Last Sunday I went on the Concorde classic tour at Manchester Airport runway visitor park. It was a birthday gift from my son and daughter in law , and Sam , my son came with me. Concorde itself is inside a Hangar off limits to the general public but visible through the windows of the adjacent Cafe and restaurant .The tour lasts approx 45 mins and starts off with a brief film show (5 mins) about the Concorde story. You are then taken into the Hangar by the guide and up the stairs into the aircraft . The tour group is only around twenty , so theres no problems with crowding . The guide continues to give a great history of the aircraft while you are on board and takes groups of three or four in turn up to the cockpit , where another guide is waiting and gives you a rundown of whats in the cockpit and what it was like to fly . After everyone has been in the front we all went back down the stairs and the guide gave us a tour of the outside of this magnificent beast. All the time they encourage you to take as many photos as you like ,so of course we duly obliged!! Its a stunningly beautiful aircraft and a triumph of engineering and the tour really gives you a feel of what it was like to fly and be flown on this marvellous machine.At the conclusion of the tour the guide gives each person a certificate with a side profile of G-BOAC and your name and date of the tour . I would recommend this tour to anyone whos got an interest in concorde or just aviation in general . Heres quite a lot of pics , cheers tony (concorde pilot .retired.)
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Very interesting I have only been in 002 which is a prototype at yeovilton in Somerset the Concorde was so advanced and ahead of it's time
RogerComment
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Lovely aircraft and the only one I've seen up close was GBOAA at east fortune in Scotland and a very exquisite aircraft she was.
I remember my wife saying you pay how much for a seat on this? It's small and cramped!
I suppose you have to agree, but where else could you sit at up to Mach 2 and drink champagne! ( you can't do that in a Mig 29 Flanker!!
Regards
RobertComment
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Looks like you had a great day out Tony and some great photos.
PS, the pilot looks a bit like you.Comment
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Cheers guys , its a great experience , I'd highly recommend it , and invaluable if youre thinking of modelling a concorde or even just to get an idea of what civil aircraft look like close up (i included a few pics of panel lines to show that even on a super clean bird theyre sometimes still visible ) . heres one extra pic I forgot from the first post , cheers tonyComment
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It really was a magnificent plane. I was lucky enough to fly to NY in one once and still remember it like it happened yesterday.. I've easily just forgotten dozens of flights I've been on since but that one unique trip was totally unforgettable.Comment
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Bit more plush than the flying instruments that is the Duxford Concord. Forget the technology, it is simply a thing of great beauty.Comment
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You look well chuffed Tony.
Nice shots and it is a magnificent aircraft. I was lucky as a lad to go on the prototype 001-F-WTSS.
Areal sad day when something so graceful was killed off.Comment
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Nice one Tony. It still doesn't look out of date, even after all these years.Comment
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