GREAT AVIATION QUOTES
CONCORDE

It’s a lovely shape – one feels that if God wanted aircraft to fly he would have meant them to be this shape.

Sir Morien Morgan

Concorde engineer, interview im the 1964 BBC documentary Supersonic. He had worked on the Spitfire in 1937/38, but the swept-wing design was his real baby, making him known as Morgan the Supersonic, or the Welsh father of Concorde.

It was wizard — a cool, calm, and collected operation.

Brian Trubshaw

Concorde test pilot, on the ground after first flight of a British-built concorde, prototype 002. RAF Fairford, 9 April 1969. Quoted in his The New York Times obituary, 28 March 2001.

He added, “Many test pilots would have given almost anything to be in my shoes, and I well appreciate how lucky I was.”



See one other Brian Trubshaw great aviation quote.

A very friendly boom, like a pair of gleeful handclaps.

Sir James Lighthill

UK government scientific advisor regards Concorde supersonic noise profile, Proceedings of the Eighth International Shock Tube Research Symposium, Imperial College London, 1971. The prototypes’s breaking the sound barrier had also been described by witnesses as like “flying bombs landing half a mile away.”

It is not unreasonable to look upon Concorde as a miracle.

Brian Trubshaw

Concorde Chief Test Pilot, opening line of his 2000 book Concorde: The Inside Story. It was published the day after the Air France Concorde crash.



See one other Brian Trubshaw great aviation quote.

Concorde is back and will be here for at least another decade.

Sir Rod Eddington

Chief Executive of British Airways, comments to the press on the return of supersonic Concorde service, 7 November 2001. Less than two years later, the fleet was permanently grounded.



See one other Rod Eddington great aviation quote.

Finally the big bird flies, and I can say now that it flies pretty well.

André Turcat

Concorde test pilot, in both French and English, emerging from the cockpit after the first flight of Concorde prototype 001, Toulouse, France, 2 March 1969.

It is a magic aircraft … the pleasure of flying in it is almost a carnal one.

Joelle Cornet-Templet

Air France’s Chief Steward regards Concorde. Quoted in Concorde’s demise brings the French out in flights of fancy, The Sunday Times newspaper, 29 May 2003.

Its operation in a world beset by fuel and energy crises makes no sense at all.

Senator Alan Cranston of California

1974. Regards the Concorde. Quoted in Flying magazine, January 1975. The editor added this comment:

“In addition, this opinion no doubt reflects the Senator’s constituency—Lockhead, Douglas, Northrop and Rockwell.”

There’s no better way to test an idea than to take it outside and see if it flies.

Alan Perry

One of the supersonic designers at the British Aircraft Corporation in Bristol, UK. Quoted in press reports of the Science Museum unveiling the original 1959 papier mache and sticky tape models made by W. E. Gray for use in wind tunnel trials at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough, Hampshire, for the project that became Concorde. 27 September 2007.



He added: “Sometimes we’d even use our punch cards. We’d fold them up, take them outside at lunchtime if the weather was nice and see who can fly them furthest from the hanger.”

It was a sports car, it wasn’t a Rolls Royce. … with the full reheats on, Concorde was like a fighter.

Fred Finn

Guinness World Record holder for the most supersonic passenger flights. Of the 15 million miles Finn clocked up in the sky, 2.5 million were recorded on the 718 Concorde flights he took between 1976 and 2003. Quoted in “I would always find a half bottle of Dom Perignon stashed under my seat…” — Meet Concorde’s million mile man, Gentleman’s Journal, July 2025.

It is clear to us all that a tyre burst alone should never cause a loss of a public-transport aircraft.

Sir Malcolm Field

Head of Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority, 16 August 2000. This was following the Air France Concorde crash in Paris, a causation chain started by a piece of metal left on the runway damaging the tires on takeoff.

Without doubt, Concorde died yesterday at the age of 31. All that will remain is the myth of a beautiful white bird.

Le Figaro newspaper editorial

The day after AF 4590 crashed at takeoff from Charles de Gaulle aerodrome, 26 July 2000.

See three other Le Figaro great aviation quotes.

The new engines are far quieter than the prototypes, people living near the airports will hardly notice the aircraft.

Henry Marking

British Airways, regards Concorde’s noise profile, 1975.

A passenger commented on an early Concorde flight that Mach 2 travel felt no different.

Yes. That was the difficult bit.

Sir George Edwards

Co-director of Concorde development. Quoted in 1982 book Concorde: New Shape in the Sky.

An aircraft which is used by wealthy people on their expense accounts, whose fares are subsidized by much poorer taxpayers.

Denis Healey

British politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer, regards the Concorde, in his 1990 memoirs The Time of My Life.

You can be in London at 10 o'clock and in New York at 10 o'clock. I have never found another way of being in two places at once.

Sir David Frost

TV host and interviewer, who was maybe Concorde's most famous frequent flier, with about 300 trips. He taped shows in both New York and London. The Final Flight, Evening Standard newspaper, 12 April 2012.

Concorde is like a great wine; you dream of it beforehand, you savor it while drinking, and remember it for the rest of your life.

Philippe Faure-Brac

Voted world’s best wine sommelier in 1992, he selected the wines for Air France to serve on their re-introduction of Concorde service, November 2001.

The Concorde is loud, unreliable and has been literally falling to pieces for years. It should have been grounded a long time ago.

Anthony Weiner

On the demise of Concorde. The congressman for the 9th district of New York, the Kew Gardens area, was never a fan. Press reports 16 April 2003.

To squander a fortune in public money, billions and billions, stubbornly carrying on with a Concorde we can only sell to ourselves.

Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber

Editor of L’Express and member of the the French Chambre des Dputs, 28 August 1972.

In the year 2010 grandfathers are not going to want to say to their grandchildren, “We used to cross the Atlantic in three and a half hours”.

Robert McKinlay

Chairman of British Aerospace Airbus Ltd, and a former Concorde engineer, in a 1992 lecture titled Concorde First or Last. The quote is the last paragraph in the 1997 edition of The Concorde Story.