Millionaire airline executive puts iconic Concorde nose cone on the market for £300,000 after displaying it in a glass ‘hangar’ in his garden for two decades
- UAE airline owner Farhad Azima flew on Concorde more than 1,000 times
- He bought the 25ft-long nose in 1995 and kept it in his private collection
- Amiza, based in Missouri, USA, is selling it at auction this week in Towcester
The nose of an iconic Concorde jet is due to go on sale for a staggering £300,000.
After the supersonic airliner celebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this year, US-Iranian aviation executive Farhaz Azima is putting the famous ‘droop’ cone up for auction after keeping it in his private collection for more than 20 years.
The cone was once attached to one of the six Concorde test planes never put into service, racking up 1,600 hours of flight time.
The 25ft nose flew on Concorde more than 1,000 times before the model’s maiden voyage on March 2 1969.
Mr Azima, 78, owner of Dubai-based private cargo airline HeavyLift International, came by the nose in 1995 and has kept it with a huge glass hanger in his back garden in Kansas City, Missouri, ever since.
The nose of an iconic Concorde jet is due to go on sale for a staggering £300,000
A supersonic Concorde jetliner is pictured in all its splendor taking off from an airport
It will be sold with its pilot’s visor windscreen and internal hydraulic rams that lifted and dropped the nose for flight and landing.
The aviator magnate, who lives in Missouri, USA, has now decided the time is right to sell it and it is to go under the hammer with Humbert & Ellis Auctioneers of Towcester, Northamptonshire.
Jonathan Humbert, from the auctioneers, said: ‘This is a hugely exciting item that is truly one of the most recognisable design icons of the 20th century – a masterpiece of form and function.
Iranian millionaire Farhaz Azima is putting the famous ‘droop’ cone up for auction after keeping it in his private collection for more than 20 years
‘It had the drop nose cone to aid supersonic flight but because it was so long it had to be lowered for landing otherwise the pilot wouldn’t have been able to see the runway.
‘This nose comes with the hydraulic rams that lowered it as well as the secondary windscreen that aided the pilot.
‘The auction has already generated global interest among aviation enthusiasts and collectors but also art and engineering lovers. It is a rare investment opportunity for a globally recognised item.’
Mr Azima’s plane operator has flown weapons from the US to the Balkans.
He moved to Kansas City as a youngster where he pursued a career in aviation.
Concorde’s drooping nose saw the visor go down by 12 degrees during landing and taxiing and staying at 0 degrees during supersonic cruise.
The planes were one of the most advanced aircraft ever to fly passengers around the world with just 20 built over a 15-year period.
But in July 2000 an Air France Concorde en route from Paris to New York crashed shortly after take-off due to an engine fire, killing all 109 people on board as well as four people on the ground.
The Concorde fleets of British Airways and Air France were grounded pending an inquiry and although transatlantic flights resumed from London and Paris following a safety upgrade in November 2001 it was not to last.
Mr Azima, 78, owner of Dubai-based private cargo airline HeavyLift International, came by the nose in 1995 and has kept it with a huge glass hanger in his back garden ever since
Seller Farhrad Azima is pictured with his daughter in New York in 2013 after attending a gala event
In April 2003 it was announced that Concorde would be taken out of service due to a sharp dip in passenger numbers amid global economic problems and the aftermath of September 11.
The last Concorde touched down in October 2003 after a special flight from London Heathrow to Airbus UK’s Filton airfield in Bristol.
Now the 17 remaining Concorde jets which once hosted celebrities and royalty are dotted about the world in museums or storage. The sale of the nose takes place on Thursday.
