26/11/2013 BBC Points West

That is all from BBC News At Six, I will be back with more from

Edinburgh Good evening and welcome to BBC

Points West on the 10th anniversary of the final Concorde landing. Our

headlines on a special programme tonight: Does Concorde deserve

better than this? The fastest passenger plane ever built faces

another winter open to the elements. How they've done it elsewhere. We

look at the fate of the other Concordes. And where were you when

the supersonic aircraft made its lap of honour before retirement.

We'll be talking to the captain of that last flight, live in the

studio. And tonight's other headlines.

After the death of this Swindon man, a coroner calls for the Home

Secretary to ban the drug, AMT. Plus ` the criminal given the choice

to pay back ?2 million or go to jail for another five years.

Good evening. First tonight ` A coroner is to write to the

government asking for a ban on a drug sold openly on the internet and

in shops across the country. It's perfectly legal and is known as AMT.

But today it was linked to the death of a 23`year`old Swindon man.

Christopher Scott took the tablets on a night out. Five days later he

was dead. Sally Challoner was at today's inquest.

Christopher Scott took two small green tablets during a night out.

Three days later he collapsed convulsing, coughing up blood and

then died in hospital. An inquest heard the drug he had taken his AMT,

one of many legal highs available via the internet. The term legal

high is very misleading. You presume it has been tested and it is fine to

use. That is the misconception that it is an OK thing. The coroner will

write to the Home Secretary with his concerns about this and another

death involving AMT. She has such days to reply. He says if he does

not consider banning this drug, he will want to know why. Last year

there was 52 deaths linked to legal highs. Christopher's dad had this

warning for others taking them. Just don't do it. I understand you want

to have a good time when you go out. Have a few beers with your mates but

his legal highs are not worth the risk, it is like playing Russian

roulette. On Thursday Christopher's family will meet their local MP and

Tokyo it is for a ban will soon be unstoppable. `` and Hall the

impetus. A Chinese businessman has been given

six months to pay back nearly ?2 million or go to jail for five more

years. Anthony Ho, who was previously convicted of fraudulent

trading, paid just ?1,000 in income tax on his empire worth around ?370

million. Our Home Affairs Correspondent, Steve Brodie, reports

from Bristol Crown Court. Anthony Ho arriving at the beginning

of this proceeds of crime hearing having already served eight months

in jail after pleading guilty to fraudulent trading. His money

bureau, World Travel Service Ltd, in London's China Town was used by

Chinese ex`pats to send millions of pounds back home from the UK. Judge

Martin Picton didn't believe Anthony Ho when he said he only had assets

of ?650,000. Instead The judge ruled that Ho had hidden assets of ?1.9

million. He gave him six months to pay up otherwise he will go to

prison for a further five years. The court had already decided that Ho `

previously known as Jia Jun He ` had made more than ?5 million from his

?368 million operation. The financial investigators have

conducted a detailed investigation and and covered that Anthony Ho

under Bentley Continental motor vehicle which is very expensive. Ho

who also had businesses in Gloucestershire, was convicted in

Hong Kong in 2008, for money laundering and had been fined a

quarter of a million ponds. The judge commented" A simply vast

amount of cash has passed through his hands and has gone abroad." The

judge added" I am quite sure that some of the money would have stuck

and would have been spirited out of the UK's jurisdiction". If Mr Ho

doesn't pay back the money in six months, he'll be back in prison by

May. The mayor of Bristol will come face

to face with his critics at a public meeting this evening, over the

city's biggest`ever programme of cuts. George Ferguson says the

council must save ?90 million over the next three years. He plans to

raise taxes, and public toilets and some libraries could close. About

now the mayor and several senior councillors are beginning a budget

question time at Henbury School. We'll have more on this at ten.

A legal challenge to the government's cull of badgers in

Gloucestershire has begun. Lawyers acting for the Queen guitarist and

animal`rights campaigner Brian May today lodged papers at the High

Court. They're objecting to the decision to grant an eight`week

extension to the cull, which is meant to help tackle bovine TB.

They're hoping for a court hearing within days.

Campaigners fighting a proposal to dump asbestos in a quarry in North

East Somerset are celebrating this evening, after a planning inquiry

ruled it shouldn't be allowed. Members of the Stowey Sutton Action

Group say they're delighted by the decision. The inspector agreed it

could risk contaminating the nearby Chew Valley Lake reservoir. The

quarry owners have declined to comment.

It's derby night in football with Cheltenham Town hosting Bristol

Rovers. Both sides have been struggling in League Two this

season. Alistair Durden is at Whaddon Road this evening.

Pre`season expectations for both the sides to be challenging for

promotion. Cheltenham have made the play`offs in the last two years and

Bristol Rovers finished the last season very well, but here we are at

the end of November and they are quite far down league two. Also

shown signs of improving recently. We have had one defeat in six so

there's no point in me getting upset and transferring that to the

players. That would not be positive for tomorrow. We know there is

enough experience in the group of players to come away with the Vic

today. Let's talk to the Cheltenham town chairman. You have had high

standards in recent seasons, there is room for improvement this

season? There is room for improvement. We are chasing

promotion. I think the players have been fantastic. It is difficult

year`on`year to exceed what we have done previously. With our budget, we

do amazingly well. In comparison with Bristol Rovers to a massive

side with the huge desertion. We looking forward to meeting John and

we welcome him back. And they played tonight, Derby, important is that?

It is really important. We aspire to be as big as Ben. There are plans

for their new stadium just blow me away. `` be as big as Ben. We know

they are having a tough season. It should be a good atmosphere and a

good game. Thanks very much. Bristol city are at home to Leeds and orient

and Swindon are we to Crawley. It is chilly tonight, so if you do not

plan to come out, your local radio will keep you in touch with the

common Terry. Now for a Concorde special.

Ten years ago today ` the West Country came to a standstill as tens

of thousands turned out to witness the last ever flight of Concorde.

She flew in a lap of honour over Bristol ` the city that created the

finest, most advanced passenger plane that the world had ever seen

The Concorde story is still thrilling ` a battle against all the

odds to create a plane that could travel faster than a bullet in

complete luxury. But after a decade on the ground ` Filton's Concorde is

still without a proper resting place. Concorde was the supersonic

icon of the sixties that captured the hearts of millions world wide.

I've been looking back on her history. The year was 1969 `

Concorde soared off the runway in Filton into a brave new world of

supersonic travel.. . She is airborne. A few months later the

Americans put a man on the moon. A small step for man, a giant leap for

mankind. President Nixon said the heavens had become part of our

world.... And yet of the two ` Concorde was arguably the more

difficult aeronautical challenge. Yes ` Houston had problems ` but

Filton's were even more profound... Ted Talbot at home in Portishead `

in the Concorde years he virtually lived in the plane's design office `

he re`calls how their problem solving astonished the world. The

Russians had a go at it, we met them and talk to them about it. They said

they admired what we had done. We then met the Americans. They were

quite surprised that we have got that far anyway because they started

with first supersonic aircraft. They got as far as wooden mock`up. He

gave up after that. But we didn't do it alone ` it was a deal with the

French that ensured Concorde flew. Engineers in Bristol learnt French `

the French came and lived here in an extraordinary period of industrial

co`operation. It was all down to ourselves and French. Once we have

got used to working together and trusting one another, then it went

along quite well. But while we worked with our old foes, our old

friends in America ` were trying hard to keep supersonic transport `

called SST ` out. Excessive fuel consumption would put a major drain

on fuel reserves all over the world. The irony of being lectured on gas

guzzling by the Americans ` was not lost on Europe ` but they had a

point. Concorde could only do 15 miles a gallon per passenger mile.

Other slower planes did 30. It could only make a profit on the lucrative

London to New York route much favoured by the rich and famous. But

then bad luck and world events combined in a deadly sequence which

even Concorde could not survive. An Air France plane hit some debris on

take off and caught fire in Paris. Then the 9/11 attacks killed many of

Concorde's customers who worked in the Twin Towers. Suddenly flying was

no longer glamorous ` even in Concorde. And so ten yeara ago today

` we all assembled at Filton to pay our final respects as Concorde flew

proudly over the west for one last time. And even now as she stands

sadly on the runway` she remains the most beautiful, speedy and advanced

passenger plane in history. There were ten Concordes built at Filton.

Since they were grounded a decade ago ` most are on display around

Britain and across the world. The prototype is at Yeovilton. Two are

in museums in Cambridgeshire and Edinburgh. Another is in a specially

created hangar at Manchester Airport. Three more are on show in

New York, Seattle and Barbados. But at Heathrow ` she's a bit of a

lonely sight standing close to the runways. And here in the West ` This

is Concorde 216 today. Despite hopes she might be centre stage in a

specially built museum by now ` ten years on, she's still on tarmac at

Filton Airfield. In need of a clean, but still majestic.

The first place in the country to make Concorde the main attraction

was Brooklands Museum in Surrey. So what lessons can Bristol learn from

there? Scott Ellis has been to find out. Here's the real thing at

Brooklands. They have one and one third Concordes. This is the smaller

one. You might recognise it, it was on the roundabout at Heathrow The

first Concorde to go on permanent display in the UK. For years. That

was 2006. And it's still pulling in the punters. It's been phenomenal,

we have had more than 40,000 people on it. Compared with last year, 37.

I hope we will get to 45,000 by the end of the year. It's been a success

because Brooklands ` unlike Bristol ` had an established aircraft and

motor museum. Concorde added to the mix. It has history here too. The

famous nose cones were made here in Weybridge ` prior to assembly in

Filton. But Brooklands relies on volunteers ` like these former

Concorde engineers. Out even in the winter cold ` to stop her from

rotting. It is the camaraderie, it is keeping the aeroplane going. It

is continuing the Concorde process. 27 years on it as a licensed

engineer and we miss that, we still miss it. Brooklands has one other

major draw. It has Filton's flight simulator ` one of only two in the

world. You can fly Concorde ` alongside Concorde pilots ` again

working voluntarily. Pilots who decades ago spent 80 hours in here

at Filton ` to see if they made the supersonic grade. It was very

gruelling. We had to do lots of work. Ground school was six weeks,

then we had five weeks in the area. They went through all the emergency

checklists, people did feel. There was pressure. We flew Concorde up

the Severn estuary. Popped under both suspension bridges. Before

touching down at Filton. If only. This father and son had a go. They

watched Concorde land at Filton ten years ago. And can't beleive it's

shut. When you drive past on the M5, it is a little bit sad to see it in

the rain. It would be nice to have a nice museum for it. Bristol's

Concorde team's been to Brooklands to learn from their success. It's

about reliving the Concorde dream ` but she needs volunteers and other

attractions around her. Hopefully it won't be another ten years before

Filton unveils its Concorde to the public.

For ten years the Bristol Aero Collection Trust has been

campaigning for a new aerospace centre to be built at Filton ` which

would house Concorde. But will this this ever be a reality? Joining us

now is their Chairman, Iain Gray ` who was the former Managing Director

of Airbus. How close is Bristol to getting a Concorde museum? We will

get a centre. We have not been doing nothing for the last ten years. The

aircraft is well looked after, it is the pride of us still. I have been

campaigning for a new home for it. We have had a number of announcement

and we are going to establish a new Bristol aid is space Centre on the

northside the runway. It will open to the public at the end of 2016.

What condition is a plain and, it has been tinny elements for ten

years? I have been out there today and we have a number of visitors

celebrating the 10th anniversary. We walked up and down the aircraft, it

needs cleaning, but structurally it is very sound. The aircraft we have

at Filton is unique. It is the last Concorde to fly and the last one to

be built. It was the last one to be built at Filton. It is a great

design icon. It is a beautiful plain, no doubt about that. What

sort of experience are you planning for people? From my perspective, it

is a design icon so we need something which shows off its

qualities. Bristol is not just about Concorde so we will establish a new

Bristol Aerospace Centre. It'll have a of refurbished buildings which

houses the old part of the collection. Then there will have a

brand`new building to house Concorde. It will be a visitor

attraction, where we project onto the aircraft itself some of the

engineering features. It will give visitors the feeling of what it was

like to fly in Concorde. It will be something we are very proud of.

Lovely, what is the date again? End of 2016. Open to the public in

spring 2017. I hope we are invited and our viewers as well. It will be

a great event. Everyone is invited. So should be very proud of Concorde

and of the new centre. Thank you very much indeed.

Concorde will always have a unique place in the history of aviation

here in the West. But why did it take the world by storm? Jheni Osman

is a science expert. We asked her to look at the technology of this plane

and explain why it was so advanced. The science of Concorde was utterly

revolutionary. Unlike any commercial plane before or since, because it

was supersonic. It flew at twice the speed of sound. It was like the

worlds fastest road car ` the Bugatti Veron ` coming onto the

market alongside a ford mondeo. Concorde breaking the sound barrier

was like punching through a brick wall and that required totally new

wings, components and above all new engines. Airbus shots Much was

designed at Filton now the home of airbus where I met one of the

country's leading Concorde experts. JO: So why were Concorde's engines

so revolutionary? They're revolutionary because of the job

they had to do ` you needed a lot of power for take off and going through

the sound barrier. Then once through the sound barrier, Concorde could do

something that no other plane could do ` you turn the afterburners off

and the plane would continue to accelerate up to Mach two and

beyond. That sort of speed demanded everything about the plane be

streamlined. They had to cope with the huge heat generated. They also

had to balance the plane by pumping fuel from one end of the aircraft to

the other because it became nose heavy at high speeds. Concorde was

famous for its sonic boom. That's the shock wave caused when you break

the sound barrier. To see one ` I went to the wind tunel of

aerodynamics expert Raf Theunissen at the University of Bristol. The

shock wave travels down towards the ground, and when it passes that

change in pressure due to the shock wave that is the sonic boom that

people hear. Can we see or emulate a sonic boom in the lab. Yes we can.

We wont hear it but we can see the shocks at least which create the

sonic boom. Concorde's sonic boom contributed to its downfall. So the

big question now, will another supersonic passenger plane ever fly?

Sir Richard Branson thinks so. He's funding the Virgin Galactic

programme to take passengers into space and wants to develop

concorde's successor. I spoke to him at his luxury home in the Virgin

Islands. I am absolutely determined that I see London and is simply

within a couple of hours of my lifetime. The engineers believe they

can make it possible. We may be talking ahead of ourselves but we

will give it our best shot, I is. Branson may believe it's

technologically possible ` and so do I. But Airbus is a great example of

how all the money is being pumped into high volume low cost passenger

travel. And once again supersonic flight may still be too expensive.

Well, one man who knows the silver bird inside out is Captain Les

Brodie, who flew Concorde 216 into Filton on her final flight from

Heathrow ten years ago today. Captain Brodie, thanks for joining

us. Do you think we will see a supersonic passenger plane again? I

hope so. I think there will be eventually, we should not go

backwards, we should go forward. There are projects ahead, business

jets in the pipeline. Also we have got our own people, who were working

on a propulsion system which eventually will take us to Sydney

like Branson said. What do you feel about Concorde still being on the

tarmac at Filton ten years on? I felt very sad that it came out of

service. There was loss of life left in the aircraft. But the economy was

bad at the time, the Iraqi war, it was a bad time for supersonic

travel. It was bad luck Kindertransport yes, it was. I saw

her when she was flown into Filton, she was in perfect condition. We

grounded jet which was almost as good as new. It is felt that way and

it was that way. The aircraft did have a lot of life left in it but

unfortunately the economy stop the progress. You do have wonderful

stories of flights around the world. Yes, on Concorde we always had

celebrities. We met lots of pop stars and film stars. My favourite

was Princess Diana. What a lovely lady she was. She had a great sense

of humour. I was lined up outside the court `` toilet with her. She

was sitting on the front row. We had three toilets. One in the front and

two midships. Everyone was using the front toilet! She said they must all

have cystitis. And send you had an experience with Gwyneth Paltrow, you

had to tell your wife about it? She was younger lady and came up to a

landing. She was in the jump seat. Before 9/11 we could have people on

the flight deck. She was so excited she put her hands shall drip as we

came into lines which made a bit tricky for me to do that `` to do

the landing. Thank you very much for coming in. Now the look of the

weather. The set cabin doors to manual because we're going outside.

Thank you very much. I'm sure all claim others like myself enjoyed

that. I remember when the Concorde lost its flight rudder and one time.

Until then her safety record was exemplary. Let me show you some

graphics. This photo was taken this morning. It was close to the runway

that Filton `` at Filton Matt Concorde came in on for its last

flight. It shows nicely how we have an insertion. Temperatures at 1800

feet were three degrees above freezing. This conversion allies

that plume of industrial steam which you can see to be capped off at that

level. It gives a visual clue if you're driving up the M5 what the

weather conditions are like. Tomorrow, thanks to another

inversion we will have a lot of low cloud, some drizzle in the morning

for some of you. The rest of the day will be drive. It will feel cold.

Temperatures will be up on today. High`pressure out towards the west

of us again. This week front sweeping southwards. Some mild ear

and a bit of drizzle about. Closed to new ring into Thursday.

Temperatures dropping away tonight markedly. They will be stopped as

the low cloud starts to become more prevalent. More drizzle and light

rain, mostly towards the east. Fog on the hills. Temperatures will be

at their lowest of two degrees. Not as cold as last night but a cold

start tomorrow. The early damp weather clears the way towards the

south`east. A little hint of things brightening up. Some exceptions

towards Portlock. I would not hold your breath. A grey day throughout

the day. The winds will be light. No wind to add. It will feel quite cold

in the sunshine. Thank you very much for that. That's

where we leave it Thank you very much for that. That's

where we leave tonight on the 10th anniversary of the final flight of

Concorde. It has been underground Fred decade, but there is still

nothing to beat it. Throughout the West Country, Concorde remains a

beacon of pride and excellence. If you want to see more of our footage

tonight, have a look on Facebook page. That's it from us. Goodbye.