I probably didn't see you at LHR when Concorde took off. I was standing on
the 8th floor of the carpark in Tech Block C on BA's Engineering East Base.
My car was parked three floors below me. She did do one hell of a climbout,
though, didn't she? No bags, min fuel, just 100 pax or so of weight - she
never climbed like that for the 001 to JFK! I think Capt Mike Bannister
really enjoyed that one.

I didn't go the the PFA rally this year and I haven't been to Duxford in a
couple of years. I was a volunteer for The Fighter Collection for a couple
of years back in the mid 90s, and was there nearly every Sunday for
volunteer day. But then got back into flying in 97. I found myself in a
Cub group. So, fly my own Cub on a Sunday or drive an hour and a half to
watch someone else fly airplanes all day? I'll let you do the math on that
one! :-) It would have been good to see and hear the Connie again. One
good thing about being a volunteer at Duxford is that you normally get onto
the flightline for a lot of this stuff. When the Dutch DC-4 came in a few
years ago, they let us all up into the cockpit to just have a nose around.
I spoke to the owner/pilot. He was a great guy and it's a heck of an
operation they'd got going.

Shawn
"Paul Sengupta" wrote in message
...
"ShawnD2112" wrote in message
news
The crackle of the B-1s four engines in afterburner as it does a
reversing
turn, pointing it's tail straight at you, in an airshow.

Yeah. Nice. Like the sound of Concorde on take-off! Except you can
(could) get closer to Concorde as it flies directly over your head at
when
standing near the end of the runway.

Last Wednesday hearing the sound of the last ever Concorde departure as
our
final one was flown to the museum at Filton.

It was high though. I guess a lot less fuel on board than on a
transatlantic
flight. Where were you standing? Was your car parked there? What car
were you in? What do you look like? (I'll look out for you on my video)

Someone else mentioned the MATS Connie. I got to see and hear her come
in
to Duxford a few years ago. Lovely in the extreme!

Yes, I was there. But you weren't allowed near it. It was at the
PFA rally the previous day, and there I had a good close up look
and spoke to the people involved.

I think it's the sounds of aviation that are most
thrilling. You can see nearly any airplane on static display in a
museum
somewhere, but it's cold and lifeless. To hear it with it's engines
running
is to hear it breath and thrive. That's thrilling!

Our Hurricane at Brooklands should be returning to taxi-able condition.

Don't know if we get engines too when we get Concorde 202 from
Filton...don't suppose they'll allow us to taxi that! :-)

Paul