Friday, June 4, 2010 at 11:25PM

For seven hours last Saturday, engines from the supersonic airliner Concorde were tested and found to be in perfect condition, according to Ben Lord, the Vice Chairman of Save Concorde Group, a United Kingdom-based association of Concorde enthusiasts. An approximately equivalent French group called Olympus 593, arranged for the tests to be conducted at the Air and Space Museum just off the premises of the general aviation airfield (IATA: LBG; ICAO: LFPB) in Le Bourget, a suburb of Paris. The engines were taken from Sierra Delta, a former Air France Concorde.

Shortly after the engine tests, the Vice Chairman wrote, at the group's website, www.save-concorde.org.uk, "I want to pay tribute to the fantastic workmanship that has taken place in France today with my British and French colleagues. The Anglo-French effort is replicating history from 40+ years ago, and I am so proud of the work that each and every individual from the world of Concorde has done in recognition of their contribution today." The other engines from Sierra Delta will be similarly tested over the coming weeks.

As the Vice Chairman of Save Concorde Group points out, Concorde is, and for more than forty years has been, an Anglo-French project, resulting in the highest-profile and most popular supersonic commercial passenger transport vehicle ever. Concorde flew frequent, regularly scheduled flights among only four airports in the world, Heathrow Airport in London (IATA: LHR; ICAO: EGLL), Charles de Gaulle International in Paris (IATA: CDG; ICAO: LFPG), Kennedy International in New York (IATA: JFK; ICAO: KJFK), and Dulles International in Washington, D.C. (IATA: IAD; ICAO: KIAD).

Concorde first flew in 1969, and first carried paying passengers in 1976. The only blemish on Concorde's safety record occurred in 2000 outside Paris, when one crashed into a Charles de Gaulle International airport hotel, killing all aboard, and four on the ground. Rising maintenance costs were cited as one reason why Concorde was grounded three years later. But it is sincerely hoped that Concorde will be fully functional in time to fly over the opening ceremonies in London, of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

related story

Plan launched in Anglo-French joint effort to fly Concorde again (May 30, 2010)

original stories

Test Shows Concorde Engine Is Sound (www.avweb.com)

Concorde to take to the air again? (The Daily Dust)

Le Bourget Air and Space Museum (official site - in French)

Le Bourget Air and Space Museum (unofficial site - in English)