I've always had a fascination for Concorde so when the Concorde Museum opened in Bristol I went.
This is Concorde Alpha Foxtrot, the last to be built.
Museum Picture
The museum is located on the historic Filton Airfield. Planes have been built in Bristol since 1910 and its been a huge employer in the area.
One of the old Control Towers.
One of the old Control Towers.
For the initial opening they had some of the pilots there to answer questions, this was Capt. Colin Morris.
Web Picture
Bristol has a history of air craft building and planes named after it.
They also built vehicles here
together with the famous Bristol car, whose shape wouldn't look out of place today.
Its well worth a visit and your ticket lasts for a year.
Great stuff Dave!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I have a soft spot for Concorde, having lived many years in Reading and had it go over twice a day, at 11.30 am and 7.30 pm (just as Coronation St was starting!) and rattling the windows each time. Also when living in Cornwall, the sonic booms of the evening flight could often be heard. But it was also a beautiful sight flying over Reading and a great feat of engineering, just a shame it was so noisy, being deafeningly loud 25 miles or so after take off! Although I've read some reports that say it was actually quieter than people expected! People still stopped and looked up as it passed over though, right to the end.
Bristol cars are fantastic things too, although they weren't exactly cheap were they! I've just Googled them to see what the state of play is and I see a new car is planned for next year, after a few years of difficulties and going into administration and so on. The modern Bristol Fighter was a car definitely on my lottery win shopping list, so I hope the company lives on in a way that does the company heritage and name justice.
Its an impressive piece of engineering and was way ahead of its time. Its a real credit for its designers and engineers. I will have to look up about the Bristol cars as I didnt realise that they were still around.
DeleteWow that cockpit is impressive!! I got to see the Concord on the Intrepid, an Aircraft carrier turned into an air and space museum in NYC at Pier 86 on the West side of Manhattan, when I lived there...very cool, I only saw it from the exterior tho!!
ReplyDeleteIt is impressive Sondra and hasn't aged. According to the Captain, flying was like driving an incredible fast sports car, twice the speed of a bullet ! I wonder if anything similar will ever be built again.
ReplyDeleteI once had the chance to fly to New York on Concorde and I was instantly in love with it. it was quite different from flying in any other plane partly because it was pressurised at 5000 ft instead of 8000. If I had been able to afford it I would never have travelled on anything else, but of course I couldn't afford it.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenny,
ReplyDeleteIt came to Cardiff many years ago and you could buy short flights over the Bay of Biscay, not supersonic though. I would have liked to have gone on it but priorities were different back then. t
I too was lucky enough to fly to New York on Concorde to meet up with the Directors of the parent company of the company I was working for at the time... Paid for by the company as I would not have been able to afford it had I been paying for my flight.... It was a fantastic experience...one that I will never forget. Thanks for reminding me of earlier times :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a memorable experience Trevor.
DeleteGreat museum! Bristol did produce some great planes in the past and I would love to visit that museum.
ReplyDeleteConcorde and its very heavy noise often flew over us headed for Heathrow while in London. On occasions it was actually used to fly to Edinburgh and my sister used to watch it pass by. Was it Bristol cars that Top Gear slagged off and they would not let them try another?
It's well worth a visit, Mr A. I never experienced the sonic booms but I understand they were a nuisance. Not sure about the Top Gear episode.
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