2009 updates

There were only a few movements in the Bristol Aircraft world to report in 2009. Keith Williams and Mike Thorn finished the restoration of their Bristol Scout replica, to a far higher standard than the 'original' airframe, built in 1962. It has gone on display with the Shuttleworth Trust at Old Warden in Bedfordshire, pending the planned museum at Filton.

Elsewhere, steady progress has been made on the restorations of Britannia 'Charlie Fox' in Liverpool, the Helicopter Museum Belvedere at Weston-super-Mare, and the Blenheim Society's recreation of a Mark I Blenheim.

Concorde-wise, G-BOAC at Manchester has gone under cover in its purpose-built 'hangar', and G-BOAD has returned to Manhattan following the major renovation of the Intrepid Museum in New York.

BA Concorde dispersal

After months of speculation, the lucky custodians of the British Airways Concorde fleet have now been revealed from proposed flight plans :

G-BOAA - East Fortune (Museum of Flight)
G-BOAB - Heathrow (Terminal 5)
G-BOAC - Manchester Airport Viewing Park
G-BOAD - New York Intrepid Air and Space Museum
G-BOAE - Seattle Museum of Flight
G-BOAF - Filton (Airbus/proposed new museum)
G-BOAG - Barbados

The fate of the remaining unairworthy Concorde at Filton (G-BBDG) is not yet clear.

Concorde update

Air France have announced the intended new homes for their Concorde fleet:

Concorde 205 - F-BVFA - destined for the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Washington Dulles Airport, part of the Smithsonian

Concorde 207 - F-BVFB - destined for the Auto und Technik Museum, Sinsheim in Germany, next to their Tupolev Tu-144. It will fly to the nearest airfield, be dismantled, and transported to the museum on a barge, in the same fashion as their Tu-144

Concorde 209 - F-BVFC - destined to go on display outside the Airbus A.380 plant at Toulouse

Concorde 213 - F-BTSD - destined to go to the Musee de l'Aire at Le Bourget, and may be delivered during the Paris Air Show

Concorde 215 - F-BVFF - destined to go on display at Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris

Interestingly, two of the sites listed (Toulouse and Le Bourget) already have Concordes on display. As regards the British Airways fleet, Filton, Brooklands, Heathrow, Cosford and Seattle seem like the front runners in the race to acquire one.

Concorde for retirement

As has been widely covered in the media, British Airways and Air France have jointly announced that they will now cease Concorde services this year. British Airways have said that they will donate their entire fleet to museums and other display sites, after services finish on 30th September. A number of museums outside the UK have stated for some time that on retirement they would like a Concorde - namely the Smithsonians Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Washington Dulles Airport, and The Auto & Technik Museum at Sinsheim in Germany, who already have a Tupolev Tu-144. These may be Air France or British Airways examples.

It is believed that around 30 museums have requested a Concorde - the front runners must be the Bristol Aero Collection, who plan to move to Filton, (where British Concordes were assembled) this winter, and the Brooklands Aviation Museum, where a large number of major sections were built. The Bristol Aero Collection have requested G-BOAF (Concorde 216), which was the last one built in the UK. Other museums thought to be in the running are the Royal Air Force Museum at Cosford, the Museum of Flight at East Fortune, the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, the new Airliner Park at Manchester Airport, and the Bristol Heritage Collection in Nashville,Tennessee. British Airways also wish to retain a Concorde for display at Heathrow Airport, probably on the entrance road.

Of the 7 strong fleet, four are believed to be currently in service - G-BOAC, G-BOAD, G-BOAE and G-BOAG - and will continue until the end of September. G-BOAA has been withdrawn from use for some time, with no plans to make it airworthy. G-BOAB has also been grounded, but kept airworthy, and would have been the next aircraft to be brought up to post-Paris standards. G-BOAF is out of hours, and was due for a 3 month check. Therefore, both 'AB and 'AF are airworthy, but could not be used for passenger services.

UPDATE - G-BOAF returned to service during the summer.