LAST - Concorde in the World to Fly Commercially and in the U.S.
N 47° 31.171 W 122° 17.997
10T E 552703 N 5263136
One of many static aircraft displays located at the Museum of Flight at King County International Airport and the last Concorde to make a commercial flight before the fleet was retired permanently. Admission fees apply.
Waymark Code: WMVHJ5
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 04/21/2017
Views: 8
Located at the Museum of Flight are a large number of static aircraft on display. One of them is a Concorde jet, which bears the title of a couple of 'firsts'. The Museum of Flight website contains a
page devoted to this aircraft and it reads:
Supersonic Airliner
British and French aerospace companies collaborated to design and build 20 Concorde aircraft between 1966 and 1979. Flying with Air France and British Airways, the supersonic jets offered a luxurious and speedy trip across the Atlantic for 27 years. Capable of speeds over two times the speed of sound and at elevations up to 60,000 feet (18,290 m), the Concorde could fly from London to New York and return in the time it took a conventional aircraft to go one way. Flagging demand and rising operating expenses finally ended Concorde service -- symbolizing a lost era of luxury travel.
The Museum's aircraft, registration code G-BOAG, is referred to as "Alpha Golf." It was first flown in April of 1978, and delivered to British Airways in 1980. Equipped with four powerful Rolls-Royce/SNECMA Olympus 593 Mk. 610 turbojet engines, the Alpha Golf logged more than 5,600 takeoffs and over 16,200 flight hours while in service. The Museum's aircraft retirement flight was on Nov. 5, 2003. On its way to The Museum of Flight, the Alpha Golf set a New York City-to-Seattle speed record of 3 hours, 55 minutes, and 12 seconds. Much of the flight was over northern Canada, where it flew supersonic for 1 hour, 34 minutes and 4 seconds.
A nearby placard also highlights this Concorde in more detail and reads:
Supersonic Airliner
British and French aerospace companies collaborated to design and build 20 Concorde aircraft between 1966 and 1979. The supersonic jets offered a luxurious and speedy trip across the Atlantic Ocean for 27 years with Air France and British Airways. Capable of speeds over two times the speed of sound, the Concorde could fly from London to New York and return in the time it took a conventional aircraft to go one way.
Sleek, Speedy, Small, and Spendy
The Concorde's tiny windows can give the appearance that it is a large jet.
In fact, it only carried 100 passengers, a fraction of what a Boeing 747 could accommodate. The low volume of passengers and high operating cost made it an expensive flight for both the airlines and the customers. Declining demand and rising cost finally led to the end of Concorde service and the brief era of supersonic commercial air travel.
The Museum's Concorde
The Museum's aircraft,
British civil registration code G-BOAG, is often referred to as "Alpha Golf." It was first flown April 27, 1978 and delivered to British Airways in 1980. "Alpha Golf" logged more than 5,600 takeoffs and landings and 16,230 flight hours while in service.
This aircraft made the last commercial Concorde flight, which took place on October 24, 2003 from New York to London. It later set a New York City-to-Seattle speed record of three hours, 55 minutes, and 12 seconds on its way to the Museum on November 5, 2003, last Concorde to fly in the United States.
I have also read on the internet that this Concorde was the last aircraft to have the current paint scheme painted on its tail.