Concorde RIP
I was recently at a folk and acoustic music club in Central London, the Lantern Society at the Betsy Trotwood pub in Clerkenwell, when one of the acts performing sang a song about Concorde. I was reminded about the demise of an iconic plane and a symbol of a time of technological hope.
I can always remember looking up into an azure summer sky and hearing the throaty roar and seeing the undeniably elegant contours of Concorde. The beautiful curvaceous wingspan and pencil-shaped body graced the London sky. There was even a post punk oddity single by the Native Hipsters entitled, “Ooh look, there goes Concorde again”
Supersonic cool
Concorde was a product of an age when air travel appeared destined to become this super-quick, super-stylish hop across the Atlantic for the ultra-cool. The supersonic plane cut the journey time in half. There were only 20 Concordes in all, including various prototypes, with seven Concordes in service with British Airways and a further five owned by Air France, but they summed up an era’s aspirations. Their major routes were London and Paris to New York. There were endless photos of celebrities seated on the plane or embarking and disembarking. This really was the jet set.
The thrill has gone
They first flew in the early 70s but after a terrible crash just outside Paris on the 25th July, 2000 when 109 people were killed, they were takenout of service. They were briefly reinstated, but their lack of economy and environmental concerns meant that they ceased flying in May 2003. Anyway, the lustre had gone and air travel had entered a new era.
The style and élan were replaced by Ryan Air’s cattletrucks in the sky and the white heat of technology was superseded by £6 flights to a military airfield in the middle of nowhere and being charged for a pee.The thrill has gone. Concorde RIP.
Photo from FreeFoto.com
