Want to own your own piece of the Concorde? Supersonic plane goes up for auction in France

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This was published 7 years ago

Want to own your own piece of the Concorde? Supersonic plane goes up for auction in France

Updated
The last British Air Concorde flight to land at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport comes in for a landing on October 23, 2003.

The last British Air Concorde flight to land at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport comes in for a landing on October 23, 2003. Credit: AP

Aviation enthusiasts and antique collectors will be given the chance to own a rare piece of Concorde in an upcoming auction.

A French auction house in Toulouse – the birthplace of the supersonic plane – is offering people a closer look at the intriguing aircraft.

Menus, chairs and even toilet seats are among the 1000 historic items that will go under the hammer in November.

Supersonic plane: The Concorde coudl travel speeds of up to 2100km/h.

Supersonic plane: The Concorde coudl travel speeds of up to 2100km/h.Credit: AP

Concorde was a luxury, high-speed aircraft that operated for 27 years from its first flight in 1969 to 2003.

The four Rolls-Royce Olympus 593-610 engines reached speeds of up to 2100km/h, whisking passengers from London to New York in under three hours.

See also: What happened to the Concorde?

Seating was a single-class, 2-2 configuration throughout and a ticket cost roughly the same as a first-class seat on a conventional aircraft, but there was no shortage of takers.

Once the travel choice for the mega-rich, Concorde was commercialised by Air France and British Airways and 20 aircraft made trans-Atlantic flights for 27 years.

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Princess Margaret was a fan, and Frank Sinatra once provided the in-flight entertainment for a few lucky passengers with a solo performance of a few of his hits.

However, the iconic aircraft's story came to an end in 2003, after its only crash in 2000. A general downturn in the commercial aviation industry, and the September 11 attacks also added to its ultimate demise.

Prices for the Concorde items set for auction will start at €15 ($A22) for smaller pieces and may reach up to €7000 for sought-after machmeters, altimeters and horizon indicators.

All items will be exhibited at the Saint Aubin Auction House from October 22 to Sunday October 30 and telephone bids are allowed.

For more information on the auction see www.marclabarbe.com

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