Flying into or out of London Heathrow one is most likely to see this beauty parked just short of runway 27L. I captured the above image In January this year.

A little background info: British Airways’ call sign is Speedbird which they adopted in 1945 and the aircraft in the picture is, in my opinion, the greatest achievement in aviation history : Concorde

This aircraft flew at supersonic speeds,i.e, faster than the speed of sound, i.e., 320 meters per second with an average cruising speed of 1340mph or 2158kmph. Now that’s super fast. It could get you from London to New York in about 3 and a half hours which takes around 6.5 to 7 hours in the present time.

It’s a real shame that it was taken out of service after it’s first and only fatal accident. It’s true that for a long time in the beginning the Concorde operated at a loss but I wish that these companies could foresee it’s potential and how much revenue would be brought in by transatlantic travel.The fact that the British Aircraft Company and Aérospatiale (co-manufactures of Concorde) chickened-out of the venture appears more than just a case of non-viability. Considering how Boeing and Airbus only became bigger even after a number of accidents with their aircrafts. My best guess is that pressure from the French government and lobbyists that would lead to more fund allocation towards Airbus and ‘benefit’ Europe in a greater way, so to say. What strengthens my suspicion is the advent of the European Union around the same time frame.

It was also in the news that Sir Richard Branson (@richardbranson) of Virgin Atlantic offered to buy BA’s Concorde aircrafts for £1 million each but British Airways refused. Also there is the Save Concorde Group who want BA to either help fund a heritage flight or release an aircraft to someone who will.

It is indeed great to see such initiatives to get Concorde back in the skies. As unlikely as it may be, I certainly hope they succeed for it is undoubtedly an aviation marvel.

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