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

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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. One thing I do wish was perhaps having a little more insight from Bannister about the future of commercial supersonic flight and where he visions it, rather than the few lines about Boom Overture. image(15711420, type="article-full", alt="Concorde passengers could zip from London to New York in just under three-and-a-half hours as opposed to about eight hours on a subsonic flight")

British Airways admitted that had it not been for the post 9/11 drop in passenger numbers, Concorde would have another 25 years’ life left in it. When Concorde’s retirement was announced it was Mike who masterminded the celebrations, flying the last ever Concorde scheduled flight in October 2003. When, after that terrible crash, the cause had to be established, Mike was a member of the British team that was part of the investigation. And when the French-led investigation led to unsafe criminal convictions, Mike was the expert witness whose evidence help see them overturned, while at the same time as restoring the reputation of his beloved aeroplane.If you want the sexy engineering, the aerodynamics and the detailed nuts-and-bolts of the aircraft (the “gee-whizz” stuff as Bannister calls it), and design history of the aircraft; this isn’t your book. Sure, it does whet the appetite in a way that appeals to those of us who identify as aerosexuals, but it’s subtle and very well done, considering this book isn’t written just for us. It’s written to be enjoyed by the lay-person, just as much as the pilot or engineer, and I think Bannister has balanced that well in this book.

image(15711422, type="article-full", alt="Mike and Fernando Alonso at BA's Engineering Base at Heathrow. 'He was there with his Benetton F1 car and I with my Concorde,' says Mike. 'We were doing a PR shoot comparing the fastest aircraft with the fastest car. Concorde has a higher top speed (up to 250mph on the ground) and could, initially, out accelerate the F1 car. It was taken on September 5, 2003 as part of the celebrations running up to Concorde's retirement the following month. 'We chatted for hours. There were so many similarities, but one very big difference: he spends his professional career trying to operate at 100 per cent of his capacity and I spend mine trying to never operate at 100 per cent – always keeping something in reserve for the "what ifs".'") It was initially banned from the US following protests about sonic boom – a problem that placed restrictions on where it could fly throughout its life. The plane’s image was dented in 2000 when an Air France Paris to New York service crashed, killing all 100 passengers and nine crew members, but it was another tragedy that really did for Concorde.The decision to award the contract for the control systems to Boulton Paul was itself also mired in controversy. 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.