UK News 24-10-2003 Concorde Makes Final Flight who: British Airways what: Retire Concorde after 27 years` service where: HEATHROW AIRPORT when: Today snippet: "British Airways, the police and airport authority are urging the public to stay away from today`s `graceful` retirement of Concorde, the world`s first - and only - supersonic passenger jet," says The Telegraph. "Aside from a 1,000-seat grandstand, which is fully booked, there are no facilities for families to watch three Concordes land at Heathrow at 3.45pm after 27 years` service." "BA02 will be the last of three Concordes to land at Heathrow today," says The Times. "Minutes before, flight BA9021C will have arrived from Edinburgh while flight BA9022C will have completed a loop over the Atlantic. Strapped into the ink-blue leather seats will be 100 hand-picked celebrities." "Concorde`s space shuttle-like Delta wings create extra lift, but it is the four turbo-jet engines which generate the thrust necessary to allow the plane to reach its cruising speed of 2,170 km per hour - twice the speed of sound, or Mach 2," according to a fascinating, fact-filled article by The Guardian`s Sally Bolton. "This velocity causes the aluminium-alloy frame to heat up and expand, making Concorde stretch by an average 7in during flight." Meanwhile, Virgin boss Richard Branson has done his bit to steal BA`s thunder by announcing that next year his Global Flyer will make history by flying around the world without refuelling in just 80 hours. The Guardian says the plane "looks a little like three planes jammed rather awkwardly together," yet is more fuel-efficient "than the average 4x4 off-roader". [... more]

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