XH558 - was Re: using new technology etc

[Rod Smallwood]

The BA Concordes at Heathrow lived in a hanger at the eastern end of  
the main runway.
The perimiter road intersected the main runway so the bit with the 
hanger was to the left and the main runway to the right.
No fences no gates.

The Concordes would be towed by the usual tug  to and from the terminal 
area to the hanger.
A guy in a little hut (moreof him later)would switch on a sign saying 
'Aircraft crossing - STOP'
Cars would stop and the Concorde would be towed across and the the sign 
would go off.
I had this happen loads of times as the DEC wharehouse was on the south 
side of the airport .

Well one fine day I drive down and on goes the light and  I stop and yes 
here comes the Concorde and across it goes
and out goes the sign and I start to move with the queue across the gap.

Then it hits me where is the tug? OMG its taxying on engines and is 
about a hundred yards up the  runway.
They wouldn't would they. Oh yes they did! Full throttle full 
afterburner and off down the runway.
The guy in his little hut passed me going east at about 30MPH and those 
of in
cars got about 7.9 on the Richter scale in shaking.
Piles of rust and dust were left behind when the cars moved off.

Rod



On 19/06/2015 13:26, Peter Cetinski wrote:
>> On Jun 19, 2015, at 7:50 AM, jwsmobile <jws at jwsss.com> wrote:
>>
>> The closest I came to an aircraft in this class was an almost on a Concorde Ticket in the late 70's when an upgrade to first class could get you near to the Concorde fare, and then on a visit in the 90's I got to see one take off like a rocket @ Heathrow.
>>
>> thanks
>> Jim
> I remember the first time I saw Concorde as a boy.  I was at JFK, I think to see off my grandmother who was taking a trip back to the old country.  I’m standing at one of the large windows looking out at the flightline when all of a sudden, from the right, at what seemed to me to be just a few hundred feet above the terminal building, comes this giant roaring bird at what seemed to be a 30 degree bank after just taking off.  My little boy jaw just dropped as I watched this screaming monster white dragon fly by.
>
> What the heck has happened to us that we can build these planes 50 years ago that are unsurpassed even today?  Sad.