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Supersonic Jet “Lands” At Floyd Bennett Field
The 203-foot, needle-nosed SST, which ceased commercial air travel three years ago, was towed by barge down the Hudson River from Pier 86 (at West 46th Street and 12th Avenue in Manhat-tan), to New York Bay, passing under the Verra-zano and Marine Park-way/Gil Hodges bridges, before sailing into Jamaica Bay and arriving at Floyd Bennett Field about five hours later at sunrise. Shortly after high tide at about 8 a.m., and for the next several hours, it was lifted onto a seaplane ramp and towed to a temporary location in front of the recently-opened Aviator Sports and Recreation complex where a press conference was held at noon. Speaking after the Concorde was in place, Congressman Anthony Weiner remarked, “I was thrilled to hear the Concorde take its final noisy flight. Now I’m excited to watch it silently float to its new home,” said Weiner. “For the first time our community will be able to look at the Concorde without needing ear plugs. Welcome home” Three years ago, Weiner authored legislation to permanently ground the Concorde and, along with frustrated residents, led the charge to put the deafening aircraft out of service due to its excessive noise and poor safety record. In October 2003, the congressman and a crowd of long suffering residents toasted the noisy, Mach 2 plane’s long awaited final flight as it roared overhead. The SST had to be relocated while the 64-year-old U.S.S. Intrepid aircraft carrier is overhauled and its Pier 86 berth undergoes renovations, be-fore it returns and the museum re-opens. According to media reports, British Airways, owner of the Concorde, which set the trans-Atlantic speed record of 2 hours, 53 minutes a decade ago, wanted the aircraft to remain on display in the city where it could continue serving as a billboard for the carrier. The historic airfield, which is controlled by the National Park Service and part of the Gateway National Recreation Area a few miles southwest of Can-arsie, was selected as the ideal setting when a few prospective sites in Man-hattan proved unsatisfactory. The operators of the Aviator Sports and Re-creation facility, who opened the recreational center at the airfield last month, paid for transporting the sleek aircraft to Brooklyn, where it is expected to be a popular tourist attraction during its stay at Floyd Bennett. Thirty years ago, thousands of Brooklyn and Queens residents were outraged that the federal government sanctioned a 16-month trial period for the SST to operate at JFK airport that paved the way for decades of a 30-second, twice-a-day clamor that regularly set off car alarms and rattled windows.
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