Concorde prototype's last flight 50 years ago

A museum is celebrating 50 years since the prototype airliner Concorde 002 made its final flight and became one of their most popular permanent exhibits.

The aircraft is on show at the Fleet Air Museum in Yeovilton, where it landed on 4 March 1976, following 438 test flights, 196 of which were flown at supersonic speeds.

Although it took paying passengers, the aircraft designed in Filton near Bristol paved the way for the commercial Concordes that flew for decades.

Dave Morris at Fleet Air Arm Museum, said: "The British government at the time wouldn't have it scrapped, it had to be retained as an iconic piece of British engineering for the nation. So, it came back home, very near to Filton."

Filled with electronic monitoring equipment the prototype did "an enormous amount" of flight data gathering, Morris added, and then completed a world tour to showcase the capability of what a supersonic aircraft could do.

On 4 March 1976, when it was on its way to Yeovilton, Morris coincidentally saw it land.

"We happened to be in my mother's garden on 4 March and heard this roaring aircraft noise," he said.

"You could see this big white shape coming through the mist. We caught this view of Concorde coming in making that final flight.

"If anybody would have told me the next day in school that I'd be looking after it one day, I'd have laughed my socks off."

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