Concorde: The thrilling account of history’s most extraordinary airliner Paperback – 25 May 2023

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.

Absolutely fantastic book for Concorde and general aviation enthusiasts. Very detailed and informative, yet narrated in easy to understand language. Thank you Captain Bannister for sharing your joy & enthusiasm with those of us that never got to fly in it.

Purchased this as a Christmas present. It has been read by the recipient cover to cover many times over in 4 months. I am constantly informed of new facts that have been found on the re read. This has been one of the best received books in a long time. Given to a non aircraft worker, just a general interest in Concorde. Would recommend this highly!

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A very well written book, obviously well researched, full of technical knowledge describing the UK / French endeavour to build and operate a supersonic airliner. Even now some of the technical problems solved in the early 60’s are mind boggling just like the Apollo missions in the USA. The author describes his own career path to be chief pilot of Concorde from early training to the last flight back to the UK in Concorde. There are highs & lows of course regarding Concorde but overall a very interesting read for the aircraft enthusiast. It just shows how the UK’s experience in aircraft concept, building & development was the best. Excellent

Having been lucky enough to board Concorde back in the 70s at the Farnborough airshow and 'walk through' the aircraft with a quick squint into the flight deck, I can still remember to this day looking at the controls as a boy in total awe, thinking that Concorde was no ordinary aircraft. She isn't. A few years later, I took the family to a theme park near Heathrow and as we sat eating lunch, one of my son's looked up and shouted 'look at that' as Concorde flew in low directly overhead on its flight path to land. Never forgotten that moment either.Mike's book tells his personal journey from boyhood dreams to his pinnacle of flying an iconic aircraft at speeds and heights that was the 'stuff of dreams'. Cleverly interwoven facts, figures and tales of this dream era and a culmination of his involvement regarding the France Air tragedy, I couldn't wait to start the next chapter. A gripping and consuming read from start to finish, it is Mike's tribute to an illustrious career. I am visiting Manchester soon and will visit Concorde there to once again relish my memories.A highly recommended book.

Read this and discover the truth about how the plane was built and the real reasons behind the crash in Paris and extraordinary exposure…

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.