The Very First Concorde Prototype at Le Bourget, Paris

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THE FIRST CONCORDE

Concorde 001 in Paris, France

The very first Concorde, 001, at "Le Bourget" Aeroport in Paris, France.
Our Braniff Web Director is looking up at this massive rocket plane.

Brooke Watts with Concorde 001 in Paris, France
Our Director, Mr. Brooke D. Watts standing next to the wheels of Concorde 001.
Note the Rolls-Royce "Olympus" Engines.


RARE Concorde Flight Crew luggage tag
("Braniff Pages" collection)

The Concorde has four of these anglo/franco rocket-jet engines. Two are mounted together under each wing.

Close up of one of the Rolls-Royce/Snecma rocketjet engines



My friend and Paris native, Cedric Mayolle inside the very cramped cabin of the Concorde.


The beautiful slim racing "Delta Wing" is evident in this closeup. The Concorde's normal crusing speed is 1,340 mph (Mach 2), or twice the speed of sound. The temperature (260 degrees F at the nose) and pressure is so great, the aircraft actually expands 12 inches in flight. Concorde flies 10 miles in the time it takes to fill a passenger's champagne glass!

Port side nose of Concorde 001Port side tail of Concorde 001

001 at rollout
001 rolled out on 29 March 1969 in Toulouse, France...This is a picture of the tail of F-WTSS taken 22 years before I visted her.

First Flight
The First Flight of any SST Transport, Concorde 001 in 1969. (Again same aircraft I visted in Paris in 2001)

Pictures courtesy of "The Travel Channel."

Port side of Concorde 001 in it's own hanger at Le Bourget Aeroport in France
The Concorde is as long as a 747, but smaller than a regional jet inside. This plane, now on static display in Paris, was one of three prototypes used for flight testing in the early 70s. One of these three flew to D/FW Airport for it's inauguration in 1973. Braniff International Airways was the host airline to Aerospatiale and British Aircraft Corporation.

Pictures taken 26 January 2001 by Brooke Watts (except for the two Travel Channel Pics). Photos Copyright © 2001-2003 Brooke D. Watts, all rights reserved.



Cover commerating Concorde 001 visiting Athens, Greece in 1973.

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