Summary

This scale factory model is mounted on a metal stand with a coloured globe of the world. It was donated to the Museum by Mr Graeme Swartz in 1994. The donor's father was The Hon. R.W.C. Swartz, Minister for Civil Aviation from 1966 to 1969. The model is believed to be a gift from the joint Anglo/French manufacturers who were hoping to secure orders from Qantas for Concorde in the late 1960s. Qantas had an option to purchase Concorde and evaluated the aircraft but chose not to order it.

Famous as the world's first supersonic airliner to enter regular public service, the Concorde was developed and manufactured by an Anglo-French joint venture between State-owned Sud Aviation, based at Toulouse, France, and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Although preliminary feasibility studies began in 1954, detailed design development did not begin until after the signing of a UK-France treaty in 1962. Construction of six prototypes began in February 1965, with the first flight taking place from Toulouse on 2 March 1969. The Concorde first entered service on 21 January 1976 with concurrent flights by Air France from Paris-Roissy and British Airways from London Heathrow. Transatlantic services were the main market for which the Concorde was designed, with regular scheduled flights typically taking place between Paris or London and Washington or New York. Air France and British Airways remained the sole customers with seven airframes each, from a total production of 20. Supersonic flight mode more than halved travel times of the period, but sonic booms over the ground limited the aircraft operating at supersonic speeds to transoceanic flights only. All operational Concordes were temporarily grounded following the aircraft type's first and only fatal accident when Air France Flight 4590 crashed shortly after take-off from Paris on 25 July 2000. Services resumed in November 2001 and continued until all remaining aircraft were retired in 2003.

Physical Description

Long plastic Concorde model with white body and silver wings.

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