Concorde - 50 år siden første flyvning - Fra min korrespondent i Vanse

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"She flies, she flies." Millions of television viewers in Britain heard commentator Raymond Baxter's excited shout. In cold blood, there may seem something faintly ridiculous about his choice of words - what was Concorde meant to do but fly? - but at Toulouse that morning there were not many cold-blooded onlookers.

The crowd watched as she climbed into the blue sky, trailed by her attendant Mirage. Twin plumes of dark smoke marked her passage. She dwindled to a white spot and then was gone. People looked at each other and said trite things to mask the fact that they were deeply moved. It was a short flight, only 40 minutes, but it gave Andre Turcat and his crew a foretaste of what flying a Concorde would be like. Afterwards, he was to report that the aircraft handled better than the simulator had predicted.

Over on the grandstand, the journalists were in touch with the control tower and received word when 001 was on the approach. She came into view and for the first time, they saw that characteristic "sea-bird" swoop in to land. A puff of smoke told that the main bogies were in contact with the runway, the nose-wheel came down, reverse thrust was engaged and the tail parachute broke from its housing to balloon out behind the aircraft.

Safely down! Around the airfield there was a rattle of clapping and applause. Everywhere there were wide smiles of relief. There were lumps in some throats and tears in some eyes, including those of experienced journalists who one would have thought had "seen everything."

"Zero-zero-un" taxied to a halt in front of the airport building and passenger stairs were run into position. Within a few minutes, the tall figure of Turcat appeared at the top of the steps, followed by his crew.

Text by FG Clarke   Kindly reproduced courtesy of www.ConcordeSST.com

With the imminent 50th anniversary of Concorde’s maiden flight, we take a look at the day back in 1969 that heralded what many thought was a new mode of travel – this ahead of the fuel crisis of the early seventies.  In the end, it was for an elite few, but that did not stop the aircraft itself becoming a firm favourite with the public and the revered icon she is today - over fifteen years since she last flew.   Look out for our 2nd special commemorative edition newsletter on the anniversary tomorrow - Saturday 2nd March - to be published at 2.30 pm - the exact time of Concorde 001's take-off.