This Day in History: 1985-02-14

A British Airways Concorde jet shattered a 25-year-old speed record when it touched down at Sydney airport on 14 February 1985 after completing the 10,600-mile run from London in 17 hours, three minutes and 25 seconds. The Concorde flight time beat the old speed record set in 1960 by 3 hours, 41 minutes and one second. Several thousand people crammed vantage points around Sydney airport to watch the world’s fastest passenger jet slice through gray, overcast clouds for a smooth touchdown at 4:15pm.
The sleek, supersonic jetliner, on what was billed as a Valentine sweetheart flight, completed the London-Sydney run in 17 hours, three minutes and 25 seconds. The old record for civil aircraft, set by a Beechcraft twin-engine propeller-driven aircraft in 1960, was 49 hours, 44 minutes and 26 seconds. A British Airways spokesman said the Concorde’s flight time was actually two minutes shorter than expected…. “We had anticipated an elapsed time of 17 hours and five minutes. Apart from leaving London 45 minutes late, we had no problems at all” the spokesman said. “That air speed record the mighty Concorde set on its London to Sydney run won’t be challenged this century!” said pilot Captain Peter McMullen.
It was the first commercial flight of the Concorde to Australia, chartered by the Cunard luxury cruise shipping line. One hundred passengers paid $3,328 to join the record-breaking run. They boarded the Cunard liner QE2 for the continuation of its world cruise. The Concorde later returned to London with passengers from the QE2 who terminated their Pacific cruise in Sydney. Source: I Grew Up in Mortdale 2223 Facebook