Work starts in £15m plan to get Concorde flying

Work starts in £15m plan to get Concorde flying

One of the greatest Anglo-French engineering projects ever built, the Concorde deserves a place in aviation history and could rightly be argued to have died before its time. Certainly that is the feeling of those involved in trying to get an Air France example airworthy again in time for the 2012 Olympics. I wish them the very best of luck; hopefully as the aircraft in question is, I believe, one of the last to be taken out of service and still in comparatively good condition this should not be impossible. The least we can do for this astonishing aeroplane is to have one flying, albeit in a heritage capacity, so that future generations can enjoy seeing this beautiful machine where it belongs - in the air.

I have been lucky enough to see the Concorde airborne twice before it was retired and both times have been magical, memorable experiences. There are very few machines that can match the majesty and otherworldliness of Concorde and I consider it to be one of the greatest technical achievements Britain, or indeed the world, has ever seen. I hope to be able to see her flying a third time, and many more besides, from 2012 onwards.