Concorde at East Fortune
Concorde at East Fortune
Getting Up Close to an Aviation Icon
There are certain aircraft that really do not need much of an introduction, and Concorde is certainly one of them.
Even if you have very little interest in aviation, it is difficult not to recognise that unmistakable shape. The long pointed nose, the huge delta wings and the incredibly sleek fuselage made Concorde look completely different from anything else in the sky.
I recently had the opportunity to visit the National Museum of Flight at East Fortune in East Lothian, where one of the surviving Concordes is now preserved. I had seen Concorde before, of course, in photographs and on television, but standing underneath one and then actually walking through it is a completely different experience.
Concorde G-BOAA
The aircraft at East Fortune is British Airways Concorde G-BOAA, and it has quite a history behind it.
G-BOAA was the first Concorde delivered to British Airways and entered commercial service in 1976. During its working life it carried passengers at more than twice the speed of sound, crossing the Atlantic in a time that even today's modern passenger aircraft cannot match.
It is quite strange to think that an aircraft designed and built decades ago could fly from London to New York in around three and a half hours.
Today, of course, G-BOAA is going nowhere. It sits safely preserved inside its hangar at East Fortune, but it has certainly lost none of its presence.
Bigger Than I Expected
My first impression when getting close to Concorde was simply its size.
Photographs often make it look incredibly thin and almost delicate, but when you stand underneath those enormous wings you begin to appreciate just how substantial the aircraft really is.
At the same time, everything about it looks as though it was designed for speed.
The pointed nose stretches out in front, while the fuselage seems incredibly narrow compared with modern passenger aircraft. Then there are those enormous triangular wings, which give Concorde its instantly recognisable appearance.
Even sitting motionless inside a museum, it somehow still looks fast.
Walking Inside Concorde
For me, one of the best parts of visiting Concorde at East Fortune is being able to actually go aboard.
Walking through the aircraft gives you a completely different impression of what travelling on Concorde must have been like.
The cabin is surprisingly narrow.
Anyone expecting the huge seats and enormous amount of space sometimes associated with luxury air travel might be surprised. Concorde was certainly exclusive, but space was limited, and everything had to fit inside that remarkably slim fuselage.
The windows are also tiny compared with those on a conventional passenger aircraft.
But Concorde was never really about having acres of room.
It was about speed.
Passengers were travelling faster than the speed of sound and crossing the Atlantic in little more than the time it might take to travel by train between two European cities.
That must have been an extraordinary feeling.
Up at the Front
The cockpit is another fascinating part of the aircraft.
Compared with today's highly digital flight decks, Concorde's cockpit is packed with switches, gauges and instruments. Almost every available piece of space seems to have something fitted to it.
It immediately reminds you just how complex this aircraft was.
Concorde required a three-person flight crew consisting of two pilots and a flight engineer, and looking at the cockpit, you can understand why.
There is something particularly interesting about seeing all of this preserved exactly where it belongs rather than looking at individual instruments behind glass in a museum display.
This was a working aircraft.
People sat in those seats, operated those controls and took this remarkable machine through the sound barrier.
An Incredible Piece of Engineering
Concorde was developed jointly by Britain and France during the 1960s and first flew in 1969.
British Airways and Air France eventually became the two airlines most closely associated with it, operating scheduled supersonic passenger services for nearly three decades.
Powered by four Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus engines, Concorde could travel at around Mach 2 – roughly twice the speed of sound – and cruise at around 60,000 feet.
At that altitude passengers could see the curvature of the Earth.
It is worth remembering just how extraordinary that was.
This was not a military aircraft or an experimental machine carrying test pilots. Concorde was carrying ordinary fare-paying passengers across the Atlantic at supersonic speed.
For a time, it really did feel as though this was the future of air travel.
The Famous Droop Nose
One feature I particularly enjoyed seeing close up was Concorde's famous droop nose.
It was not simply there to make the aircraft look distinctive.
During supersonic flight the nose was raised to create the smooth aerodynamic shape needed at high speed. During take-off and landing, it could be lowered, giving the pilots a much better view of the runway.
Seeing it close up makes you appreciate just how much thought went into almost every part of the aircraft.
Concorde was full of engineering solutions like this.
The End of an Era
Sadly, Concorde's story eventually came to an end.
Following the tragic Air France Flight 4590 accident near Paris in July 2000, Concorde was temporarily grounded. Although modifications were made and the aircraft later returned to service, its future was becoming increasingly difficult.
Operating costs were enormous, the fleet was ageing and the aviation industry had changed.
British Airways and Air France finally retired Concorde in 2003.
G-BOAA made its final journey to Scotland shortly afterwards, although getting it to East Fortune was a challenge in itself.
With East Fortune's runway unsuitable for Concorde, the aircraft flew to Edinburgh Airport before being transported by barge and road to its new home.
It must have been quite a sight.
More Than Just an Aircraft
What I particularly like about seeing Concorde at East Fortune is that it has been preserved as much more than simply a large museum exhibit.
You can get close to it.
You can walk underneath it, study the shape of the wings, look at the engines and then climb aboard and experience the surprisingly compact cabin for yourself.
For a few minutes you can imagine what it might have been like to settle into your seat, hear those four Olympus engines come to life and know that you were about to cross the Atlantic faster than the speed of sound.
There is also something slightly sad about it.
More than twenty years after Concorde's retirement, we still do not have a passenger aircraft capable of doing what it routinely did.
Commercial aviation has become more efficient, quieter and technologically advanced, but in terms of sheer speed, Concorde remains in a class of its own.
Well Worth Seeing
My visit to Concorde at East Fortune was one of those occasions where the real thing was far more impressive than I had expected.
I knew the history. I knew what Concorde looked like. I knew it had flown at twice the speed of sound.
But standing underneath it is different.
Walking through the cabin is different.
And seeing that famous pointed nose and enormous delta wing from only a few feet away really brings home just what an extraordinary achievement Concorde was.
The National Museum of Flight is well worth visiting in its own right, with an excellent collection of historic aircraft and buildings across the former East Fortune airfield, but for me Concorde is undoubtedly one of its highlights.
G-BOAA may never fly again, but at East Fortune this remarkable aircraft has been given a fitting home.
It remains elegant, slightly futuristic and instantly recognisable.
And even after all these years, there is still nothing else quite like Concorde.
By Daren Frankish
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