Where in the world am I?

[markjay]

 

[markjay]

Anyone....? It's an early Bell, BTW

 

[pmcgsmurf]

Anyone....? It's an early Bell, BTW

MoMA Manhattan?

 

[markjay]

MoMA Manhattan?

Yes! And it's a Bell 47

 

[WDB124066]

I've often thought helicopters were works of art - I wonder if I should go to New York....?

 

[Druk]

Anyone....? It's an early Bell, BTW

I flew over Niagara Falls in one of them in 1978. Scary.




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[markjay]

I flew over Niagara Falls in one of them in 1978. Scary..

I don't blame you.... it first flew in 1945.

 

[Druk]

I don't blame you.... it first flew in 1945.

Well, if it wasn’t that exact model it certainly was it’s descendant. Glass bubble canopy and tube tail beam.
Feet on a 1” tube and some maniacal ex Vietnam pilot cackling away at my screaming as he did some tail-up 45 degree turns with seemingly nothing below. Aaaggghhh!




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[WDB124066]

Maybe a Hiller DRUK...?

 

[BTB 500]

I don't blame you.... it first flew in 1945.

Ah but if it hasn't crashed since then it must be pretty safe

That's what I told my wife when I took my son up in a 1945 Dragon Rapide biplane in July

 

[markjay]

Ah but if it hasn't crashed since then it must be pretty safe

That's what I told my wife when I took my son up in a 1945 Dragon Rapide biplane in July

The Concorde had the best safety record of all commercial jet-liners.... until 25 July 2000, that is

 

[ringway]

The Concorde had the best safety record of all commercial jet-liners.... until 25 July 2000, that is

What a shame it doesn't fly these days. I once had an unnoficial tour around a BA Concorde which although brief, was fabulous.
Those seats... were they leather?

Couldn't the incident on 25th of July 2000 have happened to any other aircraft?
Even if it was a weak point of Concorde, I'm sure it wouldn't have take much of a modification to make the wings less susceptible to puncture damage by using Kevlar or something similar?

 

[markjay]

The Concorde had other issues... very high engine noise levels meant it was only permitted to land in few airports, restricting the route options.

That, combined with low passenger capacity and high running costs meant it always struggled to be a commercial success, especially in a new post 9/11 economic reality that saw several established airlines going bust (remember SwissAir?), and the rise of the low-cost carriers which pushed down air travel prices across the board.

The dip in income following from the crash was enough to seal its faith, in spite of the fuel tank reinforcement modifications.

The proof is that no one in the West (the Russians had their TU-144) ever tried to build another supersonic jet-liner, before, during, or after Concorde - the economics just don't stack up.

The emphasise has since been on capacity (747, A380), low fuel consumption, and low noise levels. Not speed per-se.

Still, it was a fit of engineering.

 

[Steveml63]

The Concorde had other issues... very high engine noise levels meant it was only permitted to land in few airports, restricting the route options.

That, combined with low passenger capacity and high running costs meant it always struggled to be a commercial success, especially in a new post 9/11 economic reality that saw several established airlines going bust (remember SwissAir?), and the rise of the low-cost carriers which pushed down air travel prices across the board.

The dip in income following from the crash was enough to seal its faith, in spite of the fuel tank reinforcement modifications.

The proof is that no one in the West (the Russians had their TU-144) ever tried to build another supersonic jet-liner, before, during, or after Concorde - the economics just don't stack up.

The emphasise has since been on capacity (747, A380), low fuel consumption, and low noise levels. Not speed per-se.

Still, it was a fit of engineering.

Hi,
Richard Branson offered to take on the BA Concordes and keep them flying - but I understand they needed approval from Air France for this to happen - as it was a joint UK/Fench project.
Of course - they refused!
I have visited different Concordes at Duxford, Yeovilton (if my memory serves me correctly) and the amazing one at Brooklands.
It really saddens me to see these amazing aircraft grounded and you really get the impression that we have gone backwards in commercial aviation!
Cheers
Steve

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Hi,
Richard Branson offered to take on the BA Concordes and keep them flying - but I understand they needed approval from Air France for this to happen - as it was a joint UK/Fench project.
Of course - they refused!
I have visited different Concordes at Duxford, Yeovilton (if my memory serves me correctly) and the amazing one at Brooklands.
It really saddens me to see these amazing aircraft grounded and you really get the impression that we have gone backwards in commercial aviation!
Cheers
Steve

I agree Steve,

I’d have loved to fly Concorde. I think there’s one on display in a hanger at Manchester Airport. They offer tours at certain times. I think I’ll take our daughter there the next time we’re in Manchester. It’d be great to see inside one.

 

[Peter103]

I'd seen newsreel and press photographs of concorde, even seen one fly overhead while on a site in London years ago, first the engine noise then the aircraft. But I hadnt realised how small it was until much later when driving along the A303 past Yeovilton, and there was one parked by a hangar on the ground. I was almost dissapointed that it was so small.

 

[Druk]

I agree Steve,

I’d have loved to fly Concorde. I think there’s one on display in a hanger at Manchester Airport. They offer tours at certain times. I think I’ll take our daughter there the next time we’re in Manchester. It’d be great to see inside one.

Hi Ant. Take daughter for trip across to National Museum at East Fortune. Apart from much other interesting stuff, a Vulcan for instance, there’s a Concorde in its own devoted hangar. Beautifully presented too with all the info and exhibits.

National Museum of Flight


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[BTB 500]

OK fitting in with Concorde, Tu-144 and 'where was I?' ... although the last bit isn't too much of a challenge

 

[Flyinspanner]

In a previous life

Branson was blowing hot air, Virgin was never going to fly it, it would have needed the backing of Aerospatiale, (not Air France) as they had withdrawn support for its permit to fly (political).
Plus they had neither the engineers, spares, pilots to fly it, it did however get him lots of front page coverage........

9/11 meant a loss of approx 40% of its regular users.

 

[Ted]

Long story, but my mum was booked to fly Concorde back from the States once, and couldn't as it had engine problems.
Saw it twice, once taking off from BHX and once flying over London mid seventies. The one in London just made you feel like you were in the future, it was a stunningly beautiful sight to see.