Summary
- British Airways celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Concorde flights by flying four jets in a unique diamond formation.
- The crew for the special flight included important members like Captain Brian Walpole, who oversaw the event’s planning.
- Other airlines, like Emirates, have also conducted formation flights with iconic aircraft for celebratory stunts.
On Christmas Eve in 1985, the United Kingdom’s flag carrier British Airways chose to celebrate the holiday season and the tenth anniversary of its launch of supersonic flights by operating a unique stunt. The airline flew four delta-winged Concorde jets in a unique diamond formation during the memorable flight.
Ten years before the event, the airline had launched its first commercial supersonic route between London and the American capital of Washington DC. Over that decade, the carrier’s Concordes had gathered an impressive combined 71,000 flying hours.
However, the airline had never flown in this specific formation before, which led to an ideal birthday photograph. In this article, we will take a unique look at the story of this famous flight.
Planning the event
Intense planning went into the project before this momentous event could even be made possible. One of the main difficulties was finding a time when four Concordes would be available to fly together across the south coast of the UK, according to the EurAsian Times. After all, British Airways only flew seven examples during Concorde’s stint at the airline.
Photo: British Airways
Once the planners for the special formation flight found a date when three of the aircraft were available, they could find a fourth one. However, they still had to ensure that engineers would not want to service the planes involved at the last moment. Once the British national airline had identified the planes that would be set to fly, it could also choose the crew that would be involved in the flights.
The crew
In the cockpit of G-BOAA, the lead jet, were Captain Brain Walpole, Engineering Officer Ian Smith, and First Officer Dave Rowland. On G-BOAC, Captain John Eames flew with First Officer Peter Horton and Engineering Officer Roger Bricknell. On G-BOAF, Captain John Cook flew with Engineering Officer Bill Brown and First Officer Jock Lowe.
Onboard the final jet, G-BOAG, Captain David Leaney, First Officer John White, and Engineering Officer Dave MacDonald were onboard. Everyone had important tasks. For example, Captain Brian Walpole was the General Manager of the Concorde Division, and he oversaw the planning of the event. Captain David Leany focused on the flight details, including managing the formation with the air traffic controllers.
Photo: British Airways
Since this event was a celebration, BA allowed 65 of its other employees to come onboard as passengers during the formation flight. The UK flag carrier originally scheduled the event for November 1985, but, because of technical problems and bad weather, it postponed the flight until Christmas Eve, when the flight finally took place, likely due to limited services on the holiday.
The big event
December 24th was an astute choice, as Christmas Eve was one of the few days when there weren’t as many services being flown by BA’s Concordes. Furthermore, the weather was clear enough to get a good view of the formation.
5 Fun Facts About British Airways’ Concorde Operations
Concorde achieved records that no other commercial aircraft could match.
The airplanes lined up on Heathrow’s runway, and, within a few minutes, they were all in flight. Once airborne, they then got into their formation some 15,000 feet above the English village of Lyneham, North Wiltshire. The aircraft then performed their first formation, which was a diamond. Their second was a swan-like outline.
Photo: British Airways
The final formation resulted with all of them in a line that resulted in the famous pictures you see today. However, the final formation wasn’t perfectly lined up for the pictures.
The imperfection helped prove this was a genuine photo, and the captains still argue over who was at fault for the imperfect lineup. Captain John Hutchinson was on one of the planes while they were getting into formation, and you can watch this video to see him explain how the controls work.
Other formation flights
As it happens, British Airways is far from the only airline to have performed a formation flight with some of its most iconic aircraft over the years. Indeed, more recently, UAE flag carrier Emirates also got in on the act. Known for its love of daring stunts, the airline flew one of its Airbus A380s in formation with two jetpack flyers back in 2022, which made for a spectacular sight over the Emirate of Dubai.
What do you make of this celebratory formation flight? Did you ever get to fly on Concorde? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!
