Events to mark 50th anniversary of Concorde’s maiden flight

Thousands of aviation enthusiasts will visit museums and airfields across the UK to mark the 50^th anniversary of Concordes maiden flight on Saturday.

People will be able to meet the Concorde pilots and climb on board the supersonic aeroplane to view the footage of the first flight.

The distinctive nose of Concorde has had a refurbishment and is to be moved to exhibition sights at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, Manchester Airport and Brooklands Museum in Surrey.

Can you believe it's 50 years since the first Concorde flew? 😨🙌#Concorde50 pic.twitter.com/YOqFr3ADhA

— BBC Radio Bristol (@bbcrb) March 1, 2019

The first Concorde flight took off from Toulouse Airport on 2 March 1969, in the south of France.

The supersonic plane travelled at 1,350mph cruising at twice the speed of sound, and covered a mile in a staggering 2.75 seconds.

Jack Lowe who was the longest serving Concorde pilot said flying the plane was “like driving a sports car compared with a normal car.”

Lowe continued, “The most exhilarating part was the power you had on take-off. The acceleration was really quite special.”

Julie Reynolds, 59 from Cheadle, Cheshire worked as a cabin crew on Concorde from 1987 to 1995, she described flying on Concorde as the “gold standard of aviation.”

Sir David Frost, television host was one of Reynolds favourite passengers she said, he was “such a gentleman.”

“He was very supportive of crew and was always appreciative of what we did.

“There were so many wonderful people who travelled with us, but they didn’t have to be celebrities to be a favourite of ours.”

Two years ago today #Concorde was towed across Filton Airfield to Aerospace Bristol. Don't miss your chance to step aboard the last Concorde ever to fly in the fiftieth anniversary year since Concorde’s maiden flight. Book tickets: https://t.co/4TVegfTdJq #Concorde50 pic.twitter.com/cxEh5C3MiS

— Aerospace Bristol (@BristolAero) February 7, 2019

Concorde retired from service in October 2003, British Airways and Air France blamed a downturn in passenger numbers with rising maintenance costs.