Grapevine: Sad Day for Concorde Fan Ecclestone

For Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone and actress Joan Collins, it is a sad day to be sipping champagne.

Nostalgia reigned supreme on Concorde as the world's only supersonic airliner made its last passenger flight, from New York to London. Ecclestone, a man who built his fortune on the thrills of speed, echoed what all the celebrities felt as the aviation icon took her final bow: "Everybody is going to miss this machine."

The motor racing boss, who took the first Concorde flight back in 1976 and was now on the last, said: "This is quite a unique airplane and you have got to have some affection for it. I don't think we will see it again - at least in my lifetime."

Streaking along the edge of space at twice the speed of sound was the ultimate high for the rich and famous - and it helped model Christie Brinkley conquer her fear of flying.

"I think when we fly back to New York, I will be saying goodbye to Europe for a while because I don't like flying. To make the trip in three hours made it much easier for me."

Fellow model Jodie Kidd loved flying Concorde as she could land running and go straight to a shoot looking fresh-faced. So what was the alternative now? "It is going to be the Red-Eye," she said.

The celebrities on board could not believe their supersonic days were over.

Joan Collins said: "The fact that it is going to be phased out is quite, quite tragic. I am very, very honoured to be on the last flight. I am glad we made the cut."

David Frost made the Guinness Book of Records as he commuted backwards and forwards across the Atlantic while hosting television shows in New York and London. Frost, who has flown Concorde up to 500 times, said: "It is very odd that a brilliant invention like this should fade away and there not be a successor."

But the sheer thrill of flying Concorde was perhaps best captured by veteran pilot Mike Bannister before he took the controls to fly the Big Bird up and away from the Big Apple. He told the last passengers: "We're going to take you to the edge of space, where the sky gets darker, where you can see the curvature of the earth.

"We're going to travel across the Atlantic at twice the speed of sound, faster than a rifle bullet, 23 miles every minute. We're going to travel so fast, we are moving faster than the earth's rotation - and the world will be watching us."