The Runway Visitor Park

This place is awesome; hidden by Manchester airport for the nerds and aerophiles, next to the private terminal. I visited on New Years Day after dropping someone off, and... the view! It's at the end of the runway, so you can't see planes touch the ground, but you're at the perfect spot to see them lift off:

(Although if the wind changes and they swap landing/take-off direction, it'd be the other way around.)

There were a few people with telephoto lenses, and one guy live-streaming and talking to his viewers. "Here we have Virgin Atlantic taking off..." FlightRadar helps you keep track of what's happening.

There's also a café indoors, which was fine; IKEA furniture vibes. And then the Concorde hangar! I'd never seen one up close, and what a beast:

The timings didn't work for a tour, so I'll have to go back. There's also a flight simulator and a few other aircraft to visit.

It was also sad to see: Concorde's transatlantic record was set in February 1996 — the year after I was born — at 2 hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds, from JFK to Heathrow. I returned from New York in November and it took over 7 hours... what the fuck?!

If there was ever an example of technology not automatically marching forwards, this is it: the messy intersection of economics, technology and regulation. Thankfully the vibe in 2025 feels different, and we have a bunch of smart people working to turn that plane around: Boom, Hermeus and Exosonic, to name a few.

- Nick