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9:39 pm LT, 57000 feet, 1250 mph, M 1.93 The captain came on and explained we were to begin our deceleration and reach our highest altitude. The curvature of the earth can be seen as well. He also said we would be landing on Runway 13L at JFK. A bit later, he added that we were crossing the uninhabited Sable Island, visible on the left side (which I was not on, so I didn't see it). Supposedly that's the only land we cross supersonically. The cabin noise decreases a bit as we began our deceleration. The curvature of the earth was not readily visible from one window. It was more apparent when I sat back and looked through both of my windows using the bottom frame as a point of reference. It was very apparent across the aisle, through the series windows on the opposite side. I don't know how much of the apparent curvature was due to the fact the nose probably was not pointed straight and level, but I was sure I saw it! :-) The sky was not as dark or black-blue as I had expected. I thought it looked like any other dark blue sky. Maybe I just did not stare at it long enough.
9:41 pm LT, 60000 feet*, 1200 mph, M 1.86, temp -59°C The captain announced we were at our max cruising altitude of 60,000 feet. He said the cabin displays were not correct.
9:50 pm LT, 38500 feet, 570 mph, M 1.0, temp -51°C In 9 minutes we lost almost 22,000 feet! The descent was very steep and we were quickly back down to Mach 1. The seatbelt light hasn't even come on yet! It was very difficult for me to stand to put away my bags in the overhead bin.
10:00 pm LT, 16500 feet, 490 mph, M 0.70, temp -6°C Now we were just like any other subsonic airliner. Note that we had lost another 22,000 feet in just 10 minutes. Some time later, the speed displays went off. They now show "Thank you for flying Concorde". |
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10:18 pm LT. The gears come down. We make the famous bank over Howard Beach for 13L.
10:22 pm LT. Touchdown! Total elapsed flying time was 3 hours 29 minutes. The thrust reversers were very loud and there was a lot of braking motion. I had to grab my notepad and camera from the seat next to me so they wouldn't slide off. We made a short taxi to the gate at Terminal 7, as we were already on that side of the airport.
10:27 pm LT. Arrive at the gate. Local time in New York is 5:27 pm. In case you haven't noticed, I left London at half past six in the evening and I am now in New York at half past five in the evening. We flew faster than the sun and I gained an extra hour in my life! |
Photos of my flight landing at JFK:
I am grateful to Matt and Tom for taking my photo, and to Art Brett for his effort arranging this for me. Thanks guys!
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10:28 pm LT. Engines are shutdown and the seatbelt light goes off. We arrived 3 minutes late. As passengers deplane, it became obvious who were the frequent business travelers (they were in a hurry to get off the plane) and who were the aviation aficionados (they were the ones not getting up from their seats)! As I deplane, I request a cockpit visit from Captain Mills standing at the front. He says certainly, just queue up with everyone else in the jetway! In the end, there was about 30 people waiting to see the cockpit. The captain, obviously overwhelmed from all the attention he has been getting, found a chair in the jetway, sat down, and started signing everyone's flight certificates. I asked him what he is going to fly after Concorde. He replied back, rather wittily, "they want me to fly a 'Bus". We all chuckled. Another person asks, "isn't that a bit of a downgrade?" The captain replied, "they should just put me out, as I only have 6 months to go to retirement!". The crew was shuffling people in and out of the cockpit quickly. I was able to manage just a few shots of the instruments and had a photo of me taken in the cockpit. I shook hands with Captain Brodie and the flight engineer and took a parting photo of the entry area as I deplaned. Of course, I did not forget to pick up my flight certificate! When I got to the immigration desk, it was 6 pm, and all the officers were getting ready to go home. One of them returned to his booth to check my passport. He was rather puzzled to see the few people waiting there and asked which flight we were on. I told him we were on BA 1 and there were a good number of people congregating on the jetway to meet the crew and see the cockpit. Mystery solved! I then went out to the baggage claim. All the bags were already out on the carousel. Hmm...I don't see my suitcase. I tracked down an agent and told her my predicament. She was rather puzzled to hear my suitcase wasn't there. She said normally on Concorde flights, they know ahead of time whose bag did not make the flight. Off to the baggage office I went. My bag would be delivered to me later by FedEx. In the end, I received my suitcase two days after I returned home. The tag on the bag showed it flew into JFK on the last BA flight on that day, two flights after mine. As I had a five-hour connection at LHR, it boggles the mind on why my suitcase didn't fly with me. On top of that, I had Concorde models in the suitcase, so that they could to be "flown" as well. I was very, very disappointed. And on top of that, I didn't even get my Concorde luggage tags! The flight back home from JFK to SJC on an American 757 was five and a half hours long. Needless to say, the flight felt like it took an eternity! |
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