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Auction for Concorde Parts Opens

Friday 29/09/2017 - Source: MSN Money


An auction of hundreds of parts from the defunct Concorde supersonic jet began Friday in southern France, giving bidders a shot at everything from landing gear and cockpit gauges to silverware and an oven.

The auction is aimed at raising funds for a planned park and museum in southwestern Toulouse, home to plane maker Airbus and its predecessor company behind the jet.

Auctioneer Marc Labarbe said the five smoke detectors were withdrawn from the auction because they were "contentious." He did not elaborate. The environmental group Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) had protested their presence, claimed they contained radioactive elements.

Aerospace buffs were unfazed. The first item to go among the 835 lots was a Concorde filling valve, which sold for $638, more than double expectations.

Among the more popular pieces up for sale is a 13-foot-high section of landing gear, which goes under the hammer on Saturday.

Cockpit gauges, including air speed indicators and horizontal situation indicators, are being sold along with lower-tech items such as a cabin oven, plate-and-silverware sets, and even a Concorde toilet seat.

Conspicuously absent from the sale was the Concorde's trademark needle nose. Three of them were auctioned in London and Paris in 2013 and 2014, the first of which went for more than a half-million dollars.

The auction was expected to reap about $337,000. Most items have been valued at between $70 and $425.

The Concorde made its maiden voyage in 1969, but was retired in 2013 amid ballooning costs and sagging ticket sales after a crash in 2000 that killed 113 people. The plane was commercialized by Air France and British Airways.

The Concorde was once the ultimate symbol of jet-set glamor, whisking celebrities and high-powered executives across the Atlantic. With its cruising speed of 1,350 mph, westbound travelers on board got to New York more than 90 minutes before they left Europe. But the plane was also a noisy fuel-guzzler that never became economical.


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