Eldergays, did you ever fly on the Concord?

The Concord operated until 2003. One does not need to be an elder to have flown it, but since your query was directed at them I will not tell you anything about it and we can wait for the elders to comment.

Daaahling R1, if you could afford a Concorde 17 years ago you are now considered an Eldergay.

Yes, Paris-NY. You left at about noon Paris time, and arrived at JFK at 9 a.m., drunk. You could really feel the thrust when the plane went supersonic, and they had this little meter with red digits telling you the speed ("Mach 1.2" or whatever). You could see the curvature of the earth cause I think we flew at 60,000 feet. The windows got quite hot. They served chilled vodka or champagne with caviar when you boarded, and kept feeding you till you landed. The food and wines were tasty.

OP, one didn’t fly “on the Concorde”, one simply “flew Concorde.”

Can someone please slap R1 across his old decrepit face? K, thanks

Yes, flew it New York-London on BA. Left JFK in the morning, arrived Heathrow mid-afternoon. At JFK, you had a separate boarding area and were personally walked through the check-in and customs processes; there was no waiting in lines anywhere. The boarding area was a combination lounge/bar/restaurant with full menu. The plane was surprisingly small; 2x2 seating and just enough headroom to stand up in the aisle. The on-flight food and drink was good -- equivalent to first class on most airlines. Duty-free shopping on the flight had lots of little Concorde-themed tchotchkes. And, of course, fresh flowers in the bathrooms. The best thing was landing in London with minimal, if any, jet lag.

[quote]Concord

Oh, dear.

You're slipping, DL.

NY to Paris circa 2000. Sat next to Grace Jones! Seats were small. I said hello at start of flight. Then left her alone.

Darling R2. I could afford nothing at the age I flew it but my grandmother could.

They have one you can walk through in the Boeing Museum in Seattle. It was surprising small as described, and not as luxuriously appointed as I would have imagined, but damn that flight time would have been nice.

R10 also one at the USS Intrepid Museum in NYC

How long was the flight? NYC-Paris etc?

[quote]You could really feel the thrust

Pics please.

Anna Wintour had a permanent seat reserved on Concorde. It was in her contract, she was free to use it as she pleased.

I was too poor however I did attend a luncheon hosted by Jayne Wrightsman where the bouillabaisse had been prepared that very morning at the Hôtel de Crillon and flown to NY, transported and served before 1 p.m.

Back in the 80s, a friend of a friend was flying from JFK to Europe before Christmas. Flight was cancelled at the last minute for some reason and everyone had to be rebooked. You can imagine the mob scene, everyone screaming. Agents were frantically rewriting tickets and sending passengers off to different airlines, different airports to get to their destination. This guy was very low key, polite, sympathetic and thanked the agent who handed him a ticket to DC and told him he'd get his flight to Europe from there. Got to DC, was issued the rest of his ticket and discovered he was booked on the Concorde to London. Then from London he flew to Europe and arrived hours sooner than his original ticket.

Hmm, how would one fly JFK to DC. DC to London. Then London to the Continent, - in HOURS less than than JFK to the continent. With or without Concorde? Hmmm?

R3 that sounds so luxurious.

It was the Hindenburg of its day.

R17 is a bigger downer than a Pepsi-branded Concorde

It was nice. Joan Collins was seated a couple of rows behind us. The experience described above in R6 was similar to ours, but when we went in 1999 the tchotchkes were gifts. The hub and I both still have the sterling Concorde cufflinks and the blue leather Smythson diaries for the year 2000. The silverplated travel alarm died about 10 years ago.

My boss had taken it several years before me and said the most disconcerting thing for him was the digital knotmeter on the cabin bulkhead showing the speed and altitude. He said he was dozing and a bit disoriented when he woke up, saw it and momentarily thought it was like the meter in a taxi. And that the fare was gonna be really high.

The sight of the cliffs on the western coast of Ireland as the descent from 60,000 feet started was impressive, as was the captain's announcement as we headed in for the landing, words to the effect of, "We almost always come in on time because everything else gets out of our way."

The BA set-up at Heathrow for Concorde passengers was equally impressive: another meal (it's lunchtime by your body when you land) and a massage at the in-house Moulton Brown spa before boarding our flight to Amsterdam. Maybe even more impressive was the FA's ability to serve a full meal to passengers in Business Class on that flight, one that's only in the air for about 45-50 minutes.

We checked in at the Hotel Pulitzer around 8 pm and thought, "The rich are different from you and me. They don't get jetlag."

R12 the flight was about 3 hours long. I forgot to mention that the engines were LOUD -- it much louder inside the plane than in a conventional jet. But it was fun and yes, luxurious.

regrettably no as I figure they'd be around a lot longer. A gentleman Brit once described takeoff as " a bit sporty"

Flights from NY to London aren't that long anyway - just a bit longer than NY to LA. The 3 hour time savings always seemed ridiculous.

R24 Jealousy is a disease.

6 hours in first class in normal jet, a sit that converts to a bed, spacious interior, excellent food. Able to move around the cabine with ease. Vs: 3 hours being cramped at your sit. Flying supersonic in noisy, hot technologically obsolete jet. No wonder the “Concorde” is gone for good.

They should have flown it long haul. Did they ever?

I always flew to London to see clients. They would pay me to come there. I always used to get what I wanted when I was young and pretty.

Those were the days!

My father used to fly it whenever he went to London.

But we don't live in NYC so he always laughed that the time he saved over the Atlantic was spent waiting for his connection.

Greyhound bus at Mach 1 with caviar.

What I found interesting about Concorde is that it used to be about $1,000 over regular first class. And it was really struggling.

So BA raised the price to about $5,000 over first class. Suddenly, it seemed far more luxurious. And bookings went up a lot.

R27 The Air France Concorde flew from Paris to Rio and BA flew Heathrow to Barbados in the winter.

Before they folded, Braniff flew DFW to Paris in conjunction with Air France with a stop at Dulles outside of Washington, DC for one year and Singapore Airlines operated service from Singapore to London via Bahrain very briefly. Both routes were short-lived because operating rights over land were difficult if not impossible to obtain: the sonic boom was really loud.

As a child who flew to Australia, Asia, and South America, I had experienced many long flights. Even though we weren't in the back, I really hated being on planes for long flights.

Back then, if you had asked me, I would have been confident that all international travel would be supersonic in 2020.

I assumed that getting places quickly would be a priority.

It was such a surprise that that is not how things turned out.

Eddy needed a doorknob and I didn't have a lot of time, so yes.

I was on the beach in Acapulco in 1985 and saw it climbing out over the bay. Must have been a charter flight!

RIP Andre Putnam

Wonder if they knew they were all dying before the final crash.

R36 Acapulco, what’s that????

Patti LuPone's Concorde adventure

The dramatic conclusion of Patti's Concorde adventure

I was 9 and my parents paid for it. We took the British airways Concorde from London to NYC I ate a lot of ice cream, watched Grease, got a cute leatherette bag filled with puzzles, games, activity books, socks and a Concorde tshirt. The stewardesses looked like foxy hammer actresses It was the most fun.

I went to Singapore on it in the late 70's with my parents (we had to refuel in Bahrain). It wasn't Supersonic all of the way and shaved about 6 hours off the usual 15 hour flying time.

RuPaul writes in Letting It All Hang Out that he used to take the Concorde frequently and once he scrubbed down the toilet because Diana Ross was waiting to use it after him!

I don’t see the appeal. I’d rather have this lovely First Class suite on an Air France Boeing 777, even if it takes three additional hours to get to Paris.

[quote]You could see the curvature of the earth cause I think we flew at 60,000 feet.

What curvature?

I'm loving this Concord thread. Keep telling more stories. What were the main differences between first class and regular. I thought it was all one class.

Did your faces look like this during flight?

Given the amount of time you spend at the airport pre-flight these days halving the amount of actual time the journey takes doesn't really make much difference.

Concorde's food offerings...

R27

Concorde had a limited fuel range which meant "long haul" routes often would require one or more refueling stops, so that was strike one.

Last Concorde flight our of JFK

No, but in maybe 1980 or so, my dad brought us to see one take off from Bradley Airport in CT.

With visuals

[quote]The plane was surprisingly small; 2x2 seating and just enough headroom to stand up in the aisle.

This.

It really felt cramped even though objectively the personal amount of space was fine.

Bloomingdale's Kal Ruttenstein (America's leading garmenteau) flew Concorde all the time to Paris for the fashion shows. On one flight from JFK was the Vicomtesse de Rhibes who made herself up holding a mirror. She was ramrod straight then falling asleep with her head held proudly and aristocratically erect; no snoring and no drolling. Matt Damon was also on board and Puffy Daddy and his "schvartze encourage" as Kal put it.

A friend quipped that if that plane crashed, Western Civilization as we knew it would have ended.

I walked through one that had been retired and made part of the Intrepid Museum in NYC. It was pretty small, 2 seats by 2 seats down one aisle. I don't think there was any kind of entertainment/movies or anything in the back of seats, perhaps they showed them from drop-down screens like in old planes? The seats didn't look very spacious, nothing really like today's first class. But I'm sure the treatment people got and the food, attention and cachet of the experience, as well as the fast and shorter flight and lack of jet lag, were probably really exciting

No, but during an assignment on the road directly in front of LHR I used to watch her take off & land every day. I'd time my breaks/walks so I could watch her.

Literally screaming, like she was alive, as an eagle. So noisy and dirty, but powerful and incredibly beautiful.

I was crushed when she was withdrawn from service!

I did, paid for by the taxpayer...

Here I am again (it's all about me) inside Concorde

Me again inside Concorde

I flew Concorde also, so many times (check my pic inside the plane)... until that crazy paedophile above killed me (my man and my baby) in Paris.

I just flew it once, in 1979, but will never forget the array of international celebrities and jet-setters who were on board and surely made it the most glamorous and thrilling trip I have ever had: Alain Delon; Susan Blakely; Robert Wagner; George Kennedy; Eddie Albert; Bibi Andersson; Charo; John Davidson; Martha Raye; Cicely Tyson; Jimmie Walker; David Warner; Avery Schreiber; Ed Begley Jr; Mercedes McCambridge; and Andrea Marcovicci as Alicia Rogov.

Took off like a rocket.

[quote] Matt Damon was also on board

How was he on board, both in terms of looks and behavior.

Those menus @R50 are fantastic. Thems rich people sure do know how to dude it.

R56

Countess Jacqueline de Ribes dear.

My biggest regret in life is that I never got to fly the Concorde because didn't have the money for a ticket.

There just aren't guys like Kalman Ruttenstein around in fashion or retail IMHO.

All those girls or guys getting their "Fashion Buying and Merchandising (FBM) Associate degrees from Fashion Institute of Technology , all hoping to make it were guys (or girls) like KA; only to end up as shop bottoms or at best assistant buyers.

Maybe a few got noticed and picked to enter various training programs (usually those who not only had talent, but went on elsewhere to get a BS then MBA rather than relying on that FIT degree), if they didn't already have a degree and post graduate from some place else.

The Concorde crash is almost 20-years old. July 25, 2000.

Yes, three times.

Did QEII actually HAVE a Concorde or was a commercial one just chartered for occasional flights? Did they retrofit it for her and then reconvert it to commercial status?

Valentino discovered a teen Ypir on a Paris - Rio flight. Ypir and her beautiful mother Husna had boarded in Dakar. Husna was President Léopold Senghor's mistress for many years, and Ypir attended Le Rosey with the Senegalese gratin.

I just googled "Ypir" and couldn't find anything.... are these just characters you made up, R73?

R60/R61, I'm pretty sure those images of Queen Elizabeth are not on a Concorde. I know she never had a private Concorde, and the seats on those jets did not face one another. This is another type of airliner.

[quote]My biggest regret in life is that I never got to fly the Concorde

If that's your biggest regret in life, you've lived a pretty charmed life. Bravo!

How very dare you, R74!

R75, Nah, it's the Concorde. Note the tiny windows inside (well, actually "outside") the windows seen from the second set of windows which are inside the plane's cabin - only Concorde had exterior fenestration that small, necessary given the pressure on the fuselage while Concorde was inflight. Also, note the age of the photo. Given the color of HM's hair, presumably that photo was taken in the early years of Concorde service. Those look like standard first class seats from the 1970's. Subsequent retrofits changed the seating and the overhead bins.

On those occasions when the BA Concorde was chartered and became part of the Queen's Flight, it could easily be reconfigured by removing one row of seats and reversing another. Big Betty gets all the legroom she wants.

^^^ Also, if you enlarge the color photo at R61, you can see the British Airways Concorde logo, presumably on a menu cover, on the left hand side of the table.

[quote]My biggest regret in life is that I never got to fly the Concorde

[quote[If that's your biggest regret in life, you've lived a pretty charmed life. Bravo!

Charmed? Uh, no R76. Simple, unacquisitive. Never had anything. Never wanted anything. Except for the luxury of flying the Concorde.

R78 The Queen doesn't just require special seats in the cabin. When she flies, the airline is required to install a new seat in the toilet. The royal bum must never touch plastic that has touched other bums. She does this for hotels too.

Concorde

Not sure if you were around then, R68/R80, but you may have missed your chance in its final years. After the Air France crash and it's subsequent grounding, when Concorde service was restarted passenger levels were considerably lower on both BA and Air France service and for the first time, air miles could be used, at least for BA Concorde service. We have Australian friends who used Qantas miles to travel on it to meet a cruise on the QE2 from London to JFK after flying from Sydney to London on a QF 747. They said miles, and maybe a $100 in fees and taxes, paid for their flights including the Concorde seats

My favorite story, though, was that of the other two gay guys from Texas on a Royal Scotsman train trip through Scotland. They told us they'd collected enough miles via a promo that got you airline miles for buying Eggo waffles. They said they'd bought literally a couple of thousand dollars worth of Eggos and tore off the flaps of the boxes needed for redemption and then driving the melting waffles to homeless shelters all over Houston or Dallas, I can't remember which. But even if they spent $2000 - $3000 on Eggos at Costco, it was a helluva lot cheaper than two one way tickets on Concorde which were then about $6000 each.

[quote] I don't think there was any kind of entertainment/movies or anything in the back of seats, perhaps they showed them from drop-down screens like in old planes?

There was none. The flights were too short and you were being fed / poured champagne the entire time.

R75 - the Concorde's windows are 6.75" tall. Those photos were on the Concorde. Yes, I said it ... THE Concorde. You know .. like THE hospital.

R69 Kal rose to the top cause he went to Princeton and also got an MBA from Columbia and he was charming and smart and not too Jewish. Few others in fashion were as well-educated as he. He used to quip saying that if you went back one generation with people in fashion, everyone's grandmother made corsets. He celebated his bar mitzvah at a roller rink in Buffalo skaing and singing I'm Just a Little Girl from Little Rock wearing his mother's mink stole.

He came close to losing everything over a sexcapade in a Times Square porn theater toilet in the early 70s.

Getting back to Concorde...............

R86

Thank you for that bit of dirt! Had no idea he played ice hockey in college. In fact never considering him that much into sports given his figure later in life.

I was living in Paris at the time of the Concorde crash and there was a great flurry because La Deneuve had taken that same flight the day before.

[R88], AF4590 was a charter flight. It didn't fly the day before.

yeah quite ironic that super fast flight was now a thing in the past instead of being the norm today.

[quote] yeah quite ironic that super fast flight was now a thing in the past instead of being the norm today.

Not for long, it’s coming back:

I don't know how she smuggled it aboard, but I saw Catherine Deneuve taze Joan Collins.

It was really rather marvellous. The whole cabin clapped and cheered.