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20 years ago today, on 26 November 2003, British Airways Concorde G-BOAF made the last ever flight of a Concorde, flying from London Heathrow to Filton, the site where the British Concordes were assembled

Posted by RevoltingHuman@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 21 comments

20 years ago today, on 26 November 2003, British Airways Concorde G-BOAF made the last ever flight of a Concorde, flying from London Heathrow to Filton, the site where the British Concordes were assembled

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21 Comments

Tomico86@reddit

If you look closely the focus of camera went to crowd instead of the plane.
View on Reddit #14705678

B_Aran_393@reddit

What a aviation beauty. That sleek body and angle is undisputed till this day.
View on Reddit #14702722

zerbey@reddit

Such a shame they couldn't just keep one of them flying. I understand the reasoning, but it still makes me sad. Maybe some wealthy individual with the right contacts will one day get one of them restored and airworthy, but I know that's a pipe dream.
View on Reddit #14697284

CptDawg@reddit

Although they were a pretty aircraft, they were leaky messes.
View on Reddit #14692618

sammorris512@reddit

Sad that the runway is now in the process of being turned into a housing estate
View on Reddit #14688945

Valuable_Sherbet_483@reddit

Sad that I never saw these beautiful machines in service
View on Reddit #14688642

LSesay@reddit

She was retired too soon. Criminal that a modern replacement still hasn’t come to light. I remember being a kid in school and whenever one would fly overhead, everyone would look up hearing the distinctive roar of those powerful engines.
View on Reddit #14668179

StarryEyedLus@reddit

I grew up in London and saw her landing at Heathrow often.
View on Reddit #14687732

Sunlight_Life@reddit

Not at all retired too soon. Yes it looked great like a toothpick with reheat but it was noisy and very polluting to our upper atmosphere. Glad they are in museums now.
View on Reddit #14679228

RevoltingHuman@reddit (OP)

Your school was under the regular flightpath, then?
View on Reddit #14668264

LSesay@reddit

I live in London, not too far from Heathrow.
View on Reddit #14669091

RevoltingHuman@reddit (OP)

Nice. I never saw Concorde fly into or out-of Heathrow. I did grow up in Barbados in the early 00s however, and saw her fly into Barbados several times. Often from the end of the runway at Grantley Adams International.
View on Reddit #14669611

LSesay@reddit

Very lucky, Barbados is a beautiful place. Ideal destination for Concorde.
View on Reddit #14669741

RevoltingHuman@reddit (OP)

My father's job took my family out there back then, when I was just a lad. G-BOAE was arguably the best preserved BA Concorde, out there in Barbados, until her exhibit closed in 2018. However, it now looks as though her hangar is being re-opened for cruise passengers I believe, and so they will pass under her, and from photos I've seen, she is still looking very good so no problems there.
View on Reddit #14670355

Corporal_Tax@reddit

A masterpiece. Though I do not enjoy the fact that 2003 was twenty years ago
View on Reddit #14683616

dazw1988@reddit

That was a sad day, a day that aviation took a step backwards
View on Reddit #14682363

Flyboy345@reddit

Have fond memories of this, my dad took me out of school for the day so we could head up to Filton to see it land. Weather was freezing cold, there was a hail storm but was all worth it. We managed to be on the airfield and after Concord landed, it taxied down to where we were. Everyone jumped over the fence and ran up to it while it dipped its nose in salute. We have a video I recorded on a DVD somewhere, been meaning to dig it out and upload it to Youtube.
View on Reddit #14680900

bb-wa@reddit

Time flies like a supersonic plane.
View on Reddit #14662624

Late-Mathematician55@reddit

Already posted earlier https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/s/AIKG31lO7n
View on Reddit #14661901

RevoltingHuman@reddit (OP)

It's only just turned over to the 26th in Blighty, so only now is it the anniversary. They also didn't even bother with a photo of the final flight.
View on Reddit #14662019

RevoltingHuman@reddit (OP)

Seen in the photo is G-BOAF touching down at Filton, bringing to an end the era of supersonic commercial air travel.
View on Reddit #14661359