Concorde: The thrilling account of history’s most extraordinary airliner

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Mike argued vehemently to keep Concorde flying and was determined she would be given a special place in aviation history, hence the Concorde at Brooklands, where he is vice-chairman of trustees. It was Concorde's only crash in 27 years, but it forced the grounding of the BA fleet while new features - including stronger tyres and Kevlar fibre lining in the wingborne fuel tanks - were introduced. Mine involves taxying out at Heathrow and me as a young aviation obsessed 6 year old spotting Concorde off the left hand side of my aeroplane taxying out for a trip. I proceed to yell with such excitement whilst glued to the window “Concorde, look Grandma Concorde” that everyone, not just the other children on board stared and marvelled at her. My Grandparents still tell me about that day with fond smiles. A US project dubbed Boom Overture, which resembles Concorde, could be a contender. Still in the design phase, it aims to carry 80 passengers at Mach 1.7 - making it slower and smaller than Concorde. "I just hope they offer me a ride," adds Mike, smiling. The author dreamed of being a pilot as a child and first flew the VC10 when he joined BOAC, a predecessor. The VC10, Britain’s answer to the Boeing 707, with its four engines at the rear was another elegant aircraft. There are thrilling descriptions of the author's flight training for the VC10 on the west coast of Ireland when they flew towards land and straight at the cliffs rising from just above the stormy seas and raising the nose at the last moment to clear the cliff tops.

When I came across this book I felt I had to read it. The plane was an Icon of our country and sadly missed. I used to see it fly past our house in the evenings no doubt piloted by Mike himself at times.Bookings can be transferred, where sessions are available within 7 days of the original booking,only if more than 24 hours notice is given of the original booking taking place. Tom was an absolutely charming chap," recalls Mike. "He brought the trophy up and allowed us to take photos. When the stewardess said his lunch was ready, he left the trophy with us.

The rest of the fuselage would sizzle at 100 degrees Celsius, equal to the boiling point of water. Such temperatures meant the airframe stretched a staggering 10 inches during flights. I never got to fly in Concorde but have been in ones on the ground and watched it landing and taking off from Heathrow, with its distinctive drooped nose at such times to allow pilots to see the runway.As boss of the UK Concorde fleet, Mike was closely involved in trying to unravel what had happened in France. He discovered considerably more fuel had been pumped into the aircraft than there should have been and that one fuel tank had ruptured from within. Above all it is a thrilling, revelatory, intimate and insightful account by the man who knew her best.

There’s simply nobody else in the world better able to bring to life the incredible story of an aeroplane that meant so much to so many people.’ When it was my turn to hold the silver Claret Jug, I dropped it on the control panels and put a dent in it. Whether the dent is still there, I don't know." I was on Concorde for 22 years, so I felt I needed to capture the story of an incredible aeroplane," he says.

Christmas Gifts

We were flying faster than the Earth rotates, so we left London in pitch dark and arrived in New York in broad daylight," Mike continues. Flying over Windsor Castle, she once remarked: "I can see my sister's home - the Royal Standard is flying." BA engineers even made a special seat for the Queen, giving her a little extra room to work.

Dynasty star Joan Collins preferred to sit nearer the front and always seemed to look fresher and more elegant after her journeys. "The secret behind her wonderful look will remain between Joan Collins, the cabin crew and Concorde," smiles Mike. I was very young when the Concorde crash of 2001 happened and didn't understand much of the news reports but as a kid who loved the plane was very sad learning of this news. Reading this provided much insight into what happened and why Concorde was grounded soon after. One thing I do wish was perhaps having a little more insight from Bannister about the future of commercial supersonic flight and where he visions it, rather than the few lines about Boom Overture. Investigators initially believed a tyre had exploded, sending metal fragments to puncture a wing-borne fuel tank which was then ignited by hot wiring.Mike Bannister has spent more time flying at supersonic speeds than anyone else in history, spending longer on the other side of the sound barrier than most of the world’s air forces put together. When Concorde led the Red Arrows down the Mall for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, Mike was at the controls. When Concorde returned to the skies after the tragic crash that nearly ended her career, it was Mike in the pilot’s seat for the first flight. For all the books written on Concorde, it is surprising that until now there has been none written by Mr Concorde himself, Mike Bannister. As someone who spent 22 years on the aircraft, rising from First Officer to Chief Pilot his perspective adds a new viewpoint to the existing material. This is really three books in one. It’s Mike’s autobiography, starting from the seven year old child gazing up at aeroplanes and deciding he wanted to be a pilot. It’s the story of Concorde and its history in BA, including the politics and economics as well as technical details about the aeroplane and what it took to fly it. The author describes how because it was supersonic there were many things to flying Concorde that were quite different to conventional airliners. It must have been incredible to fly at sixty thousand feet and see the curvature of the earth. With nearly a quarter of a century’s experience flying the world’s only successful supersonic airliner, there’s no one better qualified to tell her story.