On Monday 15th October 2012, a visit to the Concorde Aircraft at Manchester Airport was arranged for the Members, including their wives or partners and friends.
The Concorde is now under cover in a purpose built enclosure sited on the Visitors Park at the Airport.
Our Group set off by coach from Cleveleys at midday, arriving some twenty- five minutes early on our booked time of two o’clock. Fortunately our Guides were available, and we were shown into the presentation room where we enjoyed a short introductory talk, followed by a film depicting the history of the famous aircraft.
Then out to the hanger and the beautiful object of our visit. A twenty-six step climb took us up into the aircraft, where our guides entertained us with some wonderful stories of the famous people who were privileged to fly in her.
Everyone was able to visit the flight deck under the watchful eye of one of our guides, who explained the intricacies of the ‘sharp end’. It was amazing to note the technology of the flight deck was the leading edge technology of the sixties era!
The tour was concluded with a guided and informative walk around the underside of the aircraft, which was concluded with the Concorde Staff presenting each of us with an individual certificate commemorating our visit.
The Group then retired to the adjacent Bistro facility for welcome refreshments before boarding the coach and returning to Cleveleys.
We were all left to wonder how such a beautiful, majestic and aerodynamically advanced supersonic machine is no longer flying – that’s progress!
A very pleasant outing, which was enjoyed by all members of the Group