0:00:02 > 0:00:04'Three, two, one, now.'
0:00:07 > 0:00:09A technological masterpiece,
0:00:09 > 0:00:14Concorde turned heads throughout her magnificent career.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17It was this amazing triumph.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19I mean, it was a triumph.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24She flew on the edge of space at twice the speed of sound,
0:00:24 > 0:00:27outrunning even military jets.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30Then the back boiler went on and... Yeeeah!
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Inside her luxurious cabin,
0:00:33 > 0:00:37passengers savoured haute cuisine and vintage champagne.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44- Did you enjoy yourselves? - EVERYONE:- Yes!
0:00:44 > 0:00:47It was an opportunity to step into another world.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51I looked around, and there was Ronnie Wood, there.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54He went, "Hello!".
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Behind the glamour, Concorde's journey was one of intrigue,
0:00:58 > 0:01:01backstabbing and catastrophe.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05'The world's most prestigious aircraft crashes.'
0:01:05 > 0:01:09It was an accident that should never, ever have happened.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12This is the story of an aeroplane
0:01:12 > 0:01:15that went beyond pure mechanics
0:01:15 > 0:01:18to become a dream in the sky.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21It's undeniable that it is the most glamorous and the most exciting
0:01:21 > 0:01:24and the most brilliant aircraft in the world.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48'This is the story of an aeroplane. An aeroplane that doesn't exist.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50'If it flies,
0:01:50 > 0:01:54'well, flying in it will be like putting granny in a missile.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56'Just seven years from now.'
0:01:56 > 0:02:01In November 1962, two nations, France and Britain,
0:02:01 > 0:02:03came together with a plan.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07One that would set their course for the next 40 years.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11They wanted to build a supersonic airliner.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14A dream held since the end of the Second World War.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20'If the gamble comes off, it could win a billion-dollar market.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23'If it fails, we'll be left with a great, big, white elephant
0:02:23 > 0:02:26'with its feet stuck firmly on both sides of the English Channel.'
0:02:27 > 0:02:30The very first discussions about Concorde
0:02:30 > 0:02:32took place in the late 1940s.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34That's amongst British engineers.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38They were dreaming of a future that was far, far,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41far from the world that they actually lived in,
0:02:41 > 0:02:44which was a world of bankrupt Britain, a coal-driven Britain,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48ration books, a sort of black and white, sooty world.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53Yet, here were these men, dreaming up this glorious Dan Dare world.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58When the Americans succeeded in flying faster
0:02:58 > 0:03:01than the speed of sound in 1947,
0:03:01 > 0:03:06a worldwide race began to build the first supersonic passenger plane.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11PLANE ENGINE ROARS
0:03:12 > 0:03:17The Nazis had made significant strides in aircraft technology
0:03:17 > 0:03:19during World War II.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24Now British scientists seized those ideas and took them forward.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28In the course of our work, this sort of shape was evolved
0:03:28 > 0:03:31as the most likely shape for an aeroplane doing about Mach 2,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34flying at twice the speed of sound across the Atlantic.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36It's rather a lovely shape.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39You really feel if God meant aeroplanes to fly,
0:03:39 > 0:03:41he meant them to be this shape.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44Britain now had the makings of a supersonic airliner.
0:03:44 > 0:03:49But it was going to cost £100 million to realise.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53Across the Channel, France was making progress on an idea
0:03:53 > 0:03:55that looked suspiciously similar.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01'They unveiled a model of a super caravel, a supersonic caravel,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04'apparently, the first supersonic airliner in the world.'
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Rather than compete, the two countries agreed
0:04:09 > 0:04:12they would combine their designs and share the costs.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15'At Lancaster house, the Aviation Minister,
0:04:15 > 0:04:19'Mr Julian Amery, in company with the French ambassador almost crooned
0:04:19 > 0:04:22'in admiration over the brainchild of their two countries.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24'On behalf of their governments,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27'they signed the agreement for the joint development and production.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30'A foretaste, perhaps, of common market co-operation.'
0:04:30 > 0:04:34They agreed to build one in Toulouse, France,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37and the other at Filton in Bristol.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41Once they had the political backing, the political clearance,
0:04:41 > 0:04:45the funds were there, or so it seemed, well, it shouldn't take long
0:04:45 > 0:04:48to get into the sky - five years and it would be off.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52This was a treaty between two centuries old rivals
0:04:52 > 0:04:54so suspicions were high.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Our politicians, I think this was the way it went,
0:04:58 > 0:05:00didn't trust the French politicians,
0:05:00 > 0:05:04and so they insisted that if ever anybody went out,
0:05:04 > 0:05:08then the other side would have to pay the total
0:05:08 > 0:05:10until it was fully developed.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14So that meant that we couldn't pull out either.
0:05:15 > 0:05:20This clause would dog British politicians for the next ten years.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25For now, it was time to dig out those phrase books
0:05:25 > 0:05:29as engineers in Britain and France began work.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31How often do you go to Bristol?
0:05:31 > 0:05:36Erm, I go into Bristol every two weeks and I stay for three days.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38It does depend on the work.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Of course, we had the language problem.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44A lot of the French spoke some form of English,
0:05:44 > 0:05:48whereas very few of the English spoke any French.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50Do you speak French?
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Very little. Just enough to get by for food and suchlike.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55SHE SPEAKS FRENCH
0:05:55 > 0:05:59Both sides of the operation organised language classes
0:05:59 > 0:06:01for their workers.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03HE SPEAKS FRENCH
0:06:09 > 0:06:12The French part of the aircraft drawings were in French
0:06:12 > 0:06:16and we all learned what a drill was or what a bolt was...
0:06:16 > 0:06:18or nuts, or split pins.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21We kind of got used to the French terms.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24France's Concorde workers take their lunchtime break
0:06:24 > 0:06:27and here at the Sud Aviation works at Toulouse,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29it's very different indeed
0:06:29 > 0:06:32from the British Aircraft Corporation's canteen at Filton.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36There's about 1,000 people in here and, as you can tell,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39there's a good lot of din.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43And most French workmen like to take a glass of wine with their lunch.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48The British engineer had to be careful
0:06:48 > 0:06:52that a lunchtime tipple didn't jeopardise delicate negotiations.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55The technique was quite good,
0:06:55 > 0:06:57because they would stonewall all morning,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59then give you a good lunch,
0:06:59 > 0:07:03and then they'd expect you to accept their proposal in the afternoon.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Which didn't work all the time.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Well, I think it seldom worked.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Might have done with the production people.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16I never found out from them, but that's scurrilous, I suppose.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21Teams of engineers from France and Britain got on very well together.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25They liked a bit of raillery and they liked pushing each other.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28The French teased the British, the British teased the French.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31So that competition amongst the engineers
0:07:31 > 0:07:35and the national prides involved led to a very successful machine.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Unlike their engineers, the politicians did fall out.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Harold Wilson was furious with President De Gaulle
0:07:44 > 0:07:47for adding a letter E to the word Concorde,
0:07:47 > 0:07:49so he removed it.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51But De Gaulle put it back.
0:07:52 > 0:07:57In Bristol and Toulouse, the workers didn't give a flying fig.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01- Why is it immaterial?- Well, some say Concord, some say Concorde.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03I don't think it makes any difference at all.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08I don't care what they call it, as long as it's, erm... successful.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11So long as it's got the craftsmanship in it
0:08:11 > 0:08:15and the ability of the men that's working on it to fly.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18I think we may as well be together and put an E on
0:08:18 > 0:08:20and make the damn thing and get on with it.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22They can put ten Es on it if they wish.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27I think it was Tony Benn that said, "Look, let's put the E on Concorde
0:08:27 > 0:08:30"and let's not worry about the little things."
0:08:30 > 0:08:33And I thought the 'E' actually did the aircraft a favour.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36It was, erm... just a nice little touch.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41People were working together for the betterment of the aircraft industry.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46A year on from the Anglo-French treaty,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49the first designs of Concorde were released.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53A wooden mock-up demonstrated the interior
0:08:53 > 0:08:55and the hi-tech heat shield.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01The orders came in very early, the aviation industry was very excited.
0:09:01 > 0:09:06Supersonic flight was in its early days but it was thrilling.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09I think it thrilled everyone. It thrilled airline executives.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Hard to imagine today, airline executives being thrilled by
0:09:12 > 0:09:14the poetry of flight, but they were then.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18Concorde was the way forward. Everyone knew that.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23Airlines across the world responded with great excitement,
0:09:23 > 0:09:2616 airlines ordering some 75 aircraft.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31Many of the orders were by airlines in the US,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34which infuriated President John F Kennedy,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37so he announced a plane that would be bigger,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40faster and travel even further than Concorde.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44And we are talking about a plane in the end of the '60s
0:09:44 > 0:09:47that will move ahead at a speed faster than Mach 2
0:09:47 > 0:09:49to all corners of the globe.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52America simply wasn't going to be left behind.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55They were worried already because there's another player involved -
0:09:55 > 0:10:01the Soviets, who also had supersonic technology developing apace.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05They also had former Nazi German engineers and designers
0:10:05 > 0:10:08working on aircraft and other military machinery,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11so, naturally, the Americans were worried.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17Now that it had customers, Concorde had to be turned into reality.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20Everything was built from scratch,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23stretching existing materials to the limit.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27It's the biggest international project, air project,
0:10:27 > 0:10:29ever undertaken.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32After the American space programme and the Russian space programme,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35this is probably the biggest of its kind in the world.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40What made it even bigger was that they were building
0:10:40 > 0:10:44two identical planes, so every part had to be manufactured twice.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48One for the French prototype and one for the British.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54Duplicate sets of drawings, you've got duplicate sets of management.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56Duplicate sets of engineers.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00Boy, the fact it worked was wonderful,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02but the costs were racking up all the time.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05'The Concorde's basic design features have been established
0:11:05 > 0:11:07'and its performance defined.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11'A cruising speed of Mach 2.2 or 1,450 mph.'
0:11:12 > 0:11:16To be able to fly at more than twice the speed of sound
0:11:16 > 0:11:19required huge leaps in aircraft design.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22The wings were perfected
0:11:22 > 0:11:25through months of exhaustive wind tunnel testing.
0:11:31 > 0:11:36The engines, taken from a military aircraft, were completely rebuilt,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39making them more than twice as powerful.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42We changed almost everything in that engine.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46Even the fuel system was changed by the time we'd finished.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49ENGINE ROARS
0:11:54 > 0:11:58The long, streamlined nose was designed to cut through the air
0:11:58 > 0:12:01faster than any other passenger aircraft.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05But engineers had to come up with an ingenious solution for take-off
0:12:05 > 0:12:06and landing.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09People are always fascinated by the droopsnoot
0:12:09 > 0:12:12but, I mean, the reality is that it was actually, really,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14very much necessary.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17The whole object of the exercise of the droopsnoot
0:12:17 > 0:12:20was to get that long needle nose out of the pilot's line of sight
0:12:20 > 0:12:23so that he could see the runway in front of him.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25By 1966,
0:12:25 > 0:12:29large sections of the aircraft were being shipped from factories
0:12:29 > 0:12:31on either side of the Channel.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35'Then bang on time, the first French-built component
0:12:35 > 0:12:37'for the second prototype reached Filton.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40'The vehicle and its load had travelled direct from Toulouse
0:12:40 > 0:12:43'by road and cross-Channel car ferry.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45'This is the normal method for moving Concorde components
0:12:45 > 0:12:47'between Toulouse and Filton.'
0:12:47 > 0:12:51I remember the very first sections of the aircraft being delivered
0:12:51 > 0:12:53from the various production sites.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55The nose section was one of the first.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00Security in those days was not as you would expect nowadays.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03It was such a sensitive project,
0:13:03 > 0:13:06so I would spend a lot of time during the day
0:13:06 > 0:13:09coming down with a little clipboard with something scribbled on.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12I was down here every day, just about, just looking round.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14I'm sure my bosses used to think, "Where's Nigel?"
0:13:14 > 0:13:17"Oh, yeah, he'll be downstairs with his clipboard."
0:13:17 > 0:13:21It was a passion and a pride and privilege to be actually working
0:13:21 > 0:13:25out here and see this aircraft, which was being built from scratch,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28to something which would become an icon of the 20th century.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30FANFARE
0:13:31 > 0:13:34'Visiting the British aircraft Corporation factory
0:13:34 > 0:13:38'at Filton near Bristol, the Queen was to see for herself
0:13:38 > 0:13:41'how the Anglo-French Concorde project was shaping,
0:13:41 > 0:13:43'To the delight of the crowd.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45'But it was during her tour the news came
0:13:45 > 0:13:48'that increased costs for developing the 1,500 mile an hour jetliner
0:13:48 > 0:13:52'had rocketed to an estimated £500 million.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55'While Her Majesty was showing keen interest in the work,
0:13:55 > 0:13:59'parliament was expressing concern at the project's soaring expense.'
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Concorde had cost five times its original budget.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06To make matters worse,
0:14:06 > 0:14:10the airlines who'd ordered it were asking for expensive additions.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14It was impossible, really, for Concorde not to go over budget
0:14:14 > 0:14:18because the original idea was that Concorde would be this lightweight,
0:14:18 > 0:14:21supersonic dart zipping across the Atlantic, or around the world.
0:14:21 > 0:14:26Because it went so fast, VIPs on board wouldn't need much more,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29from an English point of view, than, sort of, a sandwich,
0:14:29 > 0:14:31a cup of tea and a glass of whisky.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34But when other airlines looked at it, particularly the French,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37they said, no, this is a luxury aircraft.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42Its passengers would want champagne, Bordeaux wine and haute cuisine.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46But all this excess was causing Concorde to put on weight,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49adding even more to the bill.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51The French never cared about the cost at all.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53It escalated substantially.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56When we mentioned this to the French minister, he'd hold up his hands.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59These things, when you get to this scale, they're political.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01They had to be decided politically.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04As far as the French were concerned, it was the grandeur of France,
0:15:04 > 0:15:06as far as the Treasury was concerned,
0:15:06 > 0:15:09it was, can you make a quick buck for tax cuts for the rich?
0:15:09 > 0:15:12That was the difference between the British and French attitude.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14But I'm proud that I stopped it being cancelled
0:15:14 > 0:15:17because the Treasury wanted to cancel it
0:15:17 > 0:15:19and the Cabinet wanted to cancel it.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23The future of Concorde will be decided by Concorde
0:15:23 > 0:15:25in the course of this year.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27They couldn't do this
0:15:27 > 0:15:31because, one, the French were committed to it,
0:15:31 > 0:15:35and if the British had truly pulled out,
0:15:35 > 0:15:37had done a, kind of, Concorde Brexit,
0:15:37 > 0:15:41what would have happened then is the French would have sued the British.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45It's an extraordinary thought, but a country can sue another country.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48Britain would have had to pay a fortune to France.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50None of this seemed to matter
0:15:50 > 0:15:54on a glorious winter's day in 1967,
0:15:54 > 0:15:59when Concorde 001 was unveiled in France.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02'And the guests watch as the great hangar doors opened
0:16:02 > 0:16:06'to reveal 001 - the first Concorde prototype.'
0:16:07 > 0:16:10The atmosphere was one of wild optimism
0:16:10 > 0:16:12and excitement for the future,
0:16:12 > 0:16:16where even the flight attendants were dressed for space travel.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20All this, and the plane hadn't even left the ground yet.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22'And here, a touch of symbolism,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25'the two ministers jointly cut the ribbons
0:16:25 > 0:16:28'to release the aircraft for its ceremonial roll-out.'
0:16:28 > 0:16:31Here too was a chance to meet the brave test pilots
0:16:31 > 0:16:35who would risk their lives flying the prototypes.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39For the French, former Air Force Major Andre Turcat.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44And holding up the British end of things, Brian Trubshaw,
0:16:44 > 0:16:47a former World War II bomber pilot.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Awkward, camera shy, but practical.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53You don't worry very much about the danger?
0:16:53 > 0:16:56No, I don't think you can be a person
0:16:56 > 0:16:59who worries very much about the danger,
0:16:59 > 0:17:01if that danger is really there anyway.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03You've got to have some fear,
0:17:03 > 0:17:07otherwise you'll just go at the thing like a bull-headed animal
0:17:07 > 0:17:10and I think some degree of fear
0:17:10 > 0:17:14is a fundamentally required quality in a test pilot.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19I first met Brian Trubshaw in 1968 and he actually had an office
0:17:19 > 0:17:22next door to the department where I worked.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25We had to dress him sometimes, in some of the gear,
0:17:25 > 0:17:28because initially on Concorde they had to wear parachutes,
0:17:28 > 0:17:31pressure suits, as if they were flying a fighter plane.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33It's very hot.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37When you're a test pilot and you're going to fly an aeroplane
0:17:37 > 0:17:40which is an unknown force, there's a lot to think of.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43You don't want people fussing. You just want to get on with it.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45And a lot of people try to make a fuss.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49Trubshaw hated press scrutiny.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51He was used to being in control.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55Would you turn around before you go up, sir?
0:17:58 > 0:18:00Who's going to make the final decision
0:18:00 > 0:18:03- as to when you do actually take-off? - I do, and nobody else.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Trubshaw might be in charge at the British end,
0:18:07 > 0:18:10but the French Concorde would be flying first.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13He'd be reduced to watching from the sidelines
0:18:13 > 0:18:16when, on March the 2nd 1969,
0:18:16 > 0:18:22Andre Turcat took Concorde 001 on its maiden flight.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28The main thought is, will everything keep going?
0:18:28 > 0:18:31That was me. That was the kind of thinking I did.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35Other people shut their eyes, I think,
0:18:35 > 0:18:36in case it went wrong.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41I certainly watched the maiden flight out of Toulouse
0:18:41 > 0:18:44and I think Raymond Baxter's commentary
0:18:44 > 0:18:48still makes all the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51It was a brilliant piece of commentating by him.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53'135.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56'Rotate any second.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59'Nose wheel well up. Smooth rotation continuing.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03'Nose come up to 20 degrees. She's airborne.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07'She flies.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11'Concorde flies at last.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22'As Mr Turcat goes off to face the hazards of a press conference...'
0:19:22 > 0:19:26The flight at Toulouse was a great success.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29But Trubshaw wasn't happy with the media circus
0:19:29 > 0:19:33and was now threatening to ban everyone from the British attempt.
0:19:34 > 0:19:39This performance which surrounds this first flight of 001
0:19:39 > 0:19:41is, erm, wrong...
0:19:42 > 0:19:44I don't agree with it.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48And I realise that in saying that to you, I'm stating it publicly.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51But I am absolutely opposed to this.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54And it is possible
0:19:54 > 0:19:56that I shall refuse
0:19:56 > 0:20:01to allow a similar activity for 002.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07As the big day drew near,
0:20:07 > 0:20:11it was clear that this would be a huge public event.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18The whole length of the field was filled with people - employees.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Up on the hill there there were people watching.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23I chose to stand down where the aircraft was
0:20:23 > 0:20:25so I could hear the engine start up.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31Smokey Joe, she was called at the time,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34because they were early production engines, quite smoky,
0:20:34 > 0:20:36and dark smoke out the back.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38The colleague I was with said, "We'd better move back,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41"because we are going to be affected by the jet blast",
0:20:41 > 0:20:45but I said, "No, I want to stay here and I want to smell the kerosene and I want to get blown over."
0:20:48 > 0:20:51The noise when she actually got to the runway, opened throttles,
0:20:51 > 0:20:55full power, with reheat, it was a magnificent sight.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22Concorde 002 flew for a whole 22 minutes...
0:21:23 > 0:21:27..touching down at RAF Fairford 50 miles away.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44Here, the pilots were greeted by an even bigger press corps.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49It had been a wonderful first flight.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54Trubshaw's place in history was guaranteed,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57whether he liked it or not.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Concorde now embarked on a rigorous programme of flight testing.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07And for those with the right connections, here, at last,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09was a chance to have a go at the controls.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20As someone keen on conservation, what did you think of the level
0:22:20 > 0:22:23- of noise and smoke? - I was inside and I wasn't smoking.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25LAUGHTER
0:22:27 > 0:22:32Joking aside, Concorde's smoky engines were a concern.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34Even more worrying was the noise created
0:22:34 > 0:22:37when she flew faster than the speed of sound.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Anyone on the ground would hear two very loud bangs,
0:22:41 > 0:22:43known as the sonic boom.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45LOUD BANGS
0:22:45 > 0:22:49I mean, when a supersonic aircraft flies over a town, a suburb,
0:22:49 > 0:22:54or a city, it will smash loose windows. It just does.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56And when tests were made in Britain,
0:22:56 > 0:23:00boy, the complaints that poured in were legion.
0:23:03 > 0:23:08By 1972, Concorde was still far from ready to enter service
0:23:08 > 0:23:11and the cost of the project had broken £1 billion.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16Desperate to add to the 75 planes already ordered,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19the prototype was sent on a sales tour
0:23:19 > 0:23:22with a small army of engineers in tow.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25My role then was to walk beside the aircraft
0:23:25 > 0:23:28to make sure it got to the taxi point safely
0:23:28 > 0:23:32and then we would start the engines and help it on its way.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34We did all the maintenance that we could,
0:23:34 > 0:23:37helping the inspection with looking at tyre pressures,
0:23:37 > 0:23:40hydraulic levels, lots of stuff like that.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47Trying to sell the plane on behalf of the Government
0:23:47 > 0:23:50was the suave new Minister for Aerospace, Michael Heseltine.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59One of the first stops was Iran, where the Shah, a keen pilot,
0:23:59 > 0:24:01seemed a likely customer.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06It was designed to be the peak of the first sales trip
0:24:06 > 0:24:10and, hopefully, I would secure his agreement to buy it.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14It all went reasonably to plan.
0:24:14 > 0:24:15Erm...
0:24:15 > 0:24:17well, not quite.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21We went on board and he came and sat alongside me
0:24:21 > 0:24:25and I had 45 minutes flight in which to persuade him
0:24:25 > 0:24:28to buy and to allow us overflying rights.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32The plane took off, he got up, said, "I must go on the flight deck."
0:24:32 > 0:24:35That's the last I saw of him
0:24:35 > 0:24:37until we had landed.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44Back on the tarmac, the Shah casually agreed to the deal
0:24:44 > 0:24:47but without a witness it was far from binding.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49Then, to my huge relief,
0:24:49 > 0:24:53somebody said, "Your Majesty, the Times, London,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56"are you going to buy it?" "Yes", he said. "Two."
0:24:56 > 0:24:59"Your Majesty, the Times again, if you will,
0:24:59 > 0:25:02"will you give us overflying rights?" "Yes, I will."
0:25:03 > 0:25:04My job was done.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10Tehran had gone well but now the sales tour backfired.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14Rather than winning new orders, they began to lose them.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19The black smoke produced by the prototype engines
0:25:19 > 0:25:21horrified the Japanese.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27They cancelled their order for three aircraft.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33Things continue to go badly down under.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37'En route from Darwin, 002 has made Concorde's first sustained
0:25:37 > 0:25:39'supersonic flight over land.'
0:25:39 > 0:25:42When Concorde visited Australia, people were very concerned
0:25:42 > 0:25:45about the noise disturbing aboriginal homelands.
0:25:47 > 0:25:52There was a sense of this aviation colonialism.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55That the British and French were using this machine
0:25:55 > 0:25:58to overfly poorer peoples who would never be able
0:25:58 > 0:26:00to fly on Concorde themselves.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04The sonic boom was becoming a global issue.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08For example, they were banned from flying down the seaboard of India
0:26:08 > 0:26:10because the Indians were saying,
0:26:10 > 0:26:13"Well, why should we be disturbed by this noise?
0:26:13 > 0:26:16"Are we less important than British and French people?"
0:26:17 > 0:26:19Concorde was heading home
0:26:19 > 0:26:22having had its first taste of a turbulent future.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25But for those lucky enough to be on board,
0:26:25 > 0:26:27it was an experience to remember,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30particularly the last leg into Toulouse.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33That was the longest supersonic flight it had done.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36And the whole length of the Mediterranean, we could see Africa
0:26:36 > 0:26:39on the left-hand side and Europe on the right-hand side,
0:26:39 > 0:26:41as we flew at 58,000 feet.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46The three of us that flew on the aircraft
0:26:46 > 0:26:48just couldn't stop talking about it, you know.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50It was amazing.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57On its return home, Concorde was given the royal seal of approval...
0:26:58 > 0:27:02..but the truth was, its future was far from certain.
0:27:04 > 0:27:05Across the pond,
0:27:05 > 0:27:10America's project was struggling even to get off the ground.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13When Boeing first showed its supersonic airline,
0:27:13 > 0:27:17it showed it in the form of a gigantic life-size model.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20'Good afternoon, gentlemen. The Boeing company takes great pride
0:27:20 > 0:27:24'in presenting to you the United States supersonic transport.'
0:27:24 > 0:27:27The Boeing design was too complex. They had a swing wing
0:27:27 > 0:27:29and they had a double droopsnoot -
0:27:29 > 0:27:31the nose bent in two places, not just in one.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35And also, the Americans were facing much greater economic challenges.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37They were running the Apollo programme
0:27:37 > 0:27:40and also they were embroiled in the Vietnam War,
0:27:40 > 0:27:42which was sucking up huge amounts of money.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46Having spent 1 billion with little to show,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48the US government pulled the plug.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53The Russians appeared to be faring better.
0:27:53 > 0:27:58Their plane, nicknamed Concordeski, was poised to enter service.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03I was very struck by the similarities of the design
0:28:03 > 0:28:07to the Concorde, which leads me to believe there was certainly
0:28:07 > 0:28:09industrial espionage going on.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Having said that, I suspect the industrial espionage
0:28:12 > 0:28:14worked both ways.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18The Russian project was actually quite brilliant in one way,
0:28:18 > 0:28:22in that Concordeski was the first supersonic airliner to fly.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24The thing worked, it flew, terrific.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28What a wonderful public relations coup for the Soviet Union.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32There was one little problem in that the aircraft was rushed.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34In many ways it was crude compared to Concorde.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38Its interior, boy, if you think flying on certain
0:28:38 > 0:28:42modern airlines is unpleasant, you should have tried Concordeski!
0:28:42 > 0:28:45Lavatories wouldn't work, lighting would stop,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48there was no hold for luggage under the aircraft,
0:28:48 > 0:28:50the seats were very flimsy things.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52It had been too rushed.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54And, of course, it proved to be quite self-destructive.
0:28:57 > 0:29:02In June 1973, on a demonstration flight at the Paris Airshow,
0:29:02 > 0:29:06Concordeski suffered a catastrophic failure.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08'She was diving and about to crash.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10'It tore itself to pieces and exploded
0:29:10 > 0:29:14'and only a rainfall of bits and pieces hit the ground.'
0:29:14 > 0:29:18All six crew and eight people on the ground were killed.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23Concordeski would fly just 55 commercial flights
0:29:23 > 0:29:28inside the Soviet Union before being grounded in 1978.
0:29:30 > 0:29:34Concorde's superb engineering made failure far less likely,
0:29:34 > 0:29:39but now, ready to enter service, it had problems of its own.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42This was a bad time. Remember the early '70s?
0:29:42 > 0:29:47Gosh, 1973, '74, it's the time of the great oil crisis.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49Fuel costs rocketed.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52And, more than that, it was also the time
0:29:52 > 0:29:55when the environmental lobby becomes vocal.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59We dread one flight over our heads.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03If the French and British made a mistake with this plane,
0:30:03 > 0:30:05we're sorry for them.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09Concorde is no longer the darling of the skies,
0:30:09 > 0:30:11it's being seen as a dark prince.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13Poor Concorde, shown at the right time,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16in the optimistic days of the late '60s
0:30:16 > 0:30:21and got to the market at exactly the wrong time.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26By the end of 1973, a year after the world tour,
0:30:26 > 0:30:30almost every one of Concorde's orders had been cancelled.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34The dream of selling hundreds of aircraft was sunk.
0:30:34 > 0:30:38Not even British Airways and Air France were interested.
0:30:38 > 0:30:43They did not want Concorde in the least.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47They had no interest in the aeroplane whatsoever.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50I'm talking about the management of the airline.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53They just said, "We don't want them. We don't want them."
0:30:53 > 0:30:55Well, that was humiliating.
0:30:55 > 0:31:01So I negotiated, what, in fact, was a gift on profit sharing conditions,
0:31:01 > 0:31:04which meant no cash flow until the thing made a profit.
0:31:04 > 0:31:09That was the basis on which I did this humiliating deal.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11But at least I got a sale!
0:31:12 > 0:31:17British Airways had acquired five aircraft worth £22 million each.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19So there was no holding back
0:31:19 > 0:31:22when it came to launching their first flights.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24A huge publicity stunt
0:31:24 > 0:31:28involving international superstar Shirley Bassey.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33# Till love
0:31:33 > 0:31:35# Touches your life
0:31:37 > 0:31:39# You drift
0:31:39 > 0:31:42# And you wander and you roam... #
0:31:43 > 0:31:47In 1977, flights to New York began.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52Anyone able to stump up £431 for a single fare
0:31:52 > 0:31:55could cross the Atlantic in three and a half hours
0:31:55 > 0:31:56rather than eight.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07And they would discover that from the very first moment of arriving
0:32:07 > 0:32:08for a Concorde flight,
0:32:08 > 0:32:12this was a unique and very special experience.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16The great thing about the Concorde flights was that
0:32:16 > 0:32:20the Concorde Lounge happened very quickly, so having got a ticket,
0:32:20 > 0:32:24you went through the Concorde doors and you were in a, kind of,
0:32:24 > 0:32:26rather nice hotel type reception.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30It was like going to a big feast.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32There were hors d'oeuvres and canapes.
0:32:32 > 0:32:34Everything all laid out.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37It was just drink as much... you know, whatever.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39Help yourself at the bar.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42George had a G&T because he's the G&T king
0:32:42 > 0:32:44and I had a coffee.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47Good morning. Nice to see you.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50We would look at the passenger list and if we knew they were regulars,
0:32:50 > 0:32:52we'd call them by their name.
0:32:52 > 0:32:57They loved that familiarity of coming on and knowing the crew.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02Most people think, Concorde, that's a great, big, huge aeroplane,
0:33:02 > 0:33:06but when you get up close to it, it wasn't that big an aircraft.
0:33:06 > 0:33:11And especially when you get inside, it's quite narrow inside.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14The ceiling was low and the windows were tiny.
0:33:14 > 0:33:16The windows were not like windows on a normal plane,
0:33:16 > 0:33:18they were a little, tiny portholes.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22I'm searching to avoid the word cramped.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25But it was cramped, in fact.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29You were tight and the seat in front was close.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31You know, there was no space.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34'Clear off to starboard.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36'OK, New York, here we come.'
0:33:37 > 0:33:40Before take-off, while we were taxing out,
0:33:40 > 0:33:43we would take a bar order, we would try and offer champagne.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46Hot towels would be offered, as they are in first class,
0:33:46 > 0:33:51and we managed to get all that done while the aircraft was taxiing.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54It was just wonderful, wasn't it, George? It was romantic.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56- Absolutely.- It was so romantic.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58I don't know why I use that word, but it was.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00Just fantastic, you felt...
0:34:00 > 0:34:02I felt like a film star.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04They made you feel like that.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07I was quite scared.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11I think David Frost was on it and I knew David
0:34:11 > 0:34:14and I said, "I'm a bit nervous about this, David."
0:34:14 > 0:34:17He said, "Oh, darling, don't be. I do it three times a week."
0:34:19 > 0:34:21The sensation the passengers would be aware of
0:34:21 > 0:34:24more than anything else would be during the take-off.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28'Three, two, one, now.'
0:34:29 > 0:34:31The acceleration, you could really feel it.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33This great, sort of, surge of acceleration
0:34:33 > 0:34:36in the small of your back and you knew that the aeroplane
0:34:36 > 0:34:39was accelerating rapidly down the runway.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41The tray table in front of me fell down,
0:34:41 > 0:34:44so I was leaning forward trying to get this tray back.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46I don't know why I was caring about the tray but...
0:34:46 > 0:34:47And I couldn't get forward.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49I felt like I was being pushed back in my seat.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53I think when we took off, we took-off about a 30 degrees angle.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58But when he pressed the button and put the afterburners on,
0:34:58 > 0:35:00you're practically stood on the tail.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03I thought, "Oh, what a flight."
0:35:03 > 0:35:05And it was so thrilling.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09There was a wonderful moment where you just watched London go...
0:35:10 > 0:35:13..into a little dot, which was just fantastic.
0:35:13 > 0:35:18I was white-knuckling it and then, as soon as it took-off,
0:35:18 > 0:35:20it was fantastic.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24Thanks to the sonic boom controversy,
0:35:24 > 0:35:28Concorde was only allowed to fly supersonically over the sea.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32But now the throttle could be opened up.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35And then the back boiler went on and... Yeeeah!
0:35:35 > 0:35:39And it just went on and on and on
0:35:39 > 0:35:42and you could see the numbers ticking up on the speed.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45It was quite hard to comprehend because there was some point
0:35:45 > 0:35:48where you think I'm actually now going faster than a bullet.
0:35:48 > 0:35:52When the Mach counter registered twice the speed of sound,
0:35:52 > 0:35:55I decided I'm going to the loo.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58And I went to the loo at Mach 2.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04I was invited to go into the cockpit
0:36:04 > 0:36:06and I was quite scared
0:36:06 > 0:36:11because I'd heard so many scary things about Concorde
0:36:11 > 0:36:14and, to me, it was a bit like going into space.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19It was surreal, it was amazing,
0:36:19 > 0:36:23because all you could see was the blue sky.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26And you couldn't really see anything else.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30And it was just as smooth as lying in bed.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34You had no sensation of speed at all.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37You were sitting up there at 55,000, 58,000 feet,
0:36:37 > 0:36:40in this very calm, tranquil atmosphere.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43You're above the thunderstorms, you're above the jet streams,
0:36:43 > 0:36:46you're above everything that causes turbulence.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50You almost felt that you were just hanging there,
0:36:50 > 0:36:52suspended in space.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55I never got used to it.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59I pinched myself in disbelief. We were doing 23 miles a minute.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05We're actually flying at twice the speed of sound, to be precise,
0:37:05 > 0:37:081,341 miles per hour.
0:37:08 > 0:37:1111 miles up.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14And this is how smooth it can be.
0:37:15 > 0:37:16At twice...
0:37:16 > 0:37:18at more than twice the speed of sound.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25Now at cruising height, the aperitifs and canapes consumed,
0:37:25 > 0:37:28passengers could start ordering from the menu.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33But this was not just any food.
0:37:33 > 0:37:35This was Concorde food.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40The champagne flowed, the caviar came out
0:37:40 > 0:37:42and the smoked salmon.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46We would start the meal service with a pre-plated cold hors d'oeuvre,
0:37:46 > 0:37:51then there was a choice of three hot main courses and a cold one.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55When I was flying, the chefs who designed the menus, in particular,
0:37:55 > 0:37:59were the Roux brothers and, in fact, we had them on a flight one day
0:37:59 > 0:38:03and we were very nervous that the way we cooked the food
0:38:03 > 0:38:05lived up to how they had designed it.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08It was silver service.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11And the menu, I mean, we had lobster and chicken.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15You know, I don't go out and buy that very often!
0:38:16 > 0:38:18And to wash it all down,
0:38:18 > 0:38:22a wine list worthy of a Michelin-starred restaurant.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25The guy comes past with the wine, and I'm sort of, "No, thanks",
0:38:25 > 0:38:28and then I look and it's a Chateaux Forts de Latour, which is,
0:38:28 > 0:38:31like, one of the really, really great, erm, French wines.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34And I was thinking, I've never had a Forts de Latour.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37The wine was excellent, as was the food.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40I mean, really, really, good.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43I had some more and I had some more and I had some more
0:38:43 > 0:38:45and by the time I'd actually arrived in New York,
0:38:45 > 0:38:49I had a ten o'clock meeting, I suddenly realised that I had drunk,
0:38:49 > 0:38:53probably about half a bottle of one of the finest clarets on Earth.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57Concorde was expensive and prestigious,
0:38:57 > 0:39:00with an in-flight service aimed at those with class.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05So there really was only one type of passenger.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07Those who could afford it.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09Investment bankers, fund managers,
0:39:09 > 0:39:11where absolutely regular users of the aeroplane.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13They used it as a commuting tool.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15When I'm doing it every week,
0:39:15 > 0:39:18I truly can just regard it as commuting to work.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20Speed is what it's all about for me.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24The ability to avoid these overnight flights, get to the other end fresh.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26That's what this great plane does.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30The next category were your film stars,
0:39:30 > 0:39:32celebrities, pop musicians
0:39:32 > 0:39:36and the whole atmosphere on the aeroplane was completely different
0:39:36 > 0:39:38from the atmosphere you get on a subsonic aeroplane.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41All these guys were constantly flying across the Atlantic
0:39:41 > 0:39:43on Concorde.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46They all knew each other and it was a, sort of, sociable event.
0:39:46 > 0:39:51This particular time in the '80s, I was doing a lot of travelling.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54I was working in LA on a series
0:39:54 > 0:39:58and I wanted to come back to London a lot to see my family.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02So it really made a huge difference in my life,
0:40:02 > 0:40:04being able to go on Concorde.
0:40:04 > 0:40:06It was a very expensive, erm...
0:40:06 > 0:40:11but, sometimes, it's worth investing in things that make you happy.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15But there was another type of passenger.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19Those who had saved up to enjoy the trip of a lifetime.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22They often got more than they were expecting.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25I looked around, and there was Ronnie Wood, there.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29He went, "Hello!"
0:40:30 > 0:40:32I said to George, "It's Ronnie Wood."
0:40:32 > 0:40:35As soon as I said that,
0:40:35 > 0:40:37another four came down.
0:40:37 > 0:40:38It was Mick Jagger.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40So he came down...
0:40:40 > 0:40:42"Hello", and he shook our hands
0:40:42 > 0:40:46and I said, "George, I've got to go to the loo. I won't be a minute."
0:40:46 > 0:40:49With that, Mick Jagger got up and he followed me.
0:40:49 > 0:40:53Anyway, we waited outside, this person came out
0:40:53 > 0:40:56and he said to me, "Go on, Gwen."
0:40:56 > 0:40:59So I said, "No, no, you go first."
0:40:59 > 0:41:03I didn't like to call him Mick. It seemed a bit presumptuous.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06So I said, "You go in first." He said, "Are you sure?"
0:41:06 > 0:41:08I said, "Yes."
0:41:08 > 0:41:11So he went in, came out, I went in,
0:41:11 > 0:41:13of course, it was still warm!
0:41:14 > 0:41:17Oh, my word! I came over quite unnecessary.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23No matter how exciting things got,
0:41:23 > 0:41:26all too soon the seat belt sign would light up
0:41:26 > 0:41:29and Concorde would begin its descent.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32Very many passengers would get off the aeroplane
0:41:32 > 0:41:35feeling really sorry that the flight had ended, you know.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38Couldn't it go on a bit longer? They were enjoying it so much.
0:41:38 > 0:41:43By the time you'd had a few drinks and something to eat
0:41:43 > 0:41:47and maybe a tiny snooze, there you were in London.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49In the rain.
0:41:51 > 0:41:55Concorde had struck a chord with passengers and crew alike.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57But it was haemorrhaging money.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02By 1981, after just five years in service,
0:42:02 > 0:42:05British Airways and Air France had recorded losses
0:42:05 > 0:42:09in the tens of millions on their Concorde operations.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12It was too expensive a service to operate
0:42:12 > 0:42:15and it was just too limited, that was the problem.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18The only route it could fly successfully
0:42:18 > 0:42:20was New York-London, London-New York.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23And a bit of Paris-New York, London-Paris.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27What Concorde needed was to charge a hell of a lot for tickets
0:42:27 > 0:42:30and to make it very exclusive indeed.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34British Airways put up Concorde prices
0:42:34 > 0:42:38to nearly double those of first class on its other flights.
0:42:38 > 0:42:43So now, in the mid-1980s, Concorde was, at last, turning a profit.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46But with only one successful route, London to New York,
0:42:46 > 0:42:49most of the fleet was sitting idle.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52The answer was to allow Concorde to be chartered.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56Anyone with the money could hire the whole plane
0:42:56 > 0:42:59and take it wherever they wanted.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05Many of my friends said they would like to fly in on Concorde,
0:43:05 > 0:43:07and they thought that I should organise it for them.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09So I thought, well, why not?
0:43:09 > 0:43:13So I rang up and I said, "Could I charter Concorde for my friends,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16"supersonic for an hour and a half?",
0:43:16 > 0:43:20so he said to me, "Well, you can charter it for £17,500",
0:43:20 > 0:43:25so that worked out to £175 per passenger.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29And I filled two Concordes. I could easily have done a third.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33The charter market exploded
0:43:33 > 0:43:37as a host of entrepreneurs, Concorde fan clubs
0:43:37 > 0:43:40and travel agents cashed in on the new demand.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45Those charter flights took Concorde to over 250 destinations
0:43:45 > 0:43:47around the world.
0:43:47 > 0:43:4976 of those were in the USA.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52So that enabled Concorde to be used as an experience,
0:43:52 > 0:43:54the trip of a lifetime experience for many people, but, also,
0:43:54 > 0:43:57a major marketing tool for British Airways.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02One popular destination was a day trip to Egypt.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06You could visit the pyramids at Giza in the land of the Pharaohs
0:44:06 > 0:44:08and still be home in time for tea.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12- What did you like best?- My dinner on the Concorde coming out.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14- Really?- Yes.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16I've loved it all, but that was lovely.
0:44:19 > 0:44:24We're flying now down the Adriatic and, as we approach Egypt,
0:44:24 > 0:44:28someone from the front said, "If those on the left-hand side,
0:44:28 > 0:44:30"if you look out slightly to the front,
0:44:30 > 0:44:33"there's the pyramids and there's the Sphinx."
0:44:34 > 0:44:36He said, "I feel sorry for you, those on the right."
0:44:36 > 0:44:40He said, "Oh, sod it" - that was his words.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43He did a figure of eight so those on the other...
0:44:43 > 0:44:45And I thought, lovely.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49They did Christmas Santa specials,
0:44:49 > 0:44:53flying from Bournemouth to the north of Finland, to Lapland,
0:44:53 > 0:44:55to meet Father Christmas.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58They did little tours, jaunts around the Bay of Biscay,
0:44:58 > 0:45:01for very little money indeed.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05I had the surprise on my 50th birthday, which was in 1999,
0:45:05 > 0:45:07they said, "Dad, we've got you a present,
0:45:07 > 0:45:10"We don't really know what to get you, but would this be OK?"
0:45:10 > 0:45:13I opened the envelope - this envelope here,
0:45:13 > 0:45:15I got with my boarding pass.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17Absolutely fantastic.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21The prestigious Concorde experience was at last being enjoyed
0:45:21 > 0:45:24by the very people whose taxes had paid for it.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28It didn't matter who you were, you treated them all the same,
0:45:28 > 0:45:30because they were flying this aircraft
0:45:30 > 0:45:34and they were getting the service that was expected of you.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37And there were some unique experiences
0:45:37 > 0:45:40that only Concorde could provide.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44The sun would set, but we're flying...
0:45:44 > 0:45:49sort of, north-west across towards Italy, and he said,
0:45:49 > 0:45:51"We're going so fast, the sun is coming back up.
0:45:52 > 0:45:56What an experience, to see the sun coming back up.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58And as we got to Heathrow,
0:45:58 > 0:46:02the music stopped and someone started, and he had a good voice...
0:46:03 > 0:46:07..and he played the Queen, and we sang God Save The Queen.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10And that was the end of a glorious day.
0:46:10 > 0:46:11Brilliant.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16Concorde was becoming a national icon
0:46:16 > 0:46:20and the plane was to be found at the heart of major public events.
0:46:20 > 0:46:24It seemed like the dream would go on forever.
0:46:24 > 0:46:28I was retired and I'd been on the bus to Farnborough.
0:46:28 > 0:46:33As I got on the bus, someone said that Concorde has crashed in France
0:46:33 > 0:46:36and I told him not to be so bloody silly.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43It was July the 25th, 2000,
0:46:43 > 0:46:45and the unthinkable had happened.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49'The world's most prestigious aircraft crashes.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52'More than 100 people are dead.'
0:46:54 > 0:46:55I couldn't believe it.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59It can't, it couldn't crash. It was too magical to crash.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03Do you know what I mean? It sounds childish, but in your mind,
0:47:03 > 0:47:04it was just forever.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08And to think that people had died, it was just dreadful.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14'According to Air France, of the 100 passengers, two were Danish,
0:47:14 > 0:47:16'one was a US citizen, the rest were German.'
0:47:17 > 0:47:20The crash at Gonesse shocked the world.
0:47:20 > 0:47:25Now every detail of the final moments of flight 4590
0:47:25 > 0:47:27were scrutinised.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31It was a crash that was a classic aircraft accident.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34It was a whole series of events
0:47:34 > 0:47:39and it was the cumulative effect of each of the errors
0:47:39 > 0:47:44in this error chain that led to the final overwhelming catastrophe.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48It was a hot July day in Paris
0:47:48 > 0:47:51and the Air France Concorde was on a charter flight,
0:47:51 > 0:47:54taking 100 passengers to New York to join a cruise ship.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56It was fully laden.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59The aeroplane had been over fuelled.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03All the fuel tanks on the wing had been filled up completely full.
0:48:04 > 0:48:0719 items of baggage were put in the rear cargo hold,
0:48:07 > 0:48:09which were never weighed.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12The net result of all this was that the aeroplane
0:48:12 > 0:48:15was over the maximum structural weight.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18They were running late, so there was a lot of pressure on the crew
0:48:18 > 0:48:21to taxi out and take-off as quickly as possible and to get to New York nonstop.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24By the time it had got to the runway threshold,
0:48:24 > 0:48:30it had only burned 800 kilos of the 2,000 kilos of taxi fuel
0:48:30 > 0:48:32that he had allowed for.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36And what he should have done was to have burned off all that taxi fuel
0:48:36 > 0:48:38before he got airborne.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41As they went down the runway, the aeroplane encountered
0:48:41 > 0:48:44a piece of metal - a piece of metal lying on the runway
0:48:44 > 0:48:46that had come off a Continental Airlines DC-10.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49There was a piece of metal left on the runway,
0:48:49 > 0:48:53but there were also maintenance errors on the part of Air France
0:48:53 > 0:48:56in the left-hand undercarriage, which had been worked on
0:48:56 > 0:48:58by Air France a couple of days before the crash.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02They'd failed to put back in a component called the spacer.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04Without that spacer,
0:49:04 > 0:49:08the wheels can wobble around like wheels on a supermarket trolley.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10The tyre encountered the piece of metal
0:49:10 > 0:49:13when the aeroplane was travelling at 185mph.
0:49:13 > 0:49:17As the piece of metal cuts in, but it didn't puncture the tyre
0:49:17 > 0:49:20in a conventional way, what it did was scalp the tyre.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23That flew up and hit the underside of the aeroplane
0:49:23 > 0:49:25with a tremendous amount of energy.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28It set up a shock wave in that fuel tank.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32There was no air space in the fuel tank to absorb the energy
0:49:32 > 0:49:34of that shock wave.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37It blew out a piece of metal, not a rupture from inside to out,
0:49:37 > 0:49:39but a mini explosion from inside
0:49:39 > 0:49:43and out came 100 litres a second of fuel.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46A really massive fire, generating a lot of smoke
0:49:46 > 0:49:50and a lot of unburned fuel, which goes into the engines.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53A fire warning went off for the number two engine
0:49:53 > 0:49:58and the flight engineer, without any discussion with the captain
0:49:58 > 0:50:00or the first officer at all,
0:50:00 > 0:50:04just went straight into a fire drill and shut that engine down.
0:50:04 > 0:50:08The pilot rotated the aircraft 15 knots early to try and climb away,
0:50:08 > 0:50:10it went off to the left-hand side of the runway,
0:50:10 > 0:50:13hit a runway light before getting airborne.
0:50:13 > 0:50:15Sadly, staggered into the air,
0:50:15 > 0:50:19it never remotely reached its in-flight safety speed,
0:50:19 > 0:50:21which was 220 knots.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24It tried to climb away, got to about 200 feet,
0:50:24 > 0:50:27but couldn't climb any more. But the real damage was done.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29The real damage was this massive fire.
0:50:29 > 0:50:31This dreadful blowtorch of fuel,
0:50:31 > 0:50:34flaming fuel, pouring out of tank number five,
0:50:34 > 0:50:38causing the centre of gravity to move further rearwards,
0:50:38 > 0:50:41and this led to the aeroplane just rearing up.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44Once that had happened, really, sadly, the aeroplane,
0:50:44 > 0:50:46and all those on board were doomed.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48SIREN
0:50:48 > 0:50:53It was an accident that should never, ever have happened.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57The official French crash report concluded
0:50:57 > 0:51:00that the piece of metal on the runway had exposed
0:51:00 > 0:51:03vulnerabilities to Concorde's fuel tanks and tyres.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07Air France and British Airways grounded their aircraft
0:51:07 > 0:51:10while expensive safety modifications were made.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14They were relaunched in November 2001,
0:51:14 > 0:51:16but the world had moved on.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18Two months before,
0:51:18 > 0:51:23the attacks on New York's Twin Towers had claimed 2,700 lives.
0:51:29 > 0:51:31Air travel lost its appeal
0:51:31 > 0:51:35and demand for business flights into New York plummeted.
0:51:37 > 0:51:42Concorde was crossing the Atlantic almost completely empty.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46Added to that, maintenance costs were soaring,
0:51:46 > 0:51:51and so in April 2003, Concorde's retirement was announced.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55'It's the end for Concorde after 30 years of supersonic flying.
0:51:55 > 0:51:58'British Airways and Air France will retire the plane
0:51:58 > 0:52:00'in six months' time.'
0:52:00 > 0:52:01It was a shame.
0:52:01 > 0:52:06When I heard the story that it was going to be taken out of service,
0:52:06 > 0:52:08what a bad day that was.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12That was horrible. Nobody liked that at all.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16Over the next six months there was a rush to take a last flight
0:52:16 > 0:52:18on Concorde.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21Every seat was sold and more flights were added.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25Then a grand tour of the United States, Canada
0:52:25 > 0:52:27and the United Kingdom.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31Finally, on the 24th of October 2003,
0:52:31 > 0:52:36flight 002 left New York for the last time.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41- CAPTAIN:- So, we are just about to set course.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44The acceleration on the runway is quite something to remember,
0:52:44 > 0:52:47as I'm sure will be the rest of the flight.
0:52:47 > 0:52:49ENGINE ROARS
0:52:53 > 0:52:57It was done with a lot of press hullabaloo, as you can imagine.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01It's a big, important day, but on board the aircraft,
0:53:01 > 0:53:04the top celebrities...
0:53:04 > 0:53:07and the big red-faced newspaper editors
0:53:07 > 0:53:09and TV presenter type people on board,
0:53:09 > 0:53:12spent their time, as far as I could see, getting drunk.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15There were a lot of celebrities
0:53:15 > 0:53:19and among them was Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson
0:53:19 > 0:53:21who had a fight
0:53:21 > 0:53:24and they were throwing glasses of water at each other
0:53:24 > 0:53:26like great overgrown schoolboys.
0:53:28 > 0:53:32This machine, if you could have seen it flying through the sky,
0:53:32 > 0:53:35I mean, staggeringly fast, just this thing going.
0:53:35 > 0:53:39It never lost its beauty, its poise, its composure.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42And inside, the very last flight...
0:53:44 > 0:53:47..everyone is so rough...
0:53:47 > 0:53:50and drunken and awful.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56First one Concorde, then another.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59A sight never seen before - three in all, waiting to land.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06As we came down, we saw tonnes and tonnes of people all waving
0:54:06 > 0:54:09and shouting and flags and banners.
0:54:10 > 0:54:14All of the fire engines from Heathrow had their hoses on
0:54:14 > 0:54:18and they were spraying water all over Concorde as it landed.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21It was very, very moving, because it was, like,
0:54:21 > 0:54:23it was totally the end of an era.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26It was the end of an era.
0:54:28 > 0:54:31The end of the reception, at 10:30pm at night,
0:54:31 > 0:54:34I walked out across the tarmac, I was the last to leave,
0:54:34 > 0:54:36and there were five perfectly serviceable Concordes
0:54:36 > 0:54:37sitting on the ramp
0:54:37 > 0:54:40and they would never carry fare-paying passengers again.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43And that's the time when it really hit me
0:54:43 > 0:54:47and that's the time when there was, literally, a tear in the eye.
0:54:49 > 0:54:51The end of Concorde felt to many
0:54:51 > 0:54:54as though the supersonic dream was over.
0:54:54 > 0:54:59Very sad that Concorde was retired in 2003 with no obvious successor.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02It was the first time in aeronautical,
0:55:02 > 0:55:03or perhaps technological history,
0:55:03 > 0:55:06that we'd actually taken a step backwards
0:55:06 > 0:55:08and we'd just gone back to subsonic aircraft.
0:55:09 > 0:55:13But in the last few years a new race has begun,
0:55:13 > 0:55:16with at least three aircraft in development.
0:55:17 > 0:55:19There's a company working
0:55:19 > 0:55:23on a 30- to 40-seat supersonic transport for businessmen.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27I think that could appear on the scene within the next five years.
0:55:27 > 0:55:32As far as a full-blooded supersonic airliner is concerned,
0:55:32 > 0:55:36I think we probably are going to have to wait a lot longer for that
0:55:36 > 0:55:39and, I think, eventually, we will see, perhaps,
0:55:39 > 0:55:43hypersonic sub orbital vehicles that do London to Sydney
0:55:43 > 0:55:46in a matter of three hours, something of that sort,
0:55:46 > 0:55:48two and a half hours.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54A month after the final flights into Heathrow,
0:55:54 > 0:55:59the last Concorde ever made returned to Bristol's Filton Airfield
0:55:59 > 0:56:03from where Brian Trubshaw flew in 1969.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06Concorde was coming home.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10Of course, we cried when we saw the Concorde,
0:56:10 > 0:56:13the last flight over the suspension bridge.
0:56:13 > 0:56:15I'm getting emotional now.
0:56:15 > 0:56:17I loved it.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21Sadness, because you knew it was going to be the last time, yeah.
0:56:21 > 0:56:22I don't know quite what it is.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25There's something mysterious about Concorde.
0:56:25 > 0:56:27Most extraordinary. Exceptional.
0:56:27 > 0:56:31The whole country, in fact, probably the whole world, mourned its loss.
0:56:32 > 0:56:36It changed many people's lives forever, I think.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40Our whole experience with Concorde flying
0:56:40 > 0:56:43and the demise of Concorde has been with us all the time, really.
0:56:43 > 0:56:45And it's a tragedy.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49But weren't we lucky to have the opportunity to go on it?
0:56:52 > 0:56:56Now the star of a new collection dedicated to flight,
0:56:56 > 0:56:5950 years after she was unveiled,
0:56:59 > 0:57:01Concorde is a museum piece.
0:57:03 > 0:57:05Looking for 17A.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08Designed for the elite.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10This is where I was. I think I bumped my head last time.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13Paid for by everyone.
0:57:13 > 0:57:1617 years and back to the same seat
0:57:16 > 0:57:18on the same aircraft.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22Beautiful, fast, noisy, expensive.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25Oh, here's the infamous toilet.
0:57:25 > 0:57:28Many memories of that one!
0:57:29 > 0:57:32A symbol of post-war hope for the future.
0:57:32 > 0:57:37Yeah, my seat was always...I always used to be in the engineer's seat
0:57:37 > 0:57:40doing engine runs and things but it's nice to sit up here.
0:57:40 > 0:57:44Yeah, reverse thrust, reheat and green for go, wasn't it?
0:57:44 > 0:57:46Green for go.
0:57:46 > 0:57:49Concorde lived a life of superlatives and contradictions.
0:57:49 > 0:57:52The white elephant that became a swan.
0:57:52 > 0:57:55But just a little too far ahead of her time.
0:57:55 > 0:57:57Absolutely glorious.
0:57:57 > 0:58:01To think this aircraft used to take people 58,000 to 60,000 feet,
0:58:01 > 0:58:03sipping champagne.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07The only other people at that height and speed were fighter pilots.
0:58:07 > 0:58:11We were just so ahead of the time. There was nothing like this around.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14It gets the old memory bank going.
0:58:14 > 0:58:17In awe. I'm in awe. Even now, I'm in awe of it.
0:58:17 > 0:58:21There'll never be another one like it. It's a shame.
0:58:21 > 0:58:24It's a wonderful sight.
0:58:24 > 0:58:26I never thought I'd see it again.
0:58:30 > 0:58:32MUSIC: Supersonic Rocket Ship by The Kinks
0:58:32 > 0:58:34# Let me take you on a little trip My supersonic ship's
0:58:34 > 0:58:37# At your disposal if you feel so inclined
0:58:38 > 0:58:40# Well, all right
0:58:42 > 0:58:45# Nobody's gonna travel second class
0:58:45 > 0:58:49# There'll be equality And no suppression of minorities
0:58:51 > 0:58:52# Well, all right. #