CONCORDE 50th ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE
We put you in the cockpit as former British Airways Concorde chief pilot Captain Mike Bannister talks us through a typical flight from Heathrow to New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport by the legendary supersonic airliner.
On departure from Heathrow, there would be just 17 minutes between Concorde’s take-off and the Bristol Channel where it would start its climb to supersonic speed.
British Airways’ most successful Concorde route – between London and New York – featured two return flights daily. As captain Mike Bannister attests, the turbojet-powered aircraft was much more complex than conventional airliners. Procedures, which generally vary little between aircraft types, were in some cases drastically different on Concorde. So, buckle up in the jump seat as he gets ready to light the afterburners…
