Concorde

What is going to happen with the air france concordes and the British Airways concordes...will they go to Virgin Atlantic or not...where would the rest go??

There is a TV programme about Sir Richards bid for the speedbird on TV this week in the UK if you can get it on satellite

Depending on weather Mr Branson wants to give Virgin a gimick then hit would be nice to oun the fleet, but Running costs may kill the beast

I think one was going to the Air Museum in the States and one to the Brit version (I forget what its called).

I believe Branson was going after the 1pound deal that was apparantly included in the original BA/AF buy.

DJ
Sir Richard has been after Speedbird since Virgin Atlantic started - he even has a VA painted Concord above his desk - sent by a well wisher in Bae/BA - on his offer of �5mil for the fleet i would guess he has 3 servicable birds of a fleet of 7 (if Duxford and Yeovilton can be called upon) so he could fly for maybe another 6 years .

Concorde is to be deconmissioned perminatly.

Something is very funny about all this Vigin put a bid in for them British Airways tuned them down.

There is a reason for that, maybe there is more wrong with the aircraft than is generaly known and British airways don't want anyone to know.

Or maybe something else.

Originally posted by Lufthansa

What is going to happen with the air france concordes and the British Airways concordes...will they go to Virgin Atlantic or not...where would the rest go??

Hello, lufthansa, and welcome on ATS !

Concorde will probably end in museums worldwide...

So much for an era of supersonic flight... bring on the X-Prize and suborbital hops! Yeeha!

The Concordes make too much noise and use too much fuel;
they are retired and it was a right decision
If BA and AF want faster airplanes they will have to wait

Atheix
The Concordes make too much noise

Actually thats just a common myth. It passes all noise regulations.

How many concordes did Air-France own ????

Actually thats just a common myth. It passes all noise regulations.

You obviuosly dont live in the flight path of one of these things! I live 30 miles from Heathrow, in a town called Reading, and even though those beasts where way up in the sky, they would still rattle your windows and make talking to someone very difficult! You could set your watch by them as well, we all knew that at 1105hrs for example, we would be interrupted by what sounds like a Rocket taking off!!

When I read your post stumason I thought you were exaggerating but I quickly realised that over Reading Concorde would be climbing on full power = think Vulcan with afterburners!

re the much earlier posts about there being something wrong with Concorde hence the reluctance of BA to sell to Virgin, the only thing wrong was that BA decided that if THEY weren't going to flying it, no-one was. Not least one of their transatlantic rivals.

The retirement of Concorde is, i think, the first major backward leap in travel in the history of the world. Technologically shameful, but economically fully justified.

Originally posted by Kenshin
How many concordes did Air-France own ????

Both BA and AF had 7 concordes each, to make a total commercial production run of 14 aircraft.

When I read your post stumason I thought you were exaggerating but I quickly realised that over Reading Concorde would be climbing on full power = think Vulcan with afterburners!

Exactly!! No exaggeration there mate, it was as if you where stood next to the damn thing!
Never complained though, good aircraft and a symbol of engineering prowess

same old british outlook on everything weve given the world thats great,when it looks like theres time for change sell it down the line and when some other great nation repackages it and makes it work,we brits turn round and say "we could have done that"
I dont believe British Airways will sell the concorde package to Branson because he will probably make it work really well and have people flying on it for �100 a trip,taking away the misteak that its created as the worlds most luxurious airplane and availble to only the "elite"-and also im sure there was something mentioned about very limited spares availble.

same old british outlook on everything weve given the world thats great,when it looks like theres time for change sell it down the line and when some other great nation repackages it and makes it work,we brits turn round and say "we could have done that"

Not quite sure what your refferring to there chap, but it is not certainly something I claimed. Besides, the French where also partners in the Concorde, and no one is claiming it was all British. I stated that it was a feat of engineering, which it was.

Also, Virgin is a british company also, as well as BA, so your above point is mute.

Not quite sure what your refferring to there chap, but it is not certainly something I claimed. Besides, the French where also partners in the Concorde, and no one is claiming it was all British. I stated that it was a feat of engineering, which it was.

well,what i meant is that looking at our other great achievements with aircraft for example British Electric Lightning,B.O.A.C Comet,Harrier Jump Jet-all more advanced aircraft than anything else the world was offering at the time but decommisioned or discontinued due to set backs or problems,with no plan in the pipe line for anything equal-British goverment deems the harrier at the end of its servicble life,U.S. goverment finds it another 20 years service with its navy!!

Quote
Also, Virgin is a british company also, as well as BA, so your above point is mute
Quote

er? yeah right ok-thanks would never have worked that out on my own.

Point being that B.A. with their "stiff upper lip" attitude to ending concordes service would have egg on their faces when branson keeps it flying and profitble for another 7 years or so,which im sure he would do.

Originally posted by optimus fett

well,what i meant is that looking at our other great achievements with aircraft for example British Electric Lightning,B.O.A.C Comet,Harrier Jump Jet-all more advanced aircraft than anything else the world was offering at the time but decommisioned...

Hmm lets look at those aircraft, eh?

B.E. Lightning - Went on to a full life as an interceptor within the RAF, sold to quite a few countries outside teh UK.

B.O.A.C Comet - Suffered from catastrophic failures for the first three generations. Woke the commercial aircraft community up to the wonders of metal fatigue. Was a great first, but unfortunately by the time they solved the metal fatigue problems, Boeing had taken the discovery and run with it to produce the 707, which could carry more passengers over a longer route.

Harrier - Full and long service life in the RAF and Fleet Air Arm. License sold to US firm after capacity exceeded at UK factories.

Not what Id exactly call a bunch of failures, indeed the comet is the only one that failed.

Point being that B.A. with their "stiff upper lip" attitude to ending concordes service would have egg on their faces when branson keeps it flying and profitble for another 7 years or so,which im sure he would do.

One thing that is commonly not noted was the fact that Royles-Royce had discontinued spare parts manufacture for the Olympus engines, and BA and AF were about to exhaust their stockpile of parts. This is one of the reasons it was felt that it was no longer viable to run the aircraft. To have a third party produce the parts under license (as is what commonly happens with older engines) would have cost a fair amount more than with RR.

I doubt that Virgin could have run Concorde at a better profit than BA, indeed the only reason Branson was going to buy them ws to run then as a flagship, the same as BA.

Originally posted by RichardPrice
Both BA and AF had 7 concordes each, to make a total commercial production run of 14 aircraft.

What were Concorde's parametres?
How many seats did it have?
What was its range?