Life of A Concorde Pilot – From The Orphanage to The Edge of Space

Life of A Concorde Pilot –
From The Orphanage to The Edge of Space.

Captain John Tye was one of only 134 pilots to ever fly Concorde for British Airways in the whole 27 years the supersonic airliner was in service.
What started as a summer holiday job before going to university turned into a 46-year career taking him to the pinnacle of aviation and ‘the edge of space.’

John had a most uncertain start in life in a Middlesex orphanage and has had a lifelong battle with a rare medical condition affecting his legs. Now in retirement, he spends his time inspiring young people to spread their wings and chase their dreams and ambitions.

John will tell us about his early career before moving onto Concorde, the world’s only successful supersonic airliner. He will take us through the toughest training course in aviation and on a virtual supersonic flight from London to New York. He’ll share many amusing anecdotes along the way and leave us believing that Concorde was the greatest icon of the 20 th century.

EXCLUSIVE AT RIVERHOUSE- John will share his experience of flying 747s into Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport in the 1990s.  Kai Tak Airport was one of the most technically demanding airport to many pilot, as it was situated between hills, high rises residential areas and has a runway with three sides opened to waters.
See a clip of this renouned 'heart attack approach' landing at Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong in the 1990s here.
 
John’s best-selling memoir of the same name has been critically acclaimed and a book signing session will follow his presentation.


About Captain John Tye
John retired as a B777 Training Captain with British Airways in December 2022 having started his aviation career over 46 years earlier, straight from school as a junior clerk. After several ground based jobs he gained his commercial pilot's licence in 1987 and went to fly for a charter airline, Dan Air. Two years later John returned to BA and flew the original B747's Classic for nine years.

Concorde was John's ultimate ambition and that dream eventually came true in 1998, when he became one of only 134 pilots to fly the world's only supersonic airliner.

When Concorde was grounded in 2000, John became a training captain on the shorthaul Airbus fleet and then transferred back to the global operation as a training captain on the B777 in 2007 for the last fifteen years of his ‘privileged career.’ John’s best selling and highly acclaimed memoir, ‘Life of A Concorde Pilot – From The Orphanage to The Edge of Space,’ takes the reader on an inspirational, moving and amusing journey through his life and concentrating on the pinnacle of his career as a Concorde Pilot.

Saturday 5 October 2024 - 7:30 pm
Ticket: £16 (Standard)


Concorde Image: Eduard Marmet, CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL 1.2, via Wikimedia Commons
Kai Tak Airport Image: Ywchow, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons