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November 26, 2003
Concorde - Requisicat in pacem
This morning, at precisely 1100, that most amazing of all airliners, Concorde, will land for the last time at Filton airfield in Bristol. Speedbird, as her callsign has been for the last thirty odd years, is dead. No doubt those who loathe anything that smacks of high technology will rejoice, but for most of us this is a sad reminder that this once great nation no longer has the guts or the ability to do anything innovative.
Concorde used to overfly my house on the circuit to Heathrow and I never used to have to ask when it was her, the distinctive howl from those baffled intakes to her engines, sent shivers up your spine. All the other aircraft circling overhead simply roared, Concorde howled. My dog used to go beserk, the cat used to retreat inside, I used to rush out to gaze in admiration.
A successor to this amazing plane was designed. It would have run on engines that did not polute and it would have been quieter. It was killed off by the Civil Service and the politicians who diverted the money, in much the same way that the Roman Senate did, to vote catching and "populist" schemes. So the HOTOL, a hypersonic transport capable of skimming the edges of space, never left the drawing board.
Modern, forward looking, innovative Britain? It dies with this dream bird, to be replaced by self interest, single issues and snout in the trough policies that will ultimately destroy us.
Posted by The Gray Monk at November 26, 2003 11:53 AM