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Concorde

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Concorde

By: Mike Bannister
Narrated by: Mike Bannister
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The definitive account of the rise and fall of the world's fastest plane from British Airways' former Chief Concorde Pilot.

October 24th, 2023 will mark 20 years since Concorde disappeared from our skies. Yet still Mike Bannister, the last Concorde Chief Pilot, faces the same questions:

  • Why is she no longer flying?
  • Where is her replacement?
  • And what really happened on that tragic afternoon in July 2000, when the crash of Flight 4590 grounded the Concorde forever?

Concorde is an enthralling personal account of what it takes to fly planes faster than the speed of sound, and of the events that lay behind 114 needless deaths—the 113 victims of the crash and, ultimately, Concorde herself.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Mike Bannister (P)2022 Penguin Audio Air Forces Armed Forces Engineering Military Military science Transportation Aviation Thought-Provoking

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All stars
Most relevant  
Huge fan of Concorde and this didn’t disappoint. Mike easily explains the technical detail and intracacies of Concorde brilliantly. 5 stars for me.

Great story! Well read!

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Well, what a book!. I was captivated from start to finish!.
Part memoir. Part moden aviation history. Part court-room drama.

I found the author/narrator to be very engaging with a very pleasing, calm, clear diction.His passion for Concorde shines through.
Some reviews have commented on Captain Bannister's delivery attempt at a couple of Irish dialects of his friends and American accent. These are literally just a few sentences in the whole book and to be honest not even that bad, not even noteworthy. This gentleman is a distinguished airline pilot not an expert at dialects. I found it quite charming to be honest. Anyway enough about dialects and accents.

What a career and what an amazing time in aviation history to be part of it.
Even the technical descriptions of the inner workings of Concorde and the fuel distribution system were fascinating to get to grips with. Yes, I had to rewind a number of times to make sure that a novice like me could fully understand it, but I didn't mind that!.

The courtroom drama part as it unfolds reads just like a Grisham novel.
I found that whole methodical deduction process and the piecing together of the evidence utterly enthralling and ultimately very moving when thinking about the lives lost on Air France Concorde.
Also very moving were his tributes to and admiration for his past colourful character flight training instructors and past colleagues.
As a young boy he had a dream and he realised that dream.
The utmost admiration for Mr Bannister.

If you have even the slightest interest in aviation or the awe-inspiring, iconic Concorde then you can't go wrong with Mike Bannister's utterly gripping audiobook.
One of the best non-fiction books I have listened to.
Brilliant!

Utterly Brilliant. Enthralling!.

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An excellent memoir of a veteran pilot and the iconic aircraft with which he is most closely associated. An excellent balance of technical information without a need for engineering literacy.

Delivered skilfully by the author. I also prefer to hear a person’s story read by them and this is a very good one.

I hope to meet Mike one day to thank him for his story.

Fantastic

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Well written in terms most can understand by an author who really knows the subject, a very interesting book.

Excellent

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This book is slow to get started, seeming more like an autobiography than a book about Concorde, but once you get into it, it reveals a whole new truth behind the French Concorde disaster that I must have missed in the news. I was lucky enough to witness a Concorde landing, standing on the concrete after disembarking a flight. Everybody, staff and passengers alike, stopped for the spectacle. A truly epic aeroplane and an example of the British and French working together for the common goal that was Concorde.
The diction of the narrator was clear, well paced and easy to follow with none of the usual errors of pronunciation.
The text used appropriate technical language with clear explanation, without being confusing.
I would recommend this to anybody with an interest in aviation or just wanting to know more about this great machine.

Revelation

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Concorde has always been a part of my family as my Grandparents lived under the flight path of Heathrow and my Gramps (ex GWR signalman) knew her schedule and would always remark "there she goes, and she's just a bit late!" So listening to Mike's story bought me back to those happy times running out to the garden to look up! I never got to fly on her but I've been on 2 different ones one only 18.months ago at Bristol and to this day she always makes me smile and brings tears as well. Much like this book, which had me going through all emotions (not a good look sobbing whilst driving a truck!) the only thing that could've made this book even better is to have the sounds that Concorde would make as she took off as Mike walked us through it.

Incredible

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Fascinating insight to the world of flying the way Mike explains it is incredibly detailed something you’ll never forget

Concorde

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A thoroughly captivating live journey of an interesting career for both the ‘beast’ and the ‘boss’.

Great history, science, analytics, and lessons leant which apply to any team or business environment.

Meet the beast

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as an aviation enthusiast I was surprised at how much I didn't know about Concorde but in particular, I really enjoyed learning about it's flight operations and the intracacies of it's handling and flight management. The authors own path to pilotdom is also a good story and his involvement in the French crash was also surprising and eye opening. My only criticism is the authors attempts at accents... they border on the Dick Van Dyke to Ello Ello at times and although quite amusing, does take you out of the story for a minute as you listen curiously to the performance lol.

Great Story

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listened to it 3/4 times and still picking up on new bits. mike bannister absolute legend reading this! 10/10

supersonic

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