Post by Salem6 on Oct 21, 2003 10:34:39 GMT
Concorde started life on vast assembly lines at Filton, near Bristol, and Toulouse in France. Only 20 aircraft were ever built.
The first British Concorde - numbered 002 - took to the air on 9 April 1969, a month after its French counterpart.
Concorde's narrow cabin was to prove its downfall. With space for just 100 passengers, the economics did not make sense for airlines in the 1970s and beyond.
Although no airlines outside the UK and France ever bought Concorde - despite initial interest from many - for a short time in the late 1970s Singapore Airlines operated a joint service with BA.
Concorde's speed and expense quickly linked it in the public imagination to national leaders, top executives, rock and film stars - and royalty. Pictured is the Queen on board in 1977.
Even Cuba's communist leader Castro was not immune to Concorde's allure - here admiring the view from the cockpit in 1997.
The beginning of the end for Concorde came at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on 25 July 2000. The crash killed 113 people.
Retirement means most Concordes will end up in museums. This Air France Concorde took a novel route to get to its new home in southern Germany.
Admired by many, flown on by some, loathed by a few - Concorde's place in aviation history is assured.