History · Aircraft
Concorde at Kai Tak: The Rare Visits
A 1976 sales tour and a 1985 charter: the Concorde visits on record, with the sim's Concorde landing, taxiing and taking off.
Concorde never flew a scheduled service to Hong Kong. Its visits to Kai Tak were one-off events, and each one drew a crowd. Here is what is on record, and how the Concorde special in Fly Kai Tak echoes it.
November 1976: the first visit
The first Concorde to land at Kai Tak arrived on 5 November 1976, a day early, as part of a 31,000-mile sales tour of the Far East. It flew in from Manila in 51 minutes and stayed two days. Thousands of people gathered at the terminal building to see it.
March 1985: a charter from Bangkok
On 3 March 1985 another Concorde landed at 11:17 a.m., two hours out of Bangkok. It was a charter flying passengers to join an ocean liner on a round-the-world voyage. Residents remembered the departure for its noise: ear-splitting, with window frames rattling in nearby homes.
Landing at Kai Tak
Like every jet, it had to fly the IGS 13 approach: down over Kowloon, a hard right turn at the checkerboard, and a short final onto Runway 13. A delta wing lands nose-high and fast, and the pilots lowered the drooping nose to see the runway.
On the ground
On the apron the Concorde was a long, low shape among the wide-bodies. In the sim it taxis to stand 6 with its nose drooped, and a tug pushes it back for departure.
Take-off
Take-off was the loud part. The Concorde model rolls down Runway 13 on all four engines, lifts its nose and climbs steeply over Kowloon Bay.
In Fly Kai Tak
Because these visits were so rare, the Concorde is a special in Plane Spotter: once an hour it lands, parks at stand 6 and departs. The airline on the board is made up. Choose Spotter · Concorde special on the home screen to have it arrive at once. See A Concorde Visits Kai Tak for how it works.
Sources
When Concorde first landed in Hong Kong, in November 1976 (South China Morning Post) and 1985 - Concorde arriving at Kai Tak (Gwulo).
協和式客機從來冇有定期航班飛香港。佢嚟啟德都係一次性嘅特別活動，每次都引嚟人潮。呢度係有記錄嘅史實，同埋 Fly Kai Tak 嘅協和式特別訪客點樣呼應。
1976 年 11 月：首次到訪
第一架降落啟德嘅協和式客機喺 1976 年 11 月 5 日抵港，比預定早一日，係遠東 31,000 英里推廣旅程嘅一站。佢由馬尼拉飛嚟，飛行 51 分鐘，逗留兩日。成千上萬人聚集喺客運大樓睇。
1985 年 3 月：曼谷包機
1985 年 3 月 3 日上午 11:17，另一架協和式由曼谷飛兩個鐘抵港。呢班係包機，載住乘客去登上一艘環遊世界嘅郵輪。居民對佢起飛嘅噪音印象深刻：震耳欲聾，附近住宅嘅窗框都會震。
降落啟德
同其他客機一樣，佢要飛 IGS 13 進場：飛越九龍、喺棋盤處急右轉，再短最後進場去 13 號跑道。三角翼客機以高機頭、高速度降落，機師放低下垂嘅機鼻先睇到跑道。
地面
喺停機坪上，協和式係大型客機之間一條又長又低嘅身影。喺模擬器入面，佢機鼻下垂滑行去 6 號機位，離開時由拖車推出。
起飛
起飛係最嘈嘅部分。協和式模型四個引擎全推力沿 13 號跑道滑跑，抬起機頭，喺九龍灣上空陡爬。
喺 Fly Kai Tak
因為呢啲訪問咁罕見，協和式喺觀機模式係特別訪客：每小時降落一次，泊 6 號機位再離開。資訊板上嘅航空公司係虛構嘅。喺主畫面揀 Spotter · Concorde special 就即刻有得睇。詳情見 協和式客機到訪啟德。
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