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Concorde wins by a nose



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Concorde has won The Great British Design Quest, organised by BBC TWO's The Culture Show and the Design Museum. The results of the poll to find the nation's favourite British design since 1900 were announced on the programme by presenter Verity Sharp, on-board Concorde at The Museum of Flight outside Edinburgh. 211,792 votes were cast in the poll. In a closely fought battle, the London Underground Map beat the Supermarine Spitfire to take second place. Other designs in the top ten included the Mini, the Routemaster bus and the World Wide Web. Some of the people who shared a part in Concorde's history were there to celebrate the news, including Barbara Harmer, Concorde's first female pilot, and Christopher Orlebar, who flew Concorde more than 1,000 times. The Government minister responsible for Concorde was Tony Benn and he knew Brian Trubshaw, the original British test pilot for Concorde. Tony Benn said: "I'm absolutely delighted that Concorde's won. Whenever a Concorde flies, people look at it, it's very graceful, it's very beautiful, it is a symbol of peace and international understanding. "It wasn't the most commercial vehicle to start with but the design and beauty and skill is something that you just have to honour, and I do." Alan Whicker, one of Concorde's advocates, said: "Concorde was the best passenger plane ever built I think. "If you flew in it or even if you saw her flying over head she just swept you up. "I fell in love with this glorious aircraft that looked as though it was going a thousand miles an hour when it was standing still. "And when she was up and away it was a marvellous experience for everyone." A long list of 25 for the Great British Design Quest was announced on Thursday 26 January. It included the mini skirt, The Beatles' album cover Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the E-Type Jaguar. The public voted to determine the top ten, which were revealed on Thursday 16 February. The 25 designs in order of ranking were: 1. Concorde 2. London Underground Map 3. Supermarine Spitfire aircraft 4. Mini 5. World Wide Web 6. Routemaster Bus 7. Catseye 8. Tomb Raider album cover 9. Grand Theft Auto video games 10. K2 Telephone kiosk cover 11. E-Type Jaguar 12. Aston Martin DB5 13. Dr. Martens Air Wair boot 14. Penguin paperback book 15. Mini skirt 16. Road and motorway signage 17. Anglepoise lamp 18. Raleigh Chopper 19. London A-Z Street Atlas 20. Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band 21. Power, Corruption and Lies album 22. Verdana typeface 23. Dyson DC01 vacuum cleaner 24. The Face magazine 25. Sinclair Executive Electronic calculator Many of the nominated design projects can also be seen at the Designing Modern Britain exhibition at the Design Museum. The public can learn more about the projects on the Design Museum website - www.designmuseum.org. The Great British Design Quest was organised in collaboration by the Design Museum and BBC TWO's The Culture Show. Notes to Editors Concorde was designed by British Aerospace Corporation with Aerospatiale. It was mostly designed and manufactured in Filton, Gloucestershire but also at BAC plants in Weybridge, Surrey; Preston, Lancashire; and Hurn, Dorset. The fleet of seven have resting places around the world. They are: Filton Airport in Bristol; Manchester Airport; The Museum of Flight near Edinburgh; Heathrow Airport; The Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington, USA; The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York; and Grantley Adams Airport in Barbados. Concorde's dimensions are 204ft in length (which stretches by five to ten inches during flight due to heating of the frame); the wings are 83ft 8in and the height is 37ft 1in. Concorde takes off at 220 knots (compared to 165 knots for most subsonic aircraft); cruises at 1,350 miles per hour, two times the speed of sound; and at an altitude of 60,000ft (over 11 miles high). KG

