Never flew on Concorde, but still got to see the inside of one.

I volunteered at the YEG Airshow in 1996 as a member of the groun crew. Concorde was offering a flight out through the Canadian North and back to YEG, a donation to Charity got pax on the flight.

For my duties I got to walk all around Concorde, go into the cargo holds, tidy the cabin up, and see the flight deck. Concorde was really small on the inside and large on the outside.

Unfortunately I was on the other side of the airport when a seat came available for one of the Charity flights. That's about a close as I got to flying Concorde.

Working the Concorde provided the best late for work story my boss had ever heard. Concorde took over 1 hour to service and fuel as the fuel truck had troubles hooking up and then it took 30 minutes to fill the tanks. After the Concorde was serviced, I rushed off to work only to be be 1/2 hour late. The boss didn't understand until later that night Concorde screamed over top his house. After that we always had a good laugh anytime I was a couple minutes late.

And it would have hastened United's bankruptcy by about 6-12 months.

Sadly I doubt whether it would have been permitted to go supersonic.

Friday the 13th, 2003. Was actually booked (award ticket) for Dec 12, 2003 to coincide with a QE2 transatlantic cruise. Then they announced the shutdown. I begged, I pleaded. Finally BA stated "give us some dates you can travel". I didn't care. They told me to narrow it down. I said OK-June 10-30. They called 4 days later-Friday the 13th, take it or leave it.

Had a great trip-the bathroom was the smallest on any plane I have ever flown. And the heat on the ceiling (from expansion) was astounding. An experience I won't forget.

One little aside: a FedEx pilot was on the flight. It was truly his dream. All he could talk about in the lounge was being able to see the cockpit, talk to the pilots, etc. He drank a little too much champagne. When everyone deplaned, you could go back on and see the cockpit, talk to the pilots and get your picture taken. He walked off the plane and never did come back. I bet he is still kicking himself in the butt to this day.

delete

Ah ! But they did

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1167788/M/

Anybody ever take it between Washington and Dallas ?

No I never got on. No reason really. My only related claim to fame was that in the 60's, I used to regularly fly from N. America to LHR regularly on pre-BA (BOAC) VC-10.

Concorde was tested up and down over the Irish Sea so my home town of Donaghadee was regularly hit by the sonic boom of a plane that was so high it could not be seen.

I was working at Heathrow in 1976 when it made the first commercial flight. the airport must have come to a standstill as most of the staff were out on the tramac to see it take off. Then I had the experience of hearing it pass over the roof of my house on the LHR flightpath twice a day.

In 1996 I was going to book an F Class RTW ticket on BA and UA (no Oneworld or Star in those days) for GBP 3800. I discovered that I could upgrade to Concorde for GBP 600 so it was a no-brainer.

Like a lot of people I was somewhat underwhelmed. I'm glad I did it - as another poster said "been there, done that got the T shirt" - but I wouldn't choose it regularly over subsonic F.

One bit of excitement was on the descent into JFK the plane was hit by lightning and there was a tremendous bang in the cabin. Also, presumably due to not having any flaps the landing was on the "hot" side. Must have good brakes!

Arriving at the BA terminal at 10 in the morning meant no queues at immigration and the passport officer was especially polite. Maybe because he was a nice guy or maybe because I had come in on Concorde, who knows.

I flew aboard a BA Concorde from JFK to LHR in 1989 as part of a courier flight package (Concorde eastbound, Y westbound for $500 -- only $100 more than Y -- what would YOU have done?)

I'm glad I had the experience and glad I have a framed flight certificate on my wall, I'm glad I got to see the midday sky blue at the horizon but dark overhead (see the picture link Punki posted earlier in this thread), but in terms of comfort I'm glad to fly in today's F cabins.

I got to fly it twice.

The first time was on BA JFK-LHR, and I sat across the aisle from Spike Lee and right behind Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker. Enjoyed the flight and the service a lot. There was a Concorde portfolio in each seatback pocket; it contained stationery, postcards, pen, and a certificate that you could have the Captain sign indicating that you flew supersonically. I brought the certificate up to the cockpit and the pilots proudly showed off their plane, instrumentation and talked all about how they loved flying it!

The second time was on BA LHR-JFK, about 2 months before it ceased service. It was a little embarrassing to see people stealing the emergency procedure cards, and other necessary equipment from the cabins to take as souvenirs. They did not give out portfolios, and I assumed at the time they had simply run out.

I still have my boarding passes and the portfolio from that first flight, and the luggage tag from the second flight.

Also, I used to see Concorde fly over my house when it was landing at JFK, and it was as beautiful the last time I saw it as it was the first time.

It was a great flying experience and I do miss the planes!

Never flew in the Concorde but I did get to watch it take off from flight line at CDG a couple of times. One of the most beautiful planes to watch ascend.

I can't say that I'd want to fly in it, I feel like I'd be disappointed. I have family who are U.S. Air Force F-16 and F-15 fighter pilots and have been lucky enough to get in a ride in the back seat of the F-15. Talk about an amazing takeoff. ^

It was back in 2001 that I realized that I was within reach of a partner award on Air France's Concorde -- a fantasy trip of mine. So I got a DL AMEX, credited all SkyTeam flights to DL, and saved up DL SkyMiles for about 2 years in anticipation of having enough miles for an award ticket.

I had redeemed 160,000 miles for the SFO-JFK-CDG-LHR trip (with the JFK-CDG portion on the Concorde) for June 2003. In April 2003, Air France announced it would stop its flights in May, meaning that I would miss my opportunity! I immediately called Delta to see what Concorde flights (if any) were still available. I believe I called on April 11. Turns out they had flights departing a few days later, on April 17, and returning on April 27.

Although my boss had not authorized time off for those dates, I reasoned that I can always get another job, but I might never be able to fly on the Concorde again! Flying on the Concorde was a dream of mine, and I was seriously willing to give up my job for it (which, fortunately for me, wasn't necessary! ).

A few things I remember:
(1) the cursory security search given to passengers (surprising, since 9/11 was still fresh in everyone's mind);
(2) how narrow the plane, and its seats, were;
(3) my visit to the cockpit, which is the only operating cockpit I've ever been inside of.

(Pics at http://www.mikew99.com/gallery/concorde200304 for those interested.)

One little known Concorde fact: In 1984, IIRC, Concorde landed at SAC in Omaha.

Nicky Rhodes of Duran Duran married the daughter of the founder of Younkers Dept St (Nordstroms of the Midwest). Concorde flew into Omaha, picked up the entire wedding party and guests and flew to England for the wedding. When they flew back to Omaha, they allowed the locals to go out and look at the plane, inside and out. Big news in the Midwest 20+ years ago.

Nick Rhodes was straight?!?!?