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The last scheduled Concorde
flight took place on October 24, 2003 and we flew on it on
August 31st, so our timing was pretty fortuitous (we started
working on the RTW trip long before it was announced that
the Concorde would stop flying in 2003).
The Concorde / first class lounge at JFK is not what it used
to be (I visited it prior to 9/11 and the difference was quite
striking), but the coffee was pretty decent.
Just one last quick picture of the plane as we're getting on and it's
time to take the seats and prepare for take-off. As you can see, the
seats on the Concorde are not super-spacious but that's hardly
surprising given how sleek the plane really is.
Just before take-off the flight attendands were quite busy taking
pictures. A picture of the isle in the middle should give some
idea of the amount of space on the plane.
The take-off from New York was actually quite exciting and the
pilot actually warned people not to panic when, immediately
upon lift-off, he has to bank the plane hard to fly up a canal
on the Hudson to comply with noise regulations.
But before we knew it we broke the sound barrier (you barely
feel anything on the plane when it happens) and soon enough
we were cruising at twice the speed of sound at an altitude
of 53,000+ feet.
The landing was quite an experience as well - one of the flight
attendants told us that we had the best seats on the plane (we
sat in the next-to-last row), and indeed the landing was quite
dramatic.
A few pictures after exiting the plane, and it's over. We sure
hope that we'll get a chance to fly something like the Concorde
again one day!
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