Thursday marks the tenth anniversary of the Concorde aircraft's last public flight BBC News reported.
""It was probably more advanced than Apollo 11, which put the first men on the Moon," Jock Lowe, Concorde's most veteran pilot told BBC News. "No military plane came anywhere close. It was so maneuverable and there was so much spare power, even ex-fighter pilots weren't used to it. The time we took it to the Toronto International Airshow, 750,000 people turned out to watch. I'll never forget that sight." Lowe has also served as president of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
Three Concorde aircraft models flew on the runways at London's Heathrow airport Oct. 24, 2003 marking the end of the futuristic plane's run in the skies.
"The only real reason for Concorde's retirement was politics, and that remains the single obstacle in the way of her return to the skies," Ben Lord of the Save Concorde Group told BBC News.
The plane has since been paid off to British Airways and Air France.
"We firmly believe that the technical and safety challenges of returning a Concorde to the skies are absolutely prohibitive," British Airways told BBC News.
Concorde was the first plane equipped with computer-controlled engine air intakes. These were thought to be a very important development in aviation technological advances at the time.
The technology enabled the aircraft to reduce its speed 1,000 mph within 15 feet or 4.5 meters. Concorde's engines would have come apart if it did not have the technology.
The aircraft also had carbon fibre brakes when it was first unveiled in 1960, which are now common today.
The plane's aircraft flight control system was also operated electronically rather than mechanically.
"I still have a wonderful desk model of the plane in full Virgin Atlantic livery," investor Richard Branson said on his blog.
According to BBC News, Branson feels he can put the aircraft back in the air for $20 million to $32 million.
