Rolled out of its hanger for a major presentation ceremony at Toulouse that included the British Technology Minister, Anthony Wedgewood Benn.
1968
Registered F-WTSS to Aerospatiale.
1969 - Mar 2
Maiden flight from Toulouse, the first flight of a Concorde. With Chief Test Pilot Andre Turcat at the controls the aircraft made a 28 minute flight with undercarriage and nose remaining down and finished with a perfect landing. For the next few months the aircraft would be used to test and validate the design principles of Concorde’s performance and handling.
1969 - May 29
A low level flight over Paris is followed by going on display at the Paris Air Show, at which F-WTSS and the British prototype G-BSST make their first joint public appearance.
1969 - Oct 1
Exceeds Mach 1 for the first time. Flying from Toulouse and at an altitude of 36,000 feet, F-WTSS holds Mach 1.05 for 9 minutes.
1969 - Nov 8
F-WTSS is used for familiarisation flying by pilots from BOAC, Air France, Pan Am and TWA.
1970 - Nov 4
Exceeds Mach 2 for the first time.
1971 - May 13
First automatic landing is achieved successfully.
1971 - May 25
A trip to Dakar via the Paris Air Show.
1971 - Sep
A sales promotion tour of South America includes the Cape Verde Islands, Rio de Janeiro, Cayenne and Sao Paolo where it starred in the France 71 exhibition.
1972 - May 3
First visit to Tangier.
1973 - Jun
Along with G-BSST, F-WTSS makes a number of high altitude sampling flights in support of a research programme to understand more about the stratosphere.
1973 - Jun 30
A flight from the Canaries to Chad is used by scientists to observe a major solar eclipse.
1973 - Oct 19
Retired to the Air and Space Museum at Le Bourget Aiport, Paris.
Final Resting Place
F-WTSS is on display the Air and Space Museum at Le Bourget Aiport, Paris. It is open for public viewing, for more information visit the museum web site at www.mae.org
