Sierra Delta, the Concorde at Le Bourget museum in Paris, set a record in 1995 for the fastest flight around the world by a civilian aircraft: 31hrs, 27min, 49sec, including six refuelling stops.
When British Airways decommissioned their seven Concordes they made sure the planes would never fly again. The French didn’t committ such an “act of vandalism”, and kept one of the youngest surviving Concorde aircraft, Sierra Delta, on a life support machine.
A group of Air France Concorde engineers has daily access to Sierra Delta, and carry out basic checks and run the systems, including the hydraulics and electrics, at least three times a week. They also lower and raise the famous pointed nose. The plan is, one day, to restart Sierra Delta’s engines and taxi it around the airport.
The Concorde is kept alive and ready for the time when funding is found to let it fly again. It would cost under 5 million euros to prepare the aircraft for flight, a quarter of what it would cost to make a Bristish Concorde airborne again.
British Concorde fanatics are still angry with British Airways for draining off all the fluids. Jock Lowe, BA’s former chief Concorde pilot and fleet manager, described it as an act of vandalism.
“It will be embarrassing for Britain if only a French Concorde flies again because it was always a joint project between the two countries.”
[tags]France,Concorde[/tags]
Wouldn’t it be great if the Concorde flew again?! No matter who (the French or the Brits), it would be nice to see, non?
We cannot allow BA to trash Concorde, there is only one group in the UK who are totally focussed on returning a single Concorde to flight…… http:///www.save-concorde.co.uk join the fight to save a ” BRITISH” Concorde before it’s too late !!
i am praying the french put concorde up in the air and really embarrass the plum sucking fools that grounded her long live concorde