F-WTSB (201) French Production - Test

Current registration - F-WTSB

 

Aircraft Number - 201

 

Production Variant - 100

 

Maiden Flight - 6th December 1973: Toulouse, France

 

Final Flight – 19th April 1985: Chateauroux – Toulouse (Rudder PFCU test flight)

Registration history

 

• First Registered as F-WTSB to Aerospatiale 

   

 

This Concorde is now open to the public, the new Aeroscopia museum opened in January 2014,

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Aircraft history

1973 – Dec 6th

Maiden flight from Toulouse. Although designated as a production aircraft

F-WTSB, and its British counterpart G-BDDG, never actually entered service. They were used to undertake the final phase of testing and certification before the actual production aircraft were built. Tasks included aircrew training, route proving, endurance testing and technical refinement as well as acting as a test bed for production techniques.

 

1975 – Jun 7th

Fly past at the Paris Air Show.

 

1975 – Jun 9th

Start of an endurance test programme that included flights to Keflavik, Shannon, Tangier and Dakar.

 

1982 – 1985

Stored at Chateauroux and kept in readiness as a reserve aircraft.

 

1985 – Apr 19th

Final flight; from Chateauroux to Toulouse.

 

1989 – Mar 2nd

Given a special paint scheme and put on display at an event at Toulouse to celebrate Concorde’s 20th anniversary.

Aircraft Comments

Hours Flown - 909

 

Total Flights - 423

 

Landings - 423

 

Supersonic Flights - 247

 

The Production test aircraft were different in many ways necessitating re-covering certain areas to obtain certification and it was really these two aircraft (201 and 202) that did the bulk of the flying. However, even though called Production aircraft they never went into service as the final versions were different yet again.

 

The most important differences were structural. In all, therefore, there were six development aircraft, two Prototypes, two Pre-Production and two Production aircraft.

 

In the late 1970’s the brown “Presidential” leather seat interior was removed from Concorde 02, and put in the rear cabin of 201, where it remains to this day.

 

201 flew regularly until 1982, after this it is understood she was stored in near flight readiness at Chateauroux. She was ferried back to Toulouse in 1985

F-WTSB (201) Condition

We are informed this airframe is in reasonable condition, stored outside the Airbus HQ for many years, she will now form part of the Aeroscopia Centre in Toulouse along with F-BVFC

 

Although this Concorde was designated as a production aircraft F-WTSB, and its British counterpart G-BDDG, never actually entered service. 

Pictures of F-WTSB (201)