My review of the new Aerospace Bristol museum – Part 2 (Concorde)
Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.
This is part 2 of my review of the new Aerospace Bristol museum. Part 1, which focuses on the main building and its exhibition on the history of aircraft manufacturing in Bristol, is here.
30 seconds walk from the main building – which has a decent cafe, before anyone asks – is the new purpose built Concorde hanger.
Every UK Concorde was assembled in Filton and first flown off its runway. The last ever Concorde flight was the return of G-BOAF to Filton in 2003. You may have seen versions of this picture of crowds on the Clifton Suspension Bridge watching it fly over:
So what do you get here?
Well, a Concorde in a big shed, basically. A flight of stairs takes you up to a walkway from where you can walk through the plane from front to back.
Click on any of the pictures to enlarge.
This was not my first Concorde tour. I went inside an Air France one at the Airbus factory museum in Toulouse a couple of years ago. I never flew in one. I think my Dad did a little bit of work on the project at British Steel at some point.
What you first notice inside is that the plane is exceptionally low – the headroom is probably around 6’4′.
The 2 x 2 seating is also antiquated, and the leg room is not great. It is more comfortable than a 4-hour British Airways Club Europe flight today, but not by a lot.
What I did like was this – two of the original 1960’s seats. Let’s bring this sort of thing back. There is a photo of this cabin in flight, with a drinks trolley well stacked with Martini.
There is a two-room exhibition on the upper level featuring a lot of Concorde memorabilia as well as the flight simulator (not working but lit) used in pilot training.
The museum has had access to the personal collection of chief UK test pilot Brian Trubshaw which turns this area into something better than a collection of souvenirs.
The other thing that the museum has done well is the ‘light and sound’ projections which occasionally come to life. They are hard to explain but work well, projecting key engineering drawings and the like onto the fuselage. My interior pictures are a little dark because they took place whilst this was going on!
There are no shortage of retired Concorde aircraft if you want to visit one. 20 were built, of which one crashed and one was broken up for spares. Seven are in the UK, six in France, one in Germany and three in the US. The best trip to visit one would be to Barbados, where there is one at the airport. That said, there is something to be said for seeing one at the place where it assembled and from where it took its first (and in this case final) flight.
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!
There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express
5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus
25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review
You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express
30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review
Run your own business?
We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa
The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review
You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.
(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)
Comments (33)