English: In 1984 I travelled on Concorde on a charter flight between Cairo and London. We took off just after sunset and then turned westwards, to fly past Crete. At that point we caught up with the sun and saw it RISE again, in the west, as we turned to pass up the Adriatic, to the east of Italy.

What an unforgettable experience, as we flew much higher - and faster - than all other civilian aircraft, and in luxury. We reached 56,000 feet, and more than twice the speed of sound (M2.02) where "normal" planes at that time flew well below 40,000 feet and at less than 1/2 our speed. The small windows were hot to the touch due to the friction of the air passing but meantime were were served caviar, champagne and great steaks.

The only other aircraft that could match our speed and height would be fighter jets, with their pilots in ejector seats and oxygen masks and even then they could only do that for short periods, without aerial refuelling.

It's so sad that such a beautiful, advanced aircraft is no longer flying. As far as I can see my photos taken inside Concorde as it flew are the only ones on Flickr.

The whole trip was not crazy expensive - about £1400 for two flights on Concorde and a 7 days 2-centre holiday within Egypt.