BUY A BIT OF TRAVEL’S GOLDEN AGE G
OOD news for lovers of nostalgia and airplanes: in just over a month, you’ll have a chance to buy a piece of aviation history when bits of the Concorde go on auction in France.
The sale, taking place November 3-5 at the Hôtel des Ventes Saint-Aubin in Toulouse, will put more than 1 000 lots under the hammer, ranging from cockpit instruments to larger mechanical parts, menus and dining plates.
There is also a wooden model of the supersonic aircraft, autographed by André Turcat, Concorde’s first pilot.
The Concorde, which made its maiden flight in 1969 and was commercialised by Air France and British Airways, was once the pinnacle of jet-set glamour, whisking movie stars, royals and high-powered executives across the Atlantic at supersonic speeds.
With a maximum speed of Mach 2.04 — over twice the speed of sound — and a cruising speed of 2 158km/h, it could make the London-to-New-York voyage in around three hours and 30 minutes.
The standard airline service takes seven to eight hours.
But, however glamorous it may have been, it was never economical. The noisy gas-guzzler was retired in 2003 due to soaring costs and plunging ticket sales — particularly after a crash in 2000 killed 113 people.
In total, 20 of the aircraft were built, including six prototypes.
This is not the first time the French auction house has sold off bits of the famous jet. In 2007, Marc Labarbe found buyers for pieces including the 1.2 ton landing gear, plate and silverware sets and even a toilet seat.
At the time, Labarbe said: “This sale is aimed at two types of buyers: collectors who are crazy about the Concorde, but also nostalgic people looking for a last souvenir of the supersonic jet.” The pieces “aren’t just mechanical parts, they also have an aesthetic dimension — all while bearing one of the best trademarks: Concorde”, he said. That sale, however, also raised some controversy when five smoke detectors were suddenly pulled from the listing amid concerns that they contained toxic elements. An environmental group in France had objected to the sale, pointing out that the detectors contained americium-241 (a byproduct of decayed plutonium, and commonly thought to be lethal when ingested) and possibly other toxic radioactive elements. In other sales, three of Concorde’s trademark needle noses were auctioned in London and Paris in 2003 and 2004 — the first going for more than $500 000.