Concorde Alpha Foxtrot finds a permanent home at a British aerospace museum.

(Image courtesy of Bristol Aerospace.)
On April 20, 1979, an airplane named Concorde Alpha Foxtrot screamed down the runway at Filton, England on its maiden flight. More than 24 years later, after having flown for more than 18,257 hours, landing 6,045 times and completing 5,639 supersonic cycles, that same plane would return to Filton on its final flight.
Alpha Foxtrot was the last Concorde aircraft to ever fly and now itâs being memorialized at the Aerospace Bristol museum not far from the airplaneâs final landing place.
âWe couldnât be more delighted to welcome Concorde 216 into her new purpose-built home at Aerospace Bristol,â said Iain Gray, chairman of the Aerospace Bristol museum. âWith such enthusiasm for Concorde in this country, and particularly in Bristol where she was designed, built and landed for the final time, it is only fitting that this magnificent aircraft should have a permanent home at Filton. I would like to thank all of our donors for helping to make Aerospace Bristol a reality and look forward to welcoming our first visitors on board this summer.â
During its years of service, the Concorde represented the height of luxury and commercial aeronautical achievement. Capable of reaching Mach 2.04, the Concorde could make the trans-Atlantic passage between Paris and New York in two hours, fifty-two minutes and fifty-nine seconds.
The Concorde was eventually grounded in the early 2000s, in part because of a tragic accident that occurred on July 25th 2000. In the midst of takeoff, a piece of debris on the runway pierced one of the planeâs tires. Some of the rubber from the tire flew up, hit the planeâs wing and ruptured a fuel tank. Almost immediately, a fire broke out underneath the wing causing the pilots to lose control of the plane. Shortly thereafter, the craft crashed into a hotel. After the crash, the Concorde was grounded while improvements to fleetâs fuel tanks were made and new, more puncture-resistant tires were found.
While the Concordeâs dramatic crash did contribute to its retirement, the economics of maintaining each jet simply couldnât be handled by the airlines. According to a Noel Forgeard, CEO of Airbus at the time of the Concorde retirement, “The costs of operating Concorde, and in particular maintenance and support, have become such that operations are unrealistic for any operator.”
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