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Supersonic Legend Makes Final Flight By Water

Dutch marine transport specialists Van der Wees Watertransporten made front page news in the Netherlands and Germany recently when their pontoon Lastdrager wasused to sail a decommissioned Concorde aircraft 50 miles down the Rhine.
A flotilla of pleasure craft accompanied Concorde on its final flight.
A flotilla of pleasure craft accompanied Concorde on its final flight.

The Technik Museum of Sinsheim in Germany has purchased the Concorde from Air France. Its final flight had taken it to Baden Baden Airport, some 50 miles from the Museum.

As Van der Wees had previous experience of transporting a Boeing 747 and a submarine to the Museum, they were contracted to move the Concorde.

Drought conditions across Europe provided the biggest obstacle, with water levels in the Rhine very low. Fortunately, a night of rain preceded the scheduled day of transport and the Concorde was rolled onto Lastdrager for a relatively easy final 'flight' downstream, steered by Van der Wees' powerful pusher tug Broedertrouw II . A carnival atmosphere prevailed along the river, with thousands of excited people viewing the curious passage from bridges, the riverbank or an accompanying flotilla of small craft.

The Concorde was unloaded at Speyer and its final passage to the Museum was made along the A12 autobahn, which was completely closed for the occasion. At the Museum, 650 tonne cranes set the supersonic bird into its final resting place alongside a Soviet Tupelov T-144 affectionately known as Concordski.

MJ Information No: 18607

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A flotilla of pleasure craft accompanied Concorde on its final flight.

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