AF002 CDG-JFK APRIL 13, 2003

The return flight was scheduled at 10:30; I arrived at the airport unexpectedly early, at about 8:20. Concorde had its own checkin area, where I was efficiently processed. The lounge had a nice view of the ramp, so I headed directly there. Again, there was a large breakfast buffet and a wide assortment of drinks. I watched as Sierra Delta was towed to the gate – from the front you could see the marked downward camber of the wingtips, which isn’t evident in most pictures or models. While we were waiting in the lounge, the purser came by to introduce himself individually to each passenger and to welcome us. Boarding began at about 10, directly from the lounge. Interestingly, at the gate each of us had our bags hand-searched, we were wanded and had our shoes examined. We then boarded and I took my assigned 9A after stowing my bag and surrendering my jacket. For some reason passengers were concentrated at the rear of the first cabin, and someone took the seat next to mine. When the door closed, I moved up to 7A for more space and a better view of the machmeter (which was low on the bulkhead and – unlike on BA – gave only mach readings, not altitude). There was a child in 8A, but he was fairly well-behaved.

At 10:22, the engines were started, and we pushed back 3 minutes later. Just before 10:31 we began our taxi, faster this time, and we took runway 08 at 10:35:38. At 10:36:18 the brakes were released and we again enjoyed the wonderful sustained acceleration before taking to the air after 39 seconds. 31 seconds later, the afterburners were shut down and about a minute after that we began a long left turn, which yielded a great view of the airport and then of the city of Paris. At 10:49 Captain Chatelain announced that we would cross the coast near Le Havre, at which time we would go supersonic. He told us that we could expect the afterburners again in two minutes. They kicked on at 10:51:10, with us at Mach 0.94. Exactly one minute later we reached Mach 1 (the machmeter was working), although it still took another 80 seconds for us to cross the coast, by my estimation. The machmeter’s tick from 0.99 to 1.00 was the only way to know we’d crossed the sound barrier – really amazing when you consider how difficult it was to break it the first time, not that long before Concorde was conceived.

At 10:58 service began with the hot towels, and at 11:02:15 the seat belt sign came off, at mach 1.7, when the afterburners shut down. This time the caviar and champagne came first, although the service was slightly different – there was toast and a pancake rather than wafers, and no tablecloth. There was another slight surge of power and at 11:10 we reached mach 1.9, on our way to 2.01. On this flight, lunch was served.

DÉJENEUR

APÉRITIF CAVIAR

Déjeuner

CHOICE OF HORS D’OEVRE

Lobster served with potato salad
Duck foie gras with figs and chutney

FRESH GARDEN SALAD

CHOICE OF HOT DISHES

Pan-seared filet of beef with vegetable shavings served with celery purée
Traditional blanquette of brill
Vegetable brochettes served on a bed of artichoke bottoms and tomatoes

A SELECTION OF FRENCH CHEESES

DESSERT DUET

Seasonal Fruit Timbale
Petits fours – miniature coffee éclair, lemon tartlet, apple with chocolate

COFFEE TEA BRANDIES LIQUERS

The wines were the same as on the outbound; there was no bread/pastry list although the selection was similar.

AF002

The salad was basically greens, with two bottles of Longevo dressing – one oil and vinegar, the other lemon oil, which I had. For the main course, I had the brill, which was served in a creamy sauce with tiny whole onions and mushrooms. With a little bit of salt, it was delicious. A small card was placed on the tray explaining the cheeses – they were Coulommiers from Ile de France, Roquefort AOC from Rouerge and Crottin de chavignol from Berry. The timbale had larger pieces of strawberry, mango and papaya, topped with tart redcurrants.

There was a bit of a party atmosphere on this flight. A number of people were taking pictures – many of them repeat customers – and I had a very interesting conversation with the gentleman across the aisle, an exceptionally well-travelled Frenchman. He mentioned that a famous architect was on the flight and – sure enough – moments later the world’s leading living architect, I.M. Pei, walked down the aisle. When I got up myself, I introduced myself to him and we chatted briefly. He was extraordinarily gracious and charming. I again counted the passengers – 22. Again there were inflight sales; this time when the goods were delivered they also gave me a personalized certificate signed by Captain Chatelain. I had an opportunity to speak to him about flying Concorde – he noted that while in a fighter you could fly supersonically for 15-20 minutes, in Concorde you could do so for hours. I asked him what he would fly next, and he said that nothing could follow Concorde. He had chosen retirement instead.

At 1:25 he announced the beginning of our descent, and we rapidly began to lose speed. By 1:42 we were subsonic again. At 1:56 the seatbelt sign came on and three minutes later I saw the coast, with our speed down to mach 0.62. At 2:05:34 the gear came down and the captain announced a view of Manhattan. At 2:07:25 the machmeter gave its last reading – 0.28 – and 18 seconds later we landed on runway 4R, followed by 32 seconds of reverse thrust. Our bags and coats were brought to us and soon we were back at Terminal One.

Flying time had been 3 hours and 31 minutes (they announced, I timed 3:32), with 2:51 supersonic. No one was in a hurry to deplane, but eventually we did, one by one. The passageway to immigration had a good view of the aircraft and a number of the passengers were gathered there, taking pictures and gazing at the aircraft. I lingered for a few minutes, turned, and left. It was 8:15 local time – more than two hours before we left. It was over. At 10:40 I saw an Air France 777 taxi in – it was flight 22, which had left Paris more than two hours before us. The future.

F-BTSD

Sierra Delta, a Concorde model 101 bearing serial number 213, first flew from Toulouse on June 26, 1978. On September 14th her registration was switched from F-WJAM to F-BTSD and four days later she was leased to Air France. She briefly carried the U.S. registration N94SD for Air France/Braniff joint service and she was purchased by Air France on October 23rd, 1980.

F-BTSD holds the record for the fastest flight around the world in both directions. On October 12th-13th 1992, she flew Lisbon-Santo Domingo-Acapulco-Honolulu-Guam-Bangkok-Bahrain-Lisbon in 32 hours, 49 minutes and 3 seconds, and on August 15th-16th 1995 she flew JFK-Toulouse-Dubai-Bangkok-Guam-Honolulu-Acapulco-JFK in 31 hours, 27 minutes and 49 seconds.