V-Flyer

I never had the privilege of flying aboard a Concorde, but this weekend had the treat of stepping aboard one for the first time. A visit to the Museum of Flight in East Lothian, where the BA Concorde G-BOAA is permanently sited. The museum is actually an old airfield at East Fortune, about 20 miles east of Edinburgh. The aircraft are housed in four large hangars; one dedicated to Concorde Alpha Alpha.

The Concorde display is very well done.. a nice area of memorabilia, engines, seats and whatnot to wander around, but Alpha Alpha dominates the hangar, and you can walk all around/underneath her... and best of all, go onboard and have a good look around (and spending as much time as you want..)

Photos in the Photo Gallery.

A bit of research yesterday, and I find that not all the Concordes have been treated so well, in fact Air France have done a far better job than British Airways, in getting three of theirs under cover.

Air France's five Concordes have found homes - F-BVFA at the Smithsonian Museum at Dulles Airport, F-BVFB on a 'pole' at Sinsheim Technik Museum in Germanh, F-BVFF on display at Paris CDG, F-BTSD at the Musee De l'air at le Bourget, F-BVFC in Toulouse, awaiting a site. Yes, two are outside, but at least have some permanency about their home.

As far as I can see, only one BA Concorde is under cover - G-BOAA at East Fortune, that I visited this weekend. G-BOAB sitting on a taxiway in LHR (with its interior mostly removed). G-BOAC in a temporary position it Manchester airport. G-BOAD rusting away on a barge in New York, G-BOAE in Barbados, G-BOAF at Filton Airport, Bristol, G-BOAG at Boeing in Seattle.

(Info from Aircraft Illustrated, March 2006)

Not all are really 'resting in peace', are they?

Originally posted by McCoy
G-BOAD rusting away on a barge in New York,

Hardly a barge. I think you are referring to USS Intrepid, an old US Navy Aircraft Carrier which is now a museum. http://www.intrepidmuseum.org

Also, Concorde spent 30 years (not continuously obviously) flying at Mach 2, in temps down to -55 C yet a skin temp near the boiling point of water, so in comparison I would say that they are in relatively in peace.

Paul

Originally posted by p17blo


Hardly a barge.

She was on a barge when i went on her a year ago.

we visted concorde on saturday at manchester airport the weather was great it was a super day

we had a good look round and went in side and had our pictures taken in the flight deck

i noticed a few things, its outside wwwwoooow[:0] bad move the British airways logos are starting the fade its only been there 5 mins [:(!]whats it going to be like in a few years [:0]it could do with a good wash , like now! i said to the guide spend some of the money we paying you, you need to look after her, he just said yes sir! also the tyres are all worn out it looks all very tatty for such amazing aircraft

it cost use £30.00 to look round and £6.00 to get in to the viewing park it seems money is taking over in a big way

those pictures are super you put on


regards

Dave[y]

Ps we got there nice and early to see virgins 10.25 to orlando not long before we are on that plane [8D]

Originally posted by p17blo
Hardly a barge.

Err, yes, it's on a barge.

And when they were in service, they would receive regular cleaning and maintenance. Rainfall can do a lot of damage, surprisingly..

Originally posted by wafren
it cost use £30.00 to look round and £6.00 to get in to the viewing park it seems money is taking over in a big way

Hmm... Just £8 at East Fortune, and that covers the Concorde and everything in the airfield/museum/hangars...

Well you can spend £30 pp on the summer VIP special so £8 seems good value!

Originally posted by McCoy

Originally posted by p17blo
Hardly a barge.

Err, yes, it's on a barge.

And when they were in service, they would receive regular cleaning and maintenance. Rainfall can do a lot of damage, surprisingly..

Do you not think that they are cleaning (and servicing but in a different way to when in service) this one now?

Always looks pretty clean to me when I see it.

I still maintain that the environment they are in now is a lot better for them than in flight. Plus as they spent a lot of time on the ground (somewhere around 250,000 hours) they did suffer the rain during their service years also.

And whilst it may technically be on a 'barge' this is not a fair description of where it 'is' hence my earlier post. That would be similar to saying that one is on a piece of concrete in West London.

Paul

I visited G-BOAD when I was in New York last summer and have to say that the visit was not that great. We could only see the front half of the plane and spent about 3mins altogether on it having queued to get on for about half an hour. Also, they had placed a plastic frame to cover the seats to preserve them, fair enough, but it meant that we couldn't sit anywhere and, I felt, reduced the overall experience.

The rest of the museum was good and if you do happen to be in NY, USS Intrepid is definitely worth a visit but remember that there is only a McDonald's once your inside so no real food available.

The Concorde display in East Lothian seems much better, especially when considering the £8 entrance fee [:0].

Originally posted by p17blo
Do you not think that they are cleaning (and servicing but in a different way to when in service) this one now?

Always looks pretty clean to me when I see it.

Why are you arguing against preserving them? I'm no expert on weather, but to me, leaving a plane outside for a long period can't be good for it. BOAF is already rusting:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006060220,00.html

So that suggests that BOAF is not being cared for in quite the same way as when it was flying!

Originally posted by p17blo

I still maintain that the environment they are in now is a lot better for them than in flight. Plus as they spent a lot of time on the ground (somewhere around 250,000 hours) they did suffer the rain during their service years also.

Hmm i have to disagree with you on that one, when they were in service they were well looked after due to the amount of regular checks the aircraft had to go through. plus when the aircraft had a rest they spent most of the time in the BA hangar.

The thing is when you have an aircraft sat for long period's at a time outside the thing's start to rot from the inside out due to damp atmosphere and this will be the case for all those concorde's sat around outside (bar the ones in warm dry climates) but for the case off BOAD sitting on a bardge next to salt water the rotting process will happen quicker.

I am not disputing that nature will of-course be taking its toll and I agree that the Concordes were over services, but sitting in the rain does not compare to flying at Mach 2 with external temps at -50C whilst it skin is at +100C.

I also make the point that the Concordes where only in-flight for a mere 10% of their life. Even given some serious service time, the MAJORITY of their time was sat OUTSIDE on the tarmac in much the same conditions they are now.

I am not against preserving them, far from it. But what is the point of preserving something if no-one can see it. I think the exhibit on the Intrepid is good.

Where would you propose to store these aircraft? Unless you wish to put them in a totally moisture free environment they will always rust.

Paul

Originally posted by p17blo
Where would you propose to store these aircraft?

Anywhere with a roof.. [y]

The one in Barbados was supposed to have a museum of sorts built around it and placed under cover. I think that's all fallen through though.

I've been to East Fortune to see the display and was very impressed but needed a mega wide angle lens to get this shot!

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0811482/L/

Regards

John

Great photo! [oo]

I was very fortunate to fly on BOAD in December 2002 (thanks to a fab thread on FT, which meant a return for 800 pounds), So I'd naturally want to revisit her when I go back to NYC with Sarah.

We saw the Air France one at the Udvar-Hazy Smithsonian Museum yesterday, I have a few pictures I can upload if anyone wants them.

I've seen the one at Manchester, obviously the one at LHR, and also the test one at Brooklands. I missed out on my recent visit to SEA, but I should be going back in July so will revisit the new Boeing Museum and the Concorde.

Thanks,
Richard

Originally posted by RichardMannion
We saw the Air France one at the Udvar-Hazy Smithsonian Museum yesterday, I have a few pictures I can upload if anyone wants them.

Or to save you the bother here:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictu ... 2107973591

So would I be a total nerd if I flew to the UK mainly to see the Concordes in Manchester and Edinburgh then went thur JFK to see the NYC one again?

Sounds neat!

Originally posted by mcmbenjamin
So would I be a total nerd if I flew to the UK mainly to see the Concordes in Manchester and Edinburgh then went thur JFK to see the NYC one again?

Only if you make a note of their engine serial numbers...

Originally posted by RichardMannion
I've seen the one at Manchester, obviously the one at LHR, and also the test one at Brooklands. I missed out on my recent visit to SEA, but I should be going back in July so will revisit the new Boeing Museum and the Concorde.

Hmm.. sounds like you'll need to visit Alpha Alpha to complete the set!!

Let me know when you want an Edinburgh local to organise the trip!

Theres one at Brooklands too - http://www.brooklandsconcorde.com/index.html - it was never in passenger service but nevertheless its a concorde which was part of the BA fleet.

In my opinion, there's no place good enough for any of them other than in the sky;)

Cheers,
VS045

found some info


http://www.concordesst.com/latestnews_03_8.html

we are going to Barbados in Aug so ill look her up

Dave[y]


(just realized its my 80th post [y]woooooohoooo on my way to the 100[:0])

i have found a picture of the barbados concorde, she looks good![y]


http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0476402/L/

Dave

Nice page.. thanks for that!