OK it was a static one and the 2nd prototype as well, but I still got to walk on the most famous civil passenger plane ever.
I managed to visit the Fleet Air Arm museum in Yeovilton on the way to a job in Cornwall where Concorde 002 is on display and managed to take a few pics. The amount of room in the passenger compartment is very cramped, as anyone over 6ft would have to stoop because the ceilings so low . The cockpit is antique in design and the view out of the front windows is non existent with the nose up.
Also took some pics of the Corsair, Gannet and Sea Hawk they have on display.
Definitely worth a trip to the museum as they have an incredible amount of aircraft on display.
Andy





I shall upload some more pics of the museum over the next few days.

Hi Andy

Cool! I'm looking forward to seeing the full set of pics.

I was actually working directly under Concorde on it's last flight out of Heathrow. This was a day or so after its official retirement. Hearing the unmistakable roar, I said to everyone "That's Concorde!", but we all thought it was impossible - after all, it was grounded, wasn't it!? - so, no-one went to the window. Of course, when I got home and saw the News, I realised what we'd missed!

All the best

Rowan

It was IMHO one of the saddest days is aviation history when they retired her. I shall always remember hearing that unmistakable roar at about 18.00hrs every day when she passed over my parents house to land at Heathrow.
Andy

Hi Andy

Yep - one of the most beautiful sights and sounds in the sky - period. It was almost a crime to ground her... with something that beautiful, it somehow transcended questions of simple economics and the environment...

I too miss that 6 o'clock roar - I always looked forward to it. Plagued as we are by jets all day in London, Corcorde was different - it just made you stop and say "Wow!" Maybe the last vestige of all that glorious 1960's "technology can conquer all" optimism...

All the best

Rowan

Hi all,

i was working in Bristol when she flew into Filton on her final flight. Absolutely amazing to see thousands of people stop work and fill the streets to see her 'home'. Even traffic on the M5 stopped.

BTW, she must have caused a few accidents on the M25 when leaving Heathrow, I remember once nearly hitting the car in front when she went over our heads at about 100ft. nearly blew the windows out of the car with the noise. Glorious!!

Nice one Andy.
Thanks for posting the pics. I hope your workmate enjoyed the visit as much as you did
Ah,,,Concorde.. I used to see it fly over regularly about 10 years ago when I used to spend a lot of time working on the trade exhibitions at Earls Court.
Ive been on the Concorde at Duxford, and yes, its a back ache inducing walk around when your over 6ft tall.
That Corsair "retro restoration" is fantastic, and I can heartily recommend the book that was published about it.
Nige

Concorde was by no means a regular here but on the few occasions when it did fly into Toronto you could tell by the sound that it was something "different" and I would drop everything and rush outside. A unique shape that will definitely be missed. In many ways we seem to have reached a high water mark in the late 60's - Concorde, Apollo, that optimism Rowan mentioned... maybe I'm just showing my age.

...as AF staff I had the privilege on working on her on a number of occasions...

being airside when she pushed back and taxied out was an awesome experience

..I have to say though that the crash really brought home how very fragile she was ...

...I was physically sick that day..

Great stuff Andy, I too have been on board the Concorde at Duxford. An amazing aircraft and a real shame that we will never see her flying again.

Thanks for sharing and I look forward to the rest of the pics

Mal

I have now loaded up the pics from the Fleet Air Arm Museum, all 111 of them .
Andy

Thanks for posting these Andy, haven't been to FAA museum since i was a lad, really must rectify that this year, it's only a short slap down the 303 from my In Laws.

Andy