Exploring GB

'Concorde on the Thames' is a new effort to bring the iconic Concorde to Central London.

The iconic aircraft would be open to the public on an exhibition platform, near the London Eye (pictured above).

The plane, that traveled more than twice the speed of sound, is currently in storage at Heathrow Airport, sitting at the eastern end of the southern runway.

The proposed move to the Thames, planned to be situated near the London Eye, would make the aircraft more visible to tourists and would be a major tourist attraction.

The Concorde would be placed on a double-deck pier structure, with the plane on top and an exhibition space below.

Access to Concorde will be from the lower deck via the landing stage from Queens Walk, which would be shared with the London Eye visitors and riverboat commuters to and from Waterloo Station, as a public right of way.

All visitors wishing to experience a tour of Concorde or the Best of British exhibition will pay an entry fee, whereas visitors to the restaurant, bar or memorabilia shop enter free of charge.

The project, called Concorde on the Thames, is backed by the Club Concorde members group.

Thirteen years ago, there was a smilier plan to exhibit one of the Concorde planes next to the London Eye, which never happened, and now a nearly identical plan is making a second attempt.

The previous scheme, which was backed by some deep pocketed investors, failed to raise the funding needed.

This latest plan, however, is based on a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the planning application alone.

If they can raise the estimated £500,000 they need, they’ll need to raise another vastly sum for the pontoon deck itself and to move Concorde from Heathrow to central London.

The proposers say they have spoken to a number of people who would need to support their plans, and that they have backing if they can secure the planning permission first.

The organisers say: “In addition to employing the best planning expertise, we will also call upon the many VIPs, politicians, Corporate Leaders and the global Concorde fraternity to help us save this Concorde for future generations and ourselves.

“We are asking the British public to donate whatever they can to support our planning application to put Concorde on a platform on the Thames, so save the London Concorde, currently in a corner at Heathrow, and restore her to her former glory as a new exhibit opposite the Houses of Parliament and next to the London Eye.”

The British Airways Concorde made just under 50,000 flights and flew more than 2.5m passengers supersonically.

With a take-off speed of 220 knots (250mph) and a cruising speed of 1350mph – more than twice the speed of sound - a typical London to New York crossing would take a little less than three and a half hours!

In November 1986, a British Airways Concorde flew around the world, covering 28,238 miles in 29 hours, 59 minutes.

Concorde used the most powerful pure jet engines flying commercially.

The Aircraft's four engines took advantage of what is known as ‘reheat’ technology, adding fuel to the final stage of the engine, which produced the extra power required for take-off and the transition to supersonic flight.

Concorde’s fastest transatlantic crossing was on 7 February 1996 when it completed the New York to London flight in 2 hours 52 minutes and 59 seconds.

Concorde measured nearly 204ft in length and stretched between 6 and 10 inches in flight due to heating of the airframe.

It was painted in a specially developed white paint to accommodate these changes and to dissipate the heat generated by supersonic flight.

A team of about 250 British Airways' engineers worked tirelessly, together with the relevant authorities, to ensure safety on board and Concorde was subjected to 5,000 hours of testing before it was first certified for passenger flight, making it the most tested aircraft ever.

On 24 October 2003, British Airways withdrew Concorde, bringing to a close the world’s only supersonic passenger service.

You can still see a Concorde in New York, Paris, Barbados and Seattle.

In the UK, there are seven – from the National Museum of Flight near Edinburgh to Duxford in Cambridgeshire plus a lonely Concorde parked up in a corner of Heathrow.

At the time of us writing this article, just under £10,000 has been raised so far in an ambitious attempt to move the Concorde to central London.

Assuming they will successfully launch London's newest visitor attraction, they plan to offer equivalent value discounts on all goods and services to donations made to the project.

Do you think this is a good idea? Let let us know in the comments below.

For more info, and to donate, you can visit their official Crowdfunding page HERE.

In the event that insufficient funds are raised to submit a planning application, all donations will be returned to donors under the Go Fund Me Guarantee.

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