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JULY 2004

British Airways’ Concorde Jet Joins the Intrepid Museum
by Joanna Leefer

For years only the rich and famous had access to British Airways’ glamorous Concorde Jet. Recently, all that has changed. Now visitors from around the world can board the world’s fastest passenger jet simply by visiting the Intrepid Museum located on New York City’s west side.

For twenty-six years British Airways’ supersonic Concorde jet made aviation history by flying passengers daily from NYC to London in only 3 hours and 35 minutes, making it the fastest passenger jet in the world. However due to the high cost of maintenance, the Concorde was never profitable, and finally made its last flight in October 2003. Now it has been added as a regular feature to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, one of the world’s largest maritime museums, located off Pier 86 at 42nd Street off the West Side Highway.

The new Concorde exhibit is part of the History Channel’s new Atlantic Crossings Museum, located on the Intrepid.  The museum is housed in a colorful trailer on the aircraft carrier, the Intrepid, located on the Hudson River off 42nd Street in Manhattan. The museum includes interactive displays and offers descriptions of man’s journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Visitors can experience transatlantic travel from the first ocean liners through the creation of the world’s first and only supersonic commercial passenger jet. Some of the displays include a detailed model of the Graf Zeppelin, the first passenger airship, and the Hindenberg, one of the first luxury transatlantic ocean liners.

As visitors leave the museum, they cross over to the star of the exhibit, the Concorde. After climbing an outdoor staircase, visitors enter the body of the plane just behind the cockpit. To the left visitors view 25 rows of passengers seating, two seats per side, with a narrow walkway running down the center. Turn right and you look into a crammed cockpit filled floor to ceiling with hundreds of gauges and dials, with room enough for only the pilot, co-pilot and two jump seats.

The Concorde made its first commercial transatlantic flight on November 22, 1977. In the 26 years of travel, it carried approximately 2.5 million passengers. The average round trip fare from New York to London cost approximately $6,000. Despite the glamour and cost of the trip, visitors will be surprised at how tightly the passengers are seated.

Zachary Fisher established the Intrepid Museum in 1982. Fisher established the museum primarily to save the Intrepid for generations to come. The 900 foot-long ESSEX class aircraft carrier, served during World War II, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War. The Intrepid also served as a recovery vessel during NASA’s Mercury and Gemini space programs.  It was finally retired in 1974.#

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