>>This writer bitterly regrets the missed opportunities to fly in Concorde.

I was lucky enough to fly in one.

My wife's uncle was in the first class of aeronautical engineers at MIT. He had been losing his eyesight to macular degeneration, asked me if I'd escort him to MIT for a 50th class reunion (in 84?). After we did that together, he asked me if I'd do the same with the Paris air show the next year. I said sure, not realizing he had booked us onto the Concorde.

For me, it was pretty cool, but the real highlight was all the 'old hands' at the different displays that he was friends with. Stories about testing captured German jets. Stories about laying out the first air routes.

That said, it seems the only way they'll get a commercial SST into service is if they manage to make one that doesn't need a super high ground speed to rotate. This one was particularly vulnerable to FOD, and I'd expect that was due to that speed requirement.

Yeah, I'm not expecting to see another SST either - but I'm probably older than you (so a closer horizon). Ya never know.