Opinions are a good thing, we are all entitled to one, no matter how much it differs from others. I for one am truly sad as well but have the decency to respect those that are not. Many of us here have flown Concorde (many times) in the past and seeing her land for the last time is a special moment.

...or maybe not. Here we are in 2003, still reeling in the midst of an international recession, watching a soldier a day die in Iraq, wondering when the next 9/11 will occur, not even a year removed from the Columbia catastrophe...

...and now one of the largest symbols of human striving and promise is to fly no more.

Jimmy Carter once talked of a "national malaise" in 1979; these days I feel a great world malaise. Where are the dreamers, the imaginatives, the optimists, the risk-takers among us?

How can we be living in a world where we have the ability to fly from London to New York and arrive before we leave - and then just squander that technology, never to be seen again "for generations," as many commentators have put it?

Where are the JFKs of the world who tell us to do bold things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard?

If there is one thing I know all of humanity needs, right now, it's a sign that things are going to be better. That we have occasional setbacks, but humanity is always striving forward. Not to the next earnings quarter, but to the next generation, the next century, the next millennium.

All I get from our leaders these days, both political and business, is "too expensive." Too expensive to reach beyond our imagination? Never.

THAT's why I'm sad about the Concorde being grounded.

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Brian/\/\

ScottC, fair enough. I'm quite prepared to accept that a few people (few being relative to Earth's population) consider this a very special event. Some earlier comments, though, IMHO, inched perilously close to hyperbole.

Brian, you're absolutely correct. Sometimes there does seem to be a lack of a global vision for the future. That said, with all the xenophobia, needless warfare and aggression, starvation, homophobia, disease, and hate the world has to endure, I'm not sure how keeping a supersonic airplane in service for a privileged few is going to help.

Besides, the thing simply wasn't financially viable.

(start of rant) If certain countries hadn't of made such a big deal over noise when it started to fly; if there hadn't been a price rise in fuel; if there hadn't been a few other factors around at the time then and now, maybe it would be the normal way to travel today rather than a now a historic event of the past. As much as I love travelling on a plane, if I could get there quicker (and still get the frequent flyer miles!) then I'd have more time at my destination. (rant over)

I was there today and surprised at the emotion of it by the people around me. There was a couple on my right that were teary eyed when the final plane landed. The father and son on my left were also very teary. An end of an inspiration.

Although there will be more supersonic planes in the future, there will never be anything like the Concorde. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

True. But that was maybe part of her appeal.

Personally, I flew on her only 4 times, but every time I left the airport smiling insanely (and that didnt wear from flight 1 to 4).

If you have ever driven a Porsche on an unrestricted motorway and the speedometer goes past 300km/h you might know that feeling. It rediculous, environmentally incorrect, doesnt save that much time, NOT financially viable, but gets to you in a special way.

I admit you need to have a certain interest in engineering, aesthetics, speed - well you need to be at least a bit "anoraky" as another member here put it - to fully appreciate it this way, but for me it's been a source of pure joy.

Today marks the end of the civilized world? Rubbish! But for me its the definite end to having the opportunity to

- the sensation of just watching her take off, land, taxi ...
- watching the sunrise in the west
- experiencing the sheer pride of any BA employee I have ever talked to when touching the subject Concorde
- edge of space, arrive before you leave, aso.
but most of all: knowing that you travel that fast in that very moment ...

No hard feelings towards BA, they dont exist to enjoy people like me, rather their shareholders.

Now its back to ugly, slow, and finacially very viable flying toothpaste tubes. And for the short moments of joy onto the road - until some beancounters manage to put this into history too.

It was always a dream of mine to fly on Concorde.
Thanks to Flyertalk I got the chance.
I thought 3 yrs ago that I knew everything about the Frequent flyer system till one day I came across the most marvelous post.
that I could fly both ways for a small amount of points.
I got straight on the phone and booked my flights.
I feel very sad that I will never get the chance to do it again http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

I think the words of Mike Bannister to the passengers on BA002 after landing at LHR say it all:

And for a bit of humour in the proceedings, this Matt cartoon from the Torygraph is pretty good:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/grap...10/25/matt.gif

At least i can tell my kids,in the words of Max, "I was there" at the end, in the exec lounge at LHR.

it was an experience to treasure and i will appreciate those final moments alongwith everyone else who was there.

But... the reason for this message... as Alpha Echo and Foxtrot were sitting parked outside Terminal One, this fox upped sticks from the grass beside the runaway (well the sounds of 3 concordes landing probably scared the bejesus from it!)and belted down the outside of the Apron towards Alpha Golf. it was a large animal with a distinctive bushy tail. it disappeared round the backs of gate 80, from my view and i don't know what happened to it then.

my family were watching the proceedings on tv and later i mentioned the fox. what fox? they said. it appears that none of the media noticed the fox and none have reported on it. Aye, right, they say, a foxy-what indeed!

so, i stand accused of drinking too much in the lounge and hallucinating this one, so help me out, one of you other hundred or so souls who were there!!! Please confirm that you saw it too!!!!

FBG

Surely it is incorrect to say ". . . let Richard Branson continue to make use . . ." how can he continue to make use of something he didn't have in the first place?

Oh well, back to school http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

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Bazz
Still Flying

School. for me or you? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Anyway I think my glaring error was the fact I didnt read that the gentlemans flight was coming back from Bahrain http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redface.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redface.gif

I've got to say I've enjoyed the press coverage of a totally mis-informed press. "The only way to arrive before you leave" - has NO-ONE in this country ever flown AKL/SYD to LAX or how about SYD/AKL to HON (is that the right code for Honolulu ?), SYD - HON arrives a whole 12 hours before it leaves :-) Not trying to diminish the memory of Concorde (I flew it and loved it), but it would be nice to see some accurate reporting sometimes ...