A visit to the Auto and Technik Museum at Sinsheim Germany is well worth it if you are ever in that part of Germany. The cars from the past are the best I’ve ever seen with models from Europe and America featuring. Beside each car is a couple dressed in the fashion of the time and music from the time being broadcast. The amount of memorabilia makes this a museum that will delight not only the car enthusiast but also women who have no interest in autos.
What appealed to my husband though was the French/British Concorde and the Russian Tupolev 144. He watched the Concorde land in Sydney June 17 1972 and has been in love with it ever since. To be able to climb aboard and sit in a seat was his dream come true. For me I stood on the bridge to the aircraft and ascended the spiral staircase but when I saw how steep the ascent towards the nose was I clambered my way straight back down.
The Concorde was a supersonic jet which was going to revolutionise air travel.It’s first flight was October 1st 1969 where it reached a speed of 1,125 miles per hour and flew supersonically for 9 minutes. By November 1970 they were travelling at speeds of 1,350 mph. At the Paris air show in 1971 guests were taken on board for demonstration flights. Robert Hotz described his flight as being no different to other flights: “Stewards will have no trouble serving martinis and meals. Passengers will find no difficulty consuming them. They will just have to drink a little faster – New York will be only a few hours away.”
The plane eventually went into service in 1977 offering only first class seating. It was felt that first class passengers did not worry about money but that they did worry about time. The routes were predominantly from Paris to Heathrow and across the Atlantic to New York. The time it took to fly the Concorde on these routes was approximately half the time it took other aircraft.
When it crashed in Paris at Charles De Gaulle airport in 2003 killing all on board it put an end to the Supersonic passenger jets. They are now but a trace of the past at Sinsheim.
In response to Paula’s Thursday’s special
Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist) 
Wow, what a good read and a perfect fit for the theme, Irene. I wouldn’t climb it either, but it would be cool to see it in person. The images are perfect. You chose a great vantage point to capture the crafts. Thank you for this nice surprise.
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glad you thought it fitted the theme. It is a wonderful sight seeing the two of them perched atop the pavillions. I hope one day I can go back as there was so much to see you really need more than a day.
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It was a sad day for sure when the concord was taken out of commission, Traveling at those speeds wow
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Mind boggling.
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Indeed
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They are beautiful, sleek aircraft. I think there were a lot of politics involved in ending the program and the terrible crash was an easy reason to blame.
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I think you are right. I think that world economics had changed significantly by the time it was in the air and probably also world dynamics. I think it was always destined to a short life. Mind you a trip to the States from here only a few hours. I could find the time for that whether I could find the money is another thing.
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The Concord was a beast. There is one in Duxford air museum Cambridgeshire? You can sit in the cockpit on a quiet day. I remember hearing the boom sure that aliens had landed I hid. Thanks for the opening
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Wow. I didn’t know that they were displayed anywhere else. If I’m ever in Cambridgeshire I’ll know what to look for. That noise must be mind boggling. I can just imagine what it must be like in war time hearing the noise after you know the bombs have been dropped. Terrifying.
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For someone small and ignorant of what the noise was or where it camme from. it was scary, with nothing to be seen the noise is alone in the sky. 😰
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