CHIC SILBER

The BBC reports

The engines on a French Concorde are to be examined as the first move in
a £15m project aiming to get the supersonic passenger jet back in the air.

The Rolls Royce engines of the former Air France Concorde will undergo an
initial examination to see what work needs to be done to start the engines.

Concorde was retired seven years ago, but it is hoped the jet could return
to flight in a heritage capacity.

The tests by a French-British team will take place near Paris.

**Moderator please move to most appropriate forum

ExpatExp

Just saw this also. Fantastic. Looks like this is the group which is doing it:

http://www.save-concorde.co.uk/

Good video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro3QV...layer_embedded

nomad1974

Oh my dream might come true after all! Big ^

Goldorak

don't count too much on that (unfortunately )

albireo

Getting back to airworthiness (even for demonstration purposes) is unfortunately out of question. But a more realistic goal is to restart the engines so that Concorde could be shown taxiing around by its own means.

ExpatExp

From website:

"In an ironic twist, this major development gives further weight to the distinct possibility that Concorde could fly again and feature in the opening ceremony of the greatest event on the planet – the 2012 London Olympics."

http://www.save-concorde.co.uk/?p=54

TuxTraveller

That would be awesome! What a brilliant bird ^

jbcarioca

I once loved it because of fast flights, but it was more cramped than an RJ and had technologies from the 1960's. It should not be flying again, even for demonstrations. Even so I prize my crystal Concorde that was given to me when I made my 100th Concorde flight. The CDG-GIG flights were faaast, even with the technical stop at DKR.

irishguy28

How many flights in total did you make on Concorde, jbcarioca?

Had my flying career truly got started in time - I'd have travelled at least once on Concorde. No matter that it's more cramped than an RJ and had technology from the 1960s (I'm sure the irony is not lost on you that its basic technology has not yet been - and probably never now will be - surpassed) - I would have loved just one trip.

jbcarioca

I flew roughly 300 Concorde flights, split about 2/3 BA and 1/3 AF, with two flights on Braniff and a few on Singapore also. Braniff had several concordes from both AF and BA that ran to Houston. I flew on the BA one. The SQ was a route with BA livery on one side SQ on the other with cabin crew from SQ. My BA flights were mostly BAH-LHR-BAH but there were a few to JFK also. The AF ones were mostly CDG-DKR-GIG-DKR-CDG but there were a few to JLK on AF also. Nearly all my flights were between 1977 and 1986.

bennytma

WOW! I had no idea that Concorde flew to so many destinations or that anyone on FT had taken THAT many Concorde flights!! I suppose the fact that I'm only 28 might be a reason

ExpatExp

Yes, very impressive! Hopefully my work will put me in that kind of a position someday...

nomad1974

Sorry to disappoint you but extremely unlikely, I would say, given there is not going to be any new "Concorde" in the foreseeable future

Cofyknsult

It was Dallas, not Houston. I flew the inaugural DFW-IAD-CDG flight on "Braniff", which was the AF Concorde in AF colours but with a N- registration which was applied / removed with transfers in Washington before and after each IAD-DFW round trip. On that particular flight, my seatmate was, by coincidence, the AF captain in charge of doing the AF leg (the domestic US legs were flown by BN cockpit crews with BN flight attendants). Due to a snowstorm in Washington that day, the BN crew tried twice to land at IAD, actually touched the runway the 2nd time but too far down , climbed again and we diverted to JFK. The AF captain was VERY nervous and did not seem to fully trust his BN colleague.... That was my one and only experience of a TOGA on the Concorde...

In that time, flying was more fun.

jbcarioca

Thanks for the correction on the Braniff Concorde.

I was going to Houston in those days, so I forgot that it was not the final destination. the 727 or whatever it was Dallas-Houston obviously was not memorable at all. As I was looking this up just now I noted on the Braniff history website that Concorde was never painted in Braniff colors, although it was painted in Singapore on one side BA the other for the LHR-BAG-SIN flights.

That must have been an interesting flight for you. I never knew any Concorde pilots. As close as i ever came was that I used to rent a Piper from Biggin Hill, near London, that was owned by a Concorde pilot.