CONCORDE SST
Number 02 : F-WTSA
 

Aircraft Number 102  (02)
Current Registration  F-WTSA
Production Model Number  French pre-production model
Maiden Flight  10th Jan 1973 : Toulouse, France
1st flight of French pre-production Concorde
Registration History 21th April1971 : First registered as F-WTSA to Aerospatiale  
Final Test flight Jan 29th 1976
Last Flight 20th May 1976 : Delivery flight to Orly From Toulouse
Number Of Flights 314
Supersonic Flights 189
Total Block Hours 656 hrs 37mins
Total Supersonic Hours Flown 280 hrs 49mins
Current Usage Preserved and on display at Musee Delta, Orly Airport, Paris, France
Notes

Concorde 02 F-WTSA was fourth aircraft to be manufactured, and the second of preproduction aircraft.

Sierra-Alpha was the first to have dimensions and the shape of future the production aircraft: it had the extended tail cone fitted as well as the production specification secondary engine nozzle, with the thrust reverse buckets.

02 was the first Concorde to be visit the United States when she visited Dallas, Texas on September 20, 1973. It returned to Europe by carrying out the first crossing of the North Atlantic, between Washington and Orly, under the conditions of a passenger flight, with 32 passengers invited on his board on the September 26, 1973. The flight time was in 3 hours and 33 minutes of effective flight, with a block time of 3 hours and 47 minutes.

For several years during testing the aircraft was painted in British Airways colours on one side and Air France's 1970's livery on the other, although still being registered as a French aircraft. Today it has an Air France colour scheme

The aircraft completed its 313rd and final test flight on January 29, 1976. Its work took in such areas as the development of new engines, and a considerable number (134) rolling runway tests for amongst other things the certification of the new carbon brakes, the water deflectors and thrust reversers...etc?

F-WTSA's final flight was between Toulouse and Paris Orly on May 20, 1976. Takeoff was at 15:19 ans seh arrived into at Orly 16:26, where an ADP team will take over responsibility for the aircraft. It was gifted to ADP, the operator of Orly and other Paris airport in 1976 to replace a full size wooden replica that was originally on show at the airport, which was destroyed by fire a few years earlier.

The aircraft was decommissioned with the engines and of many parts being recovered to be used as spares on the Air France fleet. As the aircraft was going on public display its test equipment installations were removed, and its cabin was reconfigured to give her the interior of an in-service aircraft.

In 1988, ADP, the Orly airport operator decided that Concorde 02 was no longer a priority and condemned it to be scrap and to be cut out of pieces. Athis-Paray-Aviation saved Sierra Alpha from this tragedy, and since April 12, 1988, it has been on display at the Museum Delta in Athis-Mons, just outside the airport.

Aircraft Picture Gallery
F-WTSA visiting San Francisco International (SFO) USA - California in October 1974
Picture - John Stewart
102 in manufacturer's colours, flying over the Pyrenees
F-WTSA during testing in the US in the 1970, with the British Airways livery on its right side.
Picture - James Reppucci
102, with the British Airways livery on its right side, undergoes cold weather testing at Fairbanks, Alaska.
Concorde 02 on show at Musee Delta, Orly Airport, Paris in September 2002
F-WTSA during testing in the US in the 1970, with the British Airways livery on its right side.
Picture - James Reppucci
A close-up Concorde 02, on display today at Orly Airport, Paris.
Concor1de 02, the 4th to be built, was the first to feature an extended tail cone and a tail wheel rather than a skid. The tail wheel is currently retracted.
The cockpit area of 02 as it is today. Note that the avionics racks on the left have been removed. Normally only a narrow corridor leads to the flight deck. In the cockpit many of the controls and instruments were removed when the aircraft arrived at Orly. They have been replaced by photographic mock-ups.
The cabin of Concorde 02 was set up part of the time in a passenger carrying configuration. This is how it looks in 2002. Concorde 02 was the first aircraft to have the 'bucket-type' secondary engine nozzles fitted, although these have been replaced by mock-ups today.
02 was cleaned during 21-22 July 2001 by a team of Concorde enthusiasts. This is a picture of the end result.
Picture courtesy of Laurent Desmarest
Click for more pictures of the cleaning at concorde-jet.com
This picture was taken during the cleaning from a cherry picker up by the tail.
Picture courtesy of Laurent Desmarest
Click for more pictures of the cleaning at concorde-jet.com