When Concorde was retired in 2003, the fleet was dispersed to museums around the world so people in the future could visit them. Museums in Europe and the USA were the main recipients, which makes sense as this is where Concorde mainly flew to and from.
Just 20 of the supersonic jets were produced, ten each in France and England. Two of the French built Concorde’s no longer exist, one having been scrapped in 1994 and the other lost in an accident in 2000. In the second article for Concorde Week (the first is here), we have a look to see where you can visit Concorde today.
Visit Concorde in the United Kingdom
The English built Concorde’s are easily found in the UK and there are six scattered around the country. You can find the British prototype G-BSST at the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton, Somerset. It has been there since 1976.
The National Museum of Scotland at East Fortune has British Airways Concorde G-BOAA on display. I have also been to this museum and going on board Concorde here is another great experience. They also have other British aircraft such as a Dan-Air Comet 4 and a BAC 1-11 on display among other things.
Visit Concorde In France
France built and flew the very first Concorde, registered F-WTSS. You can visit this at the Musée de l’air et de l’espace (Air and Space Museum) near Le Bourget in Paris. Interestingly, Air France Concorde F-BTSD is also at the same place, so you get two Concorde’s for the price of one!
Aeroscopia in Toulouse also has two Concorde’s on display. One is F-WTSB, a production test aircraft you can go inside and check out. The other is Air France Concorde F-BVFC which is located outside. When I visited it was closed, so I am not sure if you can go on board.
Visit Concorde In Germany
Technik Museum Sinsheim in Germany has Air France Concorde F-BVFB on display. This museum also has a “Soviet Concorde” on display, the competing Tupolev Tu-144.
Visit Concorde In The United States
Since the USA was Concorde’s main destination, a few aircraft were sent for display there also. Air France sent F-BVFA to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia outside Washington DC. They have a Space Shuttle and other great things on display too, so you should definitely go here.
Overall Thoughts
Concorde fans will see that I have missed two aircraft from the list. British Airways G-BOAE is in Barbados, however the Concorde Experience in Barbados is currently closed. I have no information on when it will reopen.
The other is G-BOAB, which sits near the British Airways maintenance hangers at London Heathrow Airport. You can see it when heading to the runway sometimes, but can’t go on board for a visit.
I’ve been to see many of the Concorde’s in museums. I’ve seen G-BOAA in Scotland, G-BOAC in Manchester, G-BOAD in New York, G-BOAG in Seattle, F-WTSB and F-BVFC in Toulouse, F-BVFF at Charles de Gaulle, G-BOAB at Heathrow, G-AXDN in Duxford and G-BBDG in Weybridge.
The ones that let you sit in the seats are best, which I did in Manchester, Weybridge and Scotland. The best of the bunch is easily the “flight” at Brooklands in Weybridge. It’s fairly realistic and the seats are unbelievably comfortable!
Have you visited Concorde in a museum before? What did you think of it? If you’ve been to more than one, which one was best? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Eduard Marmet on Airliners.net via Wikimedia Commons.
G-BSST image via ConcordeSST.com.
F-BVFF image by Aero Icarus via Wikimedia Commons.
Concorde and Tu-144 at Sinsheim via Sinsheim Museum.
Seattle Concorde Cabin by FaceMePLS from The Hague via Wikimedia Commons.
I was fortunate to have visited Alpha Echo in Bridgetown, Barbados. The locals took a great deal of pride in the exhibit. As I write this, in 2021, the “Concorde Experience” is closed, with no word on when or whether it will open again. Pity – this was a wonderful experience!
Hopefully it will reopen once again! Fantastic you got to experience it, that’s for sure. Give it time, fingers crossed!
I live in the USA and have visited the Concordes in the states of Washington, Virginia and New York; all very good. I also visited the Concorde at Duxford, England and the two Concordes at Le Bourget. The Two in Paris were an especially good experience. They were parked close together, nearly nose to nose. I enter one through the rear and walked the full interior. They had all of the port seats and floor removed so you could see the interior framework, hydraulic lines, wiring etc. I exited the left door and crossed a cat-walk into the left front of the other Concorde, traversed the entire length and exited the right rear. I also saw, entered, and explored the Concord and Tu 144 at Sinsheim. They were replacing the carpet in the Concord and the carpet installers had the door to the cockpit (normally locked) open to do their job. They allowed me sit in the pilots seat and marvel all the gauges and controls, it was quite impressive!.
You’ve visited plenty of the Concorde aircraft around the world, which is great to see. I haven’t been to Sinsheim in Germany before, which is a place I definitely have to try to get to at some stage. Excellent that you got to sit in the cockpit in Sinsheim, which is a rare experience! Thanks for sharing that, pretty impressive!
Udvarhazy In d.c.
Great museum, that! 🙂
Good article. I’ve been to the Manchester one and there are a few others on there worth a visit too. I especially like the look of the set up at Sinsheim with the Tu-144 as well.
Same here, I really need to head over to Sinsheim – the angle of that Tu-144 is pretty strong, so I imagine it’s an interesting experience to get inside. Great to see them side by side – Concorde is far more elegant, that’s for sure!
I visited the Concordes at Le Bourget. One of them is a test airplane, which achieved some interesting records, and also has an observatory (a fancy telescope) on one side of the cabin.
The presentation is beautiful and made me very unhappy that humanity could not keep this marvel going (just like Lunar landings). The entire Le Bourget museum is a full day-trip worthy for aviation enthusiasts. There is a very good shop and they also have a 747 of the first generation with parts uncovered, so you can experience everything from the luxury travel experience (the original upper level lounge) to the unseen bits and bobs (fuel and waste reservoirs) in the belly.
Sounds like I will have to go to Le Bourget to visit the Concordes there. That sounds really cool! I completely agree with you, it is a shame that such advances in technology were not kept going and developed further. What is good though is that a lot of things have flowed out of both those programmes and are used in things we see today. Great comment, thanks very much!
There is also a concorde in Barbados, near the airport in a very well built facility, and at the aeroscopia museum in Toulousse, France.
Yes, as I mentioned in the article, that one is closed. Aeroscopia is a great museum for an afternoon out – lots to see in addition to Concorde. Thanks for the comment!
Nice reading. I did see one at Heathrow terminal 2 yesterday. I suppose the purpose of this one is for letting all the travelling Englishmen take part in history and beeing proud. How long has this one been standing there ?
It’s been there for quite a long time… since 2003 or something like that. It was out of service since 2000 and never received the modifications to return to flight. Eventually it was displayed at Heathrow, so it’s been there for a long time now!