Isle of Man 2009 - 40th Anniversary of the First Concorde Test Flight - Cupro Nickel Crown

Until the announcement on the 10th April 2003, that British Airway’s Concorde fleet was to retire, the fleet of aircrafts had operated close to 50,000 flights, clocked up more than 140,000 flying hours and travelled some 140 million miles.

The first pilot to fly the ‘the big bird’ as he called it was Andre Turcat. The Anglo-French plane took off from Toulouse and was in the air for just 27 minutes before the pilot made the decision to land. Using a braking parachute and reverse thrust, the aircraft was brought back down to earth less then half an hour after it had taken off. Mr. Turcat and his crew emerged from the plane, signalling a thumbs up with each hand. The Concorde was said to have made a faultless maiden flight. Poor weather conditions meant that two previous test flight attempts had to be abandoned.

The first British test flight successfully completed on the 9th April 1969. Brian Trubshaw was the pilot who flew this test flight in the British-built prototype. The 22 minute flight left from a test runway at Filton near Bristol and landed at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

Approved by Buckingham Palace the obverse of each coin carries a fine effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS FSNAD. This coin is available in Unc. Cupro Nickel and Proof Sterling Silver.  To make this coin more unique these coins will be available in a stunning coloured version.