Concorde: The thrilling account of history’s most extraordinary airliner

Concorde was part of my childhood. I had a poster of the aircraft on my bedroom wall along with the insignia of all the airlines who planned to buy it. I remember seeing its first flight on TV, and thinking when it was announced that its first commercial flight would be delayed until 1976 like that seemed a lifetime away - time passes so much more slowly when you’re young! So the chance to read this book by a man who flew Concorde was irresistible.I never got to fly in Concorde but have been in ones on the ground and watched it landing and taking off from Heathrow, with its distinctive drooped nose at such times to allow pilots to see the runway.It was a triumph of design and ingenuity, probably the most beautiful aircraft ever built.If you’re an aviation enthusiast, I’d recommend you read this book. The author creates a compelling narrative.The author dreamed of being a pilot as a child and first flew the VC10 when he joined BOAC, a predecessor. The VC10, Britain’s answer to the Boeing 707, with its four engines at the rear was another elegant aircraft. There are thrilling descriptions of the author's flight training for the VC10 on the west coast of Ireland when they flew towards land and straight at the cliffs rising from just above the stormy seas and raising the nose at the last moment to clear the cliff tops.America, envious because its own civilian supersonic project came to nothing, initially blocked British Airways and Air France - the aircraft was a joint Anglo-French project - from flying Concorde to the USA. They claimed to object to the noise but Boeing’s SST would have been just as noisy if it had been built.The author describes how because it was supersonic there were many things to flying Concorde that were quite different to conventional airliners. It must have been incredible to fly at sixty thousand feet and see the curvature of the earth.Almost half the book is taken up with the Air France crash in 2000 and subsequent investigation, in which the author was involved as well as being an expert witness at the trial and retrial. What is quite shocking is how the French team removed components the British wanted to examine and claimed records such as those about the fuel tanks had been lost. The author makes a convincing case that Concorde was already on fire due to a wheel modification Air France, unlike British Airways, had failed to make, before it hit a piece of metal belonging to a Continental Airlines DC10 which had just taken off, and also that the plane’s fuel tanks had been overfilled, leaving no space for the energy of impact to be absorbed which then caused a fire to ignite, that the crew hadn’t taken account of a headwind and the aircraft was overweight, with the result it took off at a speed which was too slow which ensured it couldn’t reach nearby Le Bourget airport for an emergency landing and evacuation.Concorde was modified after the crash and brought back into service but Air France was keen to end its use as the airline didn’t make money out of it. So in autumn 2003 Concorde was retired since British Airways’ profits from flying Concorde would disappear once Air France no longer contributed to the manufacturer’s infrastructure needed to maintain it.Neil Armstrong observed it was an amazing technological achievement, and that whilst flying to the moon had lasted only a few years, Concorde was in service for nearly 30 years.A great read.

The essentially reference to the life and times of Concorde. The engineering, the politics.... the French! If you've ever looked at an airliner in the sky and thought "I wonder where that's going?", then this book is for you!

As a former Concorde pilot myself, I’m potentially highly critical of any book about the world’s only supersonic airliner. And I’ve read a few.I can’t rate or recommend this highly enough. This masterpiece is written in Mike’s familiar and most eloquent style. You don’t need a degree in aeronautical engineering to understand all the technical aspects because he explains everything so clearly.Mike gives us a personal insight as to how, from a humble background, he landed the dream job in aviation at only 28years old and went on to become the Chief Pilot of the Concorde fleet. My boss.I’ve read much about the accident elsewhere, but Mike’s personal recollection of the tragedy in France on 25th July 2000 is like no other.I flew Concorde the day before the accident and two days after. I was on the BA001 the day we were called back to the gate, 15th August. And grounded.‘Concorde’ digs deep into the causes of the Air France accident, deeper, much deeper than the official report. It’ll leave you in no doubt that humans made errors, significant errors not spoken about before and that Concorde, operated correctly, was one of the safest aeroplanes ever to enter airline service. And stay there for 27years.Mike headed up the ‘Return to Service’ team and takes us through the monumental challenges they faced both technical and political. I was there. There was never a moment of negativity. Concorde will return to service. Within a year. There was never any doubt. Mike drove that project with incredible leadership and skill. He describes here intimately what was involved with no holds barred.Concorde was the greatest icon of the 20th century and Mike Bannister’s ‘Concorde’ will leave you in no doubt about that.

Bought this as a Christmas present for my father, who really enjoyed it. The book gives a fascinating and detailed account of Concorde’s history — from its groundbreaking design to its final flight. Beautifully written, well-researched, and full of interesting stories and photographs. A great read for anyone interested in aviation or iconic engineering achievements.

First off a disclaimer; I was lucky enough to meet Mike at my Flying College graduation ceremony where he presented us with our Wings, there is a picture of me and Mike shaking hands hanging on my mother’s living room wall. I am now a BA pilot so a lot of names, places and experiences Mike describes are familiar to me, even though I have never had the pleasure to fly Concorde.That said this book is still a fantastic mix of memoir, technical history of Concorde and the events leading to its retirement, and a love letter to the aircraft itself. I found it absolutely fascinating and even though I am probably more than a little biased, I would imagine anyone with anything more than a passing interest in the technological marvel, light years ahead of its time that was Concorde, would also find this a captivating, informative and emotional read.Contains some lovely photos and a link to a great video of what must be one of the best off the cuff under pressure speeches ever made, followed by the final departure of Concorde from New York JFK airport.

First and foremost, this is a well written personal memoir of a highly accomplished airline captain and executive.But best of all, it shows his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things to do with Concorde.In particular, he calmly highlights the fact that the French Bureau of Investigation is inhibited from fulfilling the requirements of ICAO Annex 13. This Annex specifies that the fundamental requirement of aircraft accident investigation is to discover what and why it happened. It is NOT TO APPORTION BLAME OR LIABILITY.A great book for anyone who is interested in airliners and their operations.

Very interesting.

On time, quality good.

Great read for lovers of beautiful airplanes

Libro molto bello, interessantissimo, scritto molto bene. Per impallinati del genere. Assolutamente consigliato.

My wife loves it!

Great reading.The author is a high professional and also an intelligent person.Clear and easy to read languageGreat asset for both professionals and non professionals..Enjoyed it..Recommended.

Excelente leitura