A speedometer taken from the Concorde that set the record for the fastest trans-Atlantic flight is being tipped to sell for £20,000 at auction. The machmeter that measured the ratio of the speed of the supersonic jet to the speed of sound was given to a respected British Airways engineer as a retirement gift.
It came from Concorde G-Boad (210) which crossed the Atlantic from New York to London in 1996 at a record-breaking speed of two hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds. The aircraft was also the last of the prestigious fleet of seven Concordes to fly out of Heathrow before they were taken out of service in 2003.
The dial has the numbers 202 on it which is twice the speed of sound.
Experts have given the item a pre-sale estimate of £7,000 but the price is expected to take off and soar to £20,000 due to the amount of interest from Concorde enthusiasts. Another Concorde machmeter fetched £27,000 when it sold several years ago.
Simon Jones, of auctioneers Lawrences of Crewkerne, Somerset, said: 'This is a wonderful and rare piece of Concorde memorabilia. Mr Gravestock was a very well-respected engineer and this was a gift to acknowledge his long service with British Airways. Concorde machmeters are very rare items and they wouldn't have just handed them out willy-nilly Very few machmeters appear in auction so they are very difficult to value. We are expecting a huge amount of interest on the day. There are a huge number of Concorde collectors around the world and we have had lots of enquiries already.'
Mr Gravestock spent his whole working life in the avionics industry. He started out working on Flying Boats in Southampton before moving to BA at Heathrow. The auction takes place on May 6.
