly. 🙁
She did get to fly to the States and Canada, though, and went up the Twin Towers; a couple of months before they fell…
She got to see more than I have, so far. 🙂

I lived under the approach to Prestwick so I used to see it a lot when they were doing the touch and go’s there. I was also up a local hill near Muirkirk when it was doing the same. It felt so low! When it was retired from service I was gutted.

Not now. Speaking to my “older” colleagues who used to have to “work” it, they say the thing was a pain in the arse. There were special ATC restrictions that applied to it which meant that a lot of concentration was dedicated to it. Glad I dont have to deal with it now.

As for the experience of flying in it, I would love it, however at least in a Herc you can get your sleeping bag out!

The father-in-law also flew 74’s and 77’s for BA and when I asked him if he ever wanted to fly concorde, he just went “meh”. He liked variety of destinations.

My Grandad treat his self a good few years ago to a flight on it, you have to picture a true Northumberian hill farmer who’s ventured very little outside of Northumberland and Cumbria. One of his greatest memories.

I stupidly turned down the chance back in the early 1990’s. The flight was a one way to Egypt on Christmas Eve, which meant finding my way back in time for a family Christmas, so I had to say no, regretted it ever since.

Once sitting in a traffic jam on the M25, when she flew over, I was craning my neck out of the window and shrieking with glee, I looked around and not another soul was taking the slightest bit of notice (or were they just trying to appear cool?).

I did get to have a walk around the fuselage once at some air show.

the whole car shook and the noise was deafening, I kid you not – vicious power !!
…an awesome spectacle

Go and see the Vulcan at an airshow while you still can. Same engines. I doubt they can fly it at full chat anymore, but I had one go low over me when I was about 12. Had ringing ears and a stupid grin for days after that!

Once – amazing experience but not sure I would do it again (especially if I was paying?). It was a totally different experience to other planes and not really appropriate to compare with First Class on a 747 etc as designed for completely different purposes.

My memories – concorde lounge in those days was amazing (!!), then how narrow and cosy the plane was, the bucket-style seats, brilliant service, the curvature of the earth, the darkness of the sky, the heat against the windows and the thrill of mach 1 and then 2. I was like a little kid and saddened by all the “regulars” around me who were totally non-plussed by the whole thing.

Best thing was senior colleague who I didn’t get on with had caught the 747 earlier and I missed it (the last one) due to traffic to H’row and was put on Concorde and arrived before him!! He was really pissed off as he had never been on C’corde!

I really miss seeing Concorde. It flew over the golf course where I use to play at 10:30 every Saturday morning and we never tired of watching it. A thing of rare beauty. Sad that it was a commercial disaster.

my wife’s grandad used it often whilst working for GlaxoSmithKline. thats drug money for you.

When she flew in over London, everyone stopped and looked. Now? Just planes.

Not quite… I stopped and watched an A380 hanging in the sky the other day.

As for noise – I saw a Vulcan at Farnborough a couple of years ago, it was impressive but the noise from the Eurofighter and whatever the American equivalent is was truly bloodcurdling and quite profound from work 5 miles away.

Not been in one but used to watch it cme and go at Leeds/Bradford airport a good few years ago

Damn noisy beast and massively impressive.

Have been to RIAT air show for the last couple of years and whilst passenger planes are now very quiet (in relative terms), the fast jets used in military are simply awesome.

Many years ago while driving on the M25 the car began to vibrate very badly through the steering wheel, I thought another wheel bearing was shot as I’d had to replace one not long before but then there was an almighty roar and Concorde was directly above us.

I sat in the pilots seat once, but it didn’t leave the ground.
I also used to work about half a mile from the end of the runway at heathrow. At about the same time each evening when the wind was fom the east you would hear it heading down the runway taking off. If you were on the phone, you would have to tell the other person to wait for a couple of minutes. As it went over the office it was so loud everything had to stop. The windows and everything on the desk would shake, and as the noise faded you would just hear every car and building alarm on the estate going off for the next couple of minutes. I don’t remember anybody ever complaining about the noise though.

I had a Eurofighter do a low pass just outside machynlleth (he was below the hill tops so surely sub 500m) while on the road bike. Nearly bloody fell off due to the noise, properly disorientating levels of loud!

As if someone had cancelled the future.

Yep. Gutted when it stopped flying. Only a few machines I can get emotional about. And Concorde is one of those.

Been on one of the prototypes at Duxford, just walked through it.

I was at Brunel uni near Heathrow and from our halls in the final year you could watch it.
we used to drive to the perimeter roads every now and again to watch it take off. The noise was amazing.

Ah, that’ll be it: http://machloop.co.uk/

Don’t get nostalgic about the future. We are in it, it just isn’t quite like they imagined it in the 60s. In those days flight was something expensive you had to be lucky to do. People didn’t travel much.

Now people can afford to travel the world, ordinary people can have experiences our grandparents would only dream of. That’s a far better future (in many ways) than simply shaving a few hours off a transatlantic flight. Concorde didn’t really give us anything, but the 747, the A380 and the rest have done.

flew supersonic when i was 13 maybe 14 from LBA to LBA 90 minuite flight even got to go onto flightdeck while airbourne, first time in the air. was just wow the noise the speed the smell from the afterburner how small it is inside comfy seats.

watched takeoffs and landings from the wall on cemetary road yeadon too when i was a kid

vulcan howl is awesome saw it first time upclose at sunderland other weekend

typhoon is just so much noise and speed i bet the pilot has a real job keeping it sub sonic while doing displays

I work at Filton and did a tiny bit of work for Concorde just before it got retired. Getting the drawings out of archive was a bit like the final shot in Raiders of the Lost Arc. It’s a damn impressive thing though. I had some German colleagues over the other week and took them to have a look at 216. It was an odd experience. I’m desensitized to having one by the car park, but they were totally in awe of it.