When it comes to Concorde, the French were always first. They were the first to build one, the first to fly, the first to go supersonic and the first to reach Mach 2. They even got their way with spelling - using the so-called "French Letter" E.
They are now the first to cease operations - one "first" they'd hoped to avoid. The late, BAC Concorde chief test pilot Brian Trubshaw once told your uncle that when asked when it would retire Concorde, Air France replied: "The day after BA."
Fittingly, France's Concorde era ended at Toulouse in front of the very same hangar from which the prototype emerged 36 years ago. Nephew Gordon Roxburgh reports that the faded crest of the six airlines that held "orders" for Concorde in 1967 were still visible on the hangar doors.
Attending the ceremony, as he did the roll-out in 1967, was Trubby's French counterpart, former Sud Aviation/Aerospatiale chief test pilot André Turcat, who later commanded the first flight in March 1969. F-BVFC's retirement completes the Air France deliveries to museums in France (Le Bourget and Toulouse), Germany (Auto & Technik Museum in Sinsheim) and the USA (Air & Space Museum at Washington Dulles).
There's no truth in the rumour that Birdseed has now dropped the "E"...
Source: Flight International
