About Bob Tracy

British Airways photographer Bob Tracy on Concorde’s legacy

This shot of Concorde taking off was taken from a helicopter [Test pilot] Brian Trubshaw was flying Concorde, remembers Bob. He said if we wanted it close he would get it close! We were on headsets working out the timing of the takeoff. I was hanging out the side of the helicopter. Because we were working with film we didnt know what we had. Later on we had a VC10 passenger jet to get shots from they had taken the doors off for us. You could really feel the air pressure even at 500mph you couldnt put the camera out too far otherwise you would lose it! We would photograph every aircraft in the fleet. (Photo by Bob Tracy) - Credit: Archant

It was 50 years ago that Concorde was revealed to the world at the June Paris Air Show. As senior photographer for British Airways Lewes’ Bob Tracy saw its legend grow

Bobs shots of Concorde for British Airways in February 1974 were sent all over the world. During the day we had fire tenders flood the runway, recalls Bob. We had to get the sunset on camera, so the night before I went over to see exactly where the sun set. The image went on TV commercials, postcards, and all around the world it was the first publicity shot depicting Concorde for British Airways, and it was when enthusiasm for Concorde was at its height. (Photo by Bob Tracy)