Flying on Concorde was a unique experience for those lucky few that got to fly on the iconic supersonic jet. But should you ever find yourself in downtown New York City, why not take a trip to the Intrepid Air and Space Museum, where one such example awaits your visit?

A unique piece of aviation history

Even for those not lucky enough to fly on her, Concorde still holds a special place in every aviation enthusiast's heart. The iconic passenger jet was special in many ways - an engineering marvel, a flying experience like no other, and a design that remains instantly identifiable even today. This year marks 20 years since Concorde retired from commercial service.

Even how we refer to the plane differentiates her from other passenger aircraft. We might say, "oh look, there is an Airbus A330", or "last year, I flew on a Boeing 737 on vacation". Yet with Concorde, we only refer to the plane in the singular, as if there was only one - "I always wanted to fly on Concorde." And in many ways, she was, indeed, one of a kind.

14 production Concordes entered commercial passenger service with just two airlines - Air France and British Airways. Other airlines dabbled with Concorde through short-lived commercial arrangements, such as Braniff in the United States and Singapore Airlines in the Far East. Yet it was with the two national airlines that Concorde spent its entire service life.

Sadly, in 2003, following the accident in Paris involving Air France Concorde F-BTSC in July 2000, the two carriers reluctantly decided to retire her and end supersonic operations - 27 years after she had first entered commercial service.

Fortunately, there are now a total of 17 pre-production and production Concordes spending their retirement in aviation museums worldwide.

The example which forms the subject of this article is G-BOAD - the fourth production Concorde off the line in Filton, near Bristol in the United Kingdom, which spent its entire career flying for British Airways.

Concorde G-BOAD (or 'Alpha Delta' as she became known within British Airways) now resides at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum, located at Pier 86 in the mid-town district of Manhattan, on the banks of the Hudson River, very close to where US Airways Flight 1549 made its miraculous water landing in 2009.

G-BOAD - a brief history

Before we examine how you can visit Alpha Delta in her current home, we should first learn a little more about the aircraft, its provenance, and its service history.

According to the website HeritageConcorde.com, Concorde production number 100-010 was initially registered as G-BOAD on May 9th, 1975, to British Airways. It was built by the British Aircraft Corporation in Filton in 1976, having its first flight on August 25th, 1976.

Alpha Delta was powered by four Rolls-Royce Olympus 593 MK 610-14-28 turbojets and had a maximum take-off weight of 408,010 lbs (185,070 kg).

Having entered service with British Airways in 1976, Alpha Delta was one of the only Concever to wear anything but a British Airways or Air France livery (the other being Air France Concorde F-BTSD which featured a 'Pepsi' themed paint scheme for a promotional world tour in 1996).

As part of an arrangement with Singapore Airlines in 1976, the two airlines jointly operated a Bahrain to Singapore service as an extension to the British Airways Concorde route from London Heathrow (LHR) to Bahrain (BAH).

As part of the agreement, British Airways allowed Singapore Airlines to paint the left-hand side of the aircraft in its own livery. Meanwhile, the right-hand side retained its existing British Airways color scheme. The agreement was short-lived, however, with Alpha Delta returning to the full British Airways scheme upon the termination of the contract.

Alpha Delta was later part-leased to Braniff Airways in the United States to operate a unique domestic service from Washington Dulles Airport (IAD) to Dallas. For this purpose, the aircraft was re-registered as G-N94AD / N94AD on January 5th, 1979, to comply with Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

With the agreement with Braniff coming to an end just 18 months later, the aircraft returned to its previous UK registration of G-BOAD on June 19th, 1980. The aircraft flew exclusively for British Airways until its retirement in 2003.

With its withdrawal from commercial service, Alpha Delta was finally de-registered from the British register on May 4th, 2004, as 'Permanently withdrawn from use.' The aircraft had flown a total of 23,397 hours, completing 8,406 landings and 7.010 supersonic cycles in its career.

Alpha Delta holds the record for the fastest-ever flight from New York JFK to London Heathrow, lasting just 2 hours, 52 minutes, and 59 seconds on February 7th, 1996. She also flew the flypast along with the Red Arrows display team at the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002.

Retired to New York

Upon her retirement in 2003, British Airways sought homes for six of its seven Concorde aircraft. A complete list of their current locations was covered by Simple Flying back in October 2022.

It was decided that Alpha Delta should return to the United States, given the aircraft's long relationship with the country and with New York in particular. With the Intrepid Air and Space Museum stating an interest in exhibiting Alpha Delta alongside its collection of 29 other aircraft, the aircraft was selected to be the one that would be despatched stateside on loan to the museum.

On November 10th, 2003, the aircraft flew for the final time from Heathrow to New York JFK to be put on temporary display while a new exhibition pier was built at the Intrepid museum specifically for her.

Upon her arrival in New York, Alpha Delta was subsequently transferred from JFK (on a barge originally used to move Space Shuttle external fuel tanks) to the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. Its route took it past the Statue of Liberty and up the Hudson River alongside the USS Intrepid, it's future home.

As with the rest of the British Airways Concorde fleet, she was drained of hydraulic fluid, and its engines were removed to reduce weight. Its temporary home was on a barge alongside the aircraft carrier, pending the construction of a permanent quayside display structure.

In December 2006, Alpha Delta was moved (once again by barge) to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, where regretfully, she was kept in poor condition. Her nose cone was knocked off by a truck in June 2008. The damage was repaired, and she was subsequently moved back to Pier 86 in Manhattan and finally placed on the newly-built pier on October 20th, 2008.

Visiting Alpha Delta - a unique experience

Alpha Delta has been on display to the general public at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum since its arrival. However, in 2011, the museum launched a new guided tour program ("The Concorde Experience") on Alpha Delta, which provides a far more engaging and all-round experience of the aircraft and what it was like to fly on her.

The museum has a team of tour guides giving unique tours of Alpha Delta throughout the day. The 20-minute experience is offered every 30 minutes beginning at 11:00 am daily.

The Concorde Experience takes visitors on a unique tour of Alpha Delta, starting with a short timeline of the development of the aircraft, followed by a few minutes explaining Concorde's technical innovation while looking aircraft's exterior.

Visitors then enter the passenger cabin, as the guide describes a typical New York JFK – London LHR flight on Alpha Delta to the seated guests. The passenger cabin can only be visited during the guided tour, which helps keep the aircraft interior in better condition.

With over 700,000 visitors a year to the museum, that amount of traffic causes enormous wear and tear on the interior of the aircraft, which the museum staff does their best to keep on top of.

The five front rows of seats in the front cabin have covers to protect the leather, and this is where the guests sit, so they visually get a chance to sit in one of the famous seats - once only the preserve of the rich and famous.

Most exciting of all, and probably the highlight of the visit, is that Alpha Delta's flight deck is also accessible under the guide's supervision. You get a chance to gaze at the myriad of dials, switches, and instruments required to fly the airplane safely - both by the pilots and the flight engineer. The tour ends with the chance of that highly sought-after photo opportunity of sitting in one of the pilot's seats.

While The Concorde Experience is not included with general admission and has limited availability, the cost is just US$9 per person or just $5 for museum members.

The general admission prices for the museum are currently $36 for adults, $34 for children, and $26 for seniors. Other concessions are available. Tickets can either be purchased online or onsite at the Museum box office or Information Desk.

The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is located on the West side of Manhattan on Pier 86, 12th Ave. & 46th Street. It is easily accessible from all points in the New York City Metro area and is open from 10:00 to 17:00 daily, including holidays. Extended opening hours are offered on the weekends between April and September.

Worth a visit if visiting New York

With cockpit visits essentially a thing of the past in these days of heightened security and restricted access, the opportunity to sit in the left or right-hand seat of possibly the most iconic and identifiable passenger plane ever is not to be missed.

As you stare in wonder at the instrument panel before you, why not also glance out of the forward cockpit windows and down the long nose cone? As you do, imagine the fantastic sights that have been seen out of those windows over the years by those who were fortunate enough to take the controls of this magnificent invention.

Before your tour ends, as you disembark Alpha Delta at the end of your visit, perhaps take a moment to wonder whether supersonic passenger air travel will ever return and when that might be.

Have you had the opportunity to visit G-BOAD in New York? Perhaps you even flew on her when she was in service? Tell us more in the comments.

Sources: Heritageconcorde.com, Intrepid Air and Space Museum, Concordesst.com

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