ROLEX GMT - Concorde $295

[WEST HAM ROLEX]

Love this - Check out attached ad with prices. Was this an investment with years of enjoyment

Concorde - Anyone on the forum fly with her?

[Cryten]

That's an odd advert, Pan Am never flew the concord. Juan Trippe ordered some but through political pressure and corporate meddling from Boeing he had to cancel the order.

$295 is a good price for a GMT though, I'll take two.

[traf]

I'll take a gold one for $1375

[Black Bay Dan]

Such a shame the American airlines did not embrace Concorde. If it had more then two operators it may still be flying today!

Dan

[WEST HAM ROLEX]

Many disappointed when it was grounded in 2002. Miss it flying over the golf course at 5pm each night,,had to look up
#New York to London 2 hrs 55 min

Also, disappointed I didn't get a GMT at 200 pounds

[Quailhunter]

I flew the SST Concorde 3 times. Each time from London to New York. I'm happy it was always a company expense. I remember $9000 one way. About 3 hours in the air.. After burners kicked in on take off and then shut down until we were over water. After burners took us to supersonic and altitude. I could see the earth's curvature and the sky was black. Our approach to JFK was always straight in with no time in a pattern. It was a very cramped airplane with tiny windows. There was a Concorde lounge with lots of good champagne. It helped to get a bit tight before boarding. I did wear a DayDate.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Quailhunter

I flew the SST Concorde 3 times. Each time from London to New York. I'm happy it was always a company expense. I remember $9000 one way. About 3 hours in the air.. After burners kicked in on take off and then shut down until we were over water. After burners took us to supersonic and altitude. I could see the earth's curvature and the sky was black. Our approach to JFK was always straight in with no time in a pattern. It was a very cramped airplane with tiny windows. There was a Concorde lounge with lots of good champagne. It helped to get a bit tight before boarding. I did wear a DayDate.

[Cryten]

Originally Posted by Air King Dan

Such a shame the American airlines did not embrace Concorde. If it had more then two operators it may still be flying today!

Dan

It was more than that. When Boeing realised they couldn't make their own version a reality (the SST) they lobbied and funded the Environmental Protection Agency so the EPA would advise the FAA against overland flights on noise grounds. The FAA subsequently banned supersonic flight over the US mainland, essentially relegating Concorde to trans Atlantic routes only. The orders dropped like flies and in the end only Air France and BA took deliveries and even they wanted to cancel but their governments wouldn't let them.

The overflight ban still exists to this day, essentially stalling any further supersonic research.

[Shichinin]

Originally Posted by Quailhunter

I flew the SST Concorde 3 times. Each time from London to New York. I'm happy it was always a company expense. I remember $9000 one way. About 3 hours in the air.. After burners kicked in on take off and then shut down until we were over water. After burners took us to supersonic and altitude. I could see the earth's curvature and the sky was black. Our approach to JFK was always straight in with no time in a pattern. It was a very cramped airplane with tiny windows. There was a Concorde lounge with lots of good champagne. It helped to get a bit tight before boarding. I did wear a DayDate.

Seems like a great experience

[Black Bay Dan]

Originally Posted by Cryten

It was more than that. When Boeing realised they couldn't make their own version a reality (the SST) they lobbied and funded the Environmental Protection Agency so the EPA would advise the FAA against overland flights on noise grounds. The FAA subsequently banned supersonic flight over the US mainland, essentially relegating Concorde to trans Atlantic routes only. The orders dropped like flies and in the end only Air France and BA took deliveries and even they wanted to cancel but their governments wouldn't let them.

The overflight ban still exists to this day, essentially stalling any further supersonic research.

Thanks Boeing!

Dan

[breitlings]

My grandfather took it often while working on a case in London. He said it was much faster and you could see the curvature of the earth it flew so high. He was the best man I knew. Coincidentally he wore a seiko.

From what I have heard Boeing built an Amazing SST. So fast it was immediately classified for government use. Mach 5.

Evidence suggests they have a fleet of sst craft to evacuate officals to hardened bases for example the greenbrier, and there is evidence they built an updated version too in the mid 1990s. I would also be shocked if they don't have several versions for various missions.

[Black Bay Dan]

I used to work in an IBM office next to Heathrow, and at 11:00 on the dot every morning I could look up from my desk and watch Concorde lift up in to the sky on its way to NYC. I really do miss it big time even if it was just a plane.

Dan

[WEST HAM ROLEX]

Enjoying reading all your posts, knowledge and experience flying Concorde.
I was lucky to fly once - one way New York/London

So, with the GMT advertised at $295, what year would this be?
The first commercial flight was 1976

[Raj1471]

Used to work at JFK. Sound of the Speedbird taking off would set off car alarms in the parking lots. It was an incredible sight taking off at full thrust!

[Quailhunter]

My flights were late 90s to very early 2000s. I still have the Concorde gifts the passengers received. I think he fleet was retired in 2003.

I used to fly my plane over JFK going back and forth Connecticut to Florida and there was a Concorde parked in the middle of the airport. I think it was damaged on landing and became a landmark. I don't know if it's still there.

[fskywalker]

I never got the chance to see one; know one once landed in here and heard broke some glasses in the airport area!

[Quailhunter]

The Greenbrier was used as a refuge for high government officials, but they would not arrived by an SST. There isn't a runway anywhere near there capable of landing a plane like that. Probably would have used helicopters to fly them in. When I was last at the Greenbrier, a tour of the shelter was available. I didn't take the tour, but wish I had.

[Cryten]

Originally Posted by breitlings

From what I have heard Boeing built an Amazing SST. So fast it was immediately classified for government use. Mach 5.

The only thing Boeing built was this mock up, which was sadly lost to the weather because it ended up being parked outside:



Their plans for the SST were too big and too optimistic for the technology available, it was never going to happen. Had an SST ever flown Boeing would be shouting from the roof tops.

The Concorde only got off the ground because the French and English signed a contract that neither would let the other out of, even thought the cost overruns were massive. That Anglo-French rivalry took centuries to develop and is responsible for one of the most amazing engineering feats of the modern age.

It's such a shame that one crash (that wasn't even the fault of the aircraft) brought it all to an end. The last bit of aviation glamour is gone, now the skies are just full of flying busses.

[THC]

I could never ... That is one claustrophobic cabin... Way too thin for my neurosis lol

[TheVTCGuy]

I have flown aircraft supersonic....


(Thanks US Navy)

[Quailhunter]

For me, it wasn't the confines of the cabin (2-2 seating) that bothered me. It was the postcard size windows. For those too young to know about postcards, they were about 3X5 inches.

[fskywalker]

Originally Posted by THC

I could never ... That is one claustrophobic cabin... Way too thin for my neurosis lol

Pulled this from the net:







Cool design and complex controls; small inside indeed!

[JP Chestnut]

Originally Posted by Cryten

The last bit of aviation glamour is gone, now the skies are just full of flying busses.

That is so true. Even long hall international is bus-like.

[bmrisko]

Originally Posted by JP Chestnut

That is so true. Even long hall international is bus-like.

JAL F is far from any bus I have every experienced...

[the0thrdude]

Man...it's so crazy to see how much the cost of everything just shot up since then.

It's even more crazy to think that 50 years from now, people might say, wow, a gmt for $ ____! what a bargain.

[breitlings]

Originally Posted by Quailhunter

The Greenbrier was used as a refuge for high government officials, but they would not arrived by an SST. There isn't a runway anywhere near there capable of landing a plane like that. Probably would have used helicopters to fly them in. When I was last at the Greenbrier, a tour of the shelter was available. I didn't take the tour, but wish I had.

There absolutely is a super sonic capable runway within minutes of the greenbriar. i drove by it when they had land rover driving experience there.

It was suggested that the supersonic runways are what gave the hotel bunkers away as 20000 foot runways tend to get seen from space.

as you may know greenbriar isnt the only one, it was for the house of reps I believe. There were differenr bunkers under hotels for senate and treasury department.

[breitlings]

Originally Posted by Cryten

The only thing Boeing built was this mock up, which was sadly lost to the weather because it ended up being parked outside:

http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/...psi9llfwjv.png

Their plans for the SST were too big and too optimistic for the technology available, it was never going to happen. Had an SST ever flown Boeing would be shouting from the roof tops.

The Concorde only got off the ground because the French and English signed a contract that neither would let the other out of, even thought the cost overruns were massive. That Anglo-French rivalry took centuries to develop and is responsible for one of the most amazing engineering feats of the modern age.

It's such a shame that one crash (that wasn't even the fault of the aircraft) brought it all to an end. The last bit of aviation glamour is gone, now the skies are just full of flying busses.

Officially the fastest jet plane ever flown was designed and built in 1958.

Also the russians also had a super sonic jet. It is widely believed that USSR stole fake plans that had an intentional flaw which rendered the "concordski" unsafe.

[breitlings]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

I have flown aircraft supersonic....


(Thanks US Navy)

Thank you!

[One Ping Only]

The Concorde was an amazing feat of engineering. Never flew on one, but remember Phil Collins and Live Aid...

[Rockrolex]

Originally Posted by Quailhunter

I flew the SST Concorde 3 times. Each time from London to New York. I'm happy it was always a company expense. I remember $9000 one way. About 3 hours in the air.. After burners kicked in on take off and then shut down until we were over water. After burners took us to supersonic and altitude. I could see the earth's curvature and the sky was black. Our approach to JFK was always straight in with no time in a pattern. It was a very cramped airplane with tiny windows. There was a Concorde lounge with lots of good champagne. It helped to get a bit tight before boarding. I did wear a DayDate.

I flew it once from London to JFK. I was home (in DC) an hour after we left London. Still have the gift package the pax got somewhere. I remember being invited up to the cockpit. It was so quiet you could talk in a whisper and be heard by the pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer. Great experience.