Captain Mike Bannister - Christopher Ward C8 M2.04 Limited Edition Owner's Handbook Manual

C8 M2.04 Limited Edition

Captain Mike Bannister

Mike Bannister had wanted to become a pilot since he
was 7 years old. Sitting with him at Christopher Ward's
Maidenhead HQ years later, it's clear that Bannister fully
realised those childhood dreams and more, becoming
Chief Pilot of the BA Concorde Fleet and spending 22
years commandeering this famous aeroplane. "Flying
Concorde really was the highlight of my career," he says.
"If you want to see the world, you fly a 747. But if you
love flying aeroplanes, Concorde was the one for you.
You could fly her with your fingertips: all the way through
take-off, climb, acceleration, and supersonic cruise;
descent and landing, she was like a sportscar".
Not every pilot could fly Concorde, of course. "Concorde
was aerodynamically different to other aircraft, so she
was different to fly. Not more difficult; more complex.
There were lots of different systems – Concorde was
essentially four aeroplanes in one: a low aeroplane, a
high one, a fast aeroplane and a slow one." The result,
Bannister says, is that the training course for Concorde
took six months – triple that of the one required for the
Boeing 747.
4
As somebody who flew Concorde for 22 years,
captained her final flight and flew G-BOAB over
Buckingham Palace to mark Her Majesty's Golden
Jubilee, surely Bannister must receive quite a few
invitations to be involved in many Concorde tributes?
"I've been approached to be involved in a whole
number of various projects, including watches,
reflecting the aeroplane – and generally I decline! But
I came to the CW HQ in Maidenhead to look at some
very early sketches to see what the designers had in
mind, and immediately thought this was something
different and actually rather special. This was not
just an ordinary watch with Concorde on it; this is
enigmatic and brings back to mind what it was like
to sit on the flight deck of Concorde and operate
this wonderful aeroplane. It's a beautiful watch
and I'm so pleased that the initial phone calls and
conversations took place, and that I'm very proud of
my involvement."