Mach the most of every day

Sometimes a best day passes at twice the speed of sound, writes Keith Pullan.

From the lounge at Heathrow Airport I could see the Concorde parked up and waiting. A short time later, at 11.05am, British Airways flight BA 1 departed Heathrow and quickly gained altitude.

The captain informed the cabin that, following regulations, the Concorde would not hit the supersonic (Mach 2) speed of 1350mph (2180kmh) until we were a certain distance from and altitude above London.

Once the plane went to Mach 2, we would feel a slight jerk, we were told, and so it transpired. Once settled into the flight, I looked around the interior from seat 8B. There looked to be about 25 rows of two seats either side of the aisle.

Next came a lovely breakfast before the air hostess returned with a vinyl attache case with all the Concorde paraphernalia. It included a flight certificate, so I asked the hostess if the captain would mind signing it for me. She suggested I ask the captain myself and ushered me to the cockpit, where the best day of my life began.

The captain and co-pilot shared the cockpit with the engineer, who was tucked to one side.

Introductions done, I looked up at a sight I will never forget. Out the front window the Concorde nose was raised in the flight position and beyond it the curvature of the earth was adorned by a sunrise-red sky.

Though the cockpit crew were busy, they allowed about five minutes for questions and a general look around. I inquired about the cramped nature of the cockpit but they informed me that the plane did not fly for much longer than about three hours at any one time, as its destinations were achievable in that timeframe.

After the captain had signed my certificate and I had thanked them for the privilege, I returned to my seat and contemplated the position I was in: travelling at Mach 2, four miles above any other commercial airliner, with an outside temperature of minus 60degC. Would this be the closest I would ever get to heaven? If it were, then it would still be the best day of my life.

After two hours and fifty-five minutes of flying time, the Concorde landed at JFK Airport, New York, at 9.20am, the same morning we had left Heathrow, which gave me plenty of time to get to Manhattan.

That was 1995. Three years later, I was again in the UK with two workmates and we visited the Imperial War Museum, at Duxford, where we walked through the test-flight Concorde 101 from 1969, before travelling to the 50th anniversary Farnborough International Airshow to view the Concorde in flight.

Now, whenever I look at the framed and signed certificate, boarding pass or miniature model, I think of the best day of my life. I would love to do it again. There is no chance, though I did call to see her in 2012, standing gracefully beside the Intrepid Airspace Museum, in New York, alongside the Hudson River.

*Concordes were retired in 2003.

- Oamaru-raised Keith Pullan is retired from the Australian mining industry and living in Omarama.

Tell us about your best day. Write to odt.features@odt.co.nz or ODT Features, PO Box 181 Dunedin. We ask correspondents not to nominate weddings or births - of course they were the best days.