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Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace, Le Bourget, France
“Concorde Lives On, She Is Only Sleeping”
There are many air and space museums in the world, but only one has two Concordes: the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace outside Paris. And one of them is in spectacular condition because it was kept alive until 2007 by a team of volunteer mechanics and crew who maintained and flew it for Air France.
The centerpieces of the museum are Concorde 001 (the prototype Concorde that flew in 1969) and Concorde F-BTSD (known as Sierra Delta; see Figure 16-1), housed in a dedicated hall facing each other. The Sierra Delta was kept in good order by a team of volunteers called “Maintenance Concorde.”
Figure 16-1. Concorde F-BTSD; courtesy of Sergio Colucci (scolucci)
Visitors lucky enough to be at the museum when the volunteers are working on the aircraft can see it with the power on and watch the famous movable nose cone being tested.
You can climb on board and peer into the cockpit through a glass screen. Inside the cockpit, a piece of graffiti left by the flight crew of one of the last flights reads (in French): “Concorde lives on, she is only sleeping.”
The museum is also the oldest aeronautic museum in the world; it was founded in 1919 and contains an important collection of items. Aircraft from the Second World War are well represented, with a British Spitfire Mk 16, German Focker Wulf F190, U.S. Martin B-26 Marauder, French Dewoitine D.520, and a Soviet Yakovlev Yak-3.
There’s a hall of prototype aircraft, which includes France’s first jet aircraft (the SNCASO SO.6000 Triton), Leduc 010 (an experimental ramjet-powered aircraft), and the Nord 1500 Griffon (a ramjet/turbojet hybrid).
The Boeing 747 exhibit allows visitors to see the entire aircraft, from the cockpit to the passenger area and down into the baggage hold. Close to the 747 are Ariane 1 and Ariane 5 rockets.
Finally, a special exhibition honors French aviation pioneer Antoine de Saint Exupéry, and there’s a hall dedicated to early flying machines, including gliders, balloons, and airships.
Practical Information
The museum’s website is at http://www.mae.org/; visiting the museum is free of charge. Access to the museum is easiest by car, although it can also be reached by public transport from central Paris.
