![Spectators watch the last ever British Airways commercial Concorde flight touch down at London Heathrow airport on October 24, 2003. Graeme Robertson / Getty Images](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/S7F7WWACJAUWYPAVJVP4V2JQ5E.jpg?smart=true&auth=8bdcdffadb1dac55c2516fec334c62cf5652d69d173ada64ceafb569e587cea3&width=400&height=225)
![Concorde G-Bravo Bravo Delta Golf at Bahrain in 1974 for hot weather testing. Photo: Richard Harris](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/U3L6ROT5AFHWNDF3KPAWZ3ATQI.jpg?smart=true&auth=9cf74f02f86e8884d29a8a2812a954abc8170972a712c2c91e27fb681c72204b&width=400&height=225)
![Michael Stokes, pictured right, on board a Concorde flight in the 1980s. Photo: Michael Stokes](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/Q5ZTUQ7VN5AWXDZZ62YXJFUPWY.jpg?smart=true&auth=5456641cba4d395f88a8a2569b77790a48a619f55eec05e8029312dc87bd0f4e&width=400&height=225)
![The certificate of participation Michael Stokes received after the flight on Concorde. Photo: Michael Stokes](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/4FHRSKKSFFADDN3RSZHIKENOIY.jpg?smart=true&auth=ef0721fdba8ca8afbdefdf4ad668cc278c671eb08ec7e48d3884d897be42f05a&width=400&height=225)
![Welcome aboard cards for Concorde Delta Golf’s test flights in the Middle East. Photo: Michael Stokes](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/DUKW6SIJCZAQ5HOKV33R63A5JY.jpg?smart=true&auth=d069a8c27b5fa88c27810ac594239b052225d8e06b395aa1f6b3e0c7753acda2&width=400&height=225)
![The welcome aboard cards underlined that the aircraft would look different to those that would fly commercially. Photo: Michael Stokes](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/TEY6FZ7VCVATNGVTYINCLJ3G2Y.jpg?smart=true&auth=fb18288f3da7ad2a9452d94f864e9609e46e16733a24ca73fd9917e4f111f04e&width=400&height=225)
![Delta Golf stops at Abu Dhabi's Al Bateen Airport in July 1974. Bateen was then the city's main airport. Photo: Peter Alvis](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/BEBCABSUZBFTQTPJC2S4MAGARY.jpg?smart=true&auth=b049a99f40e182a0425fa9640c43e772008c859d185bf3f89059661407856f6b&width=400&height=225)
![Concorde takes off from Abu Dhabi's Al Bateen Airport. Photo: Peter Alvis](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/RDNYSIDBTSJYVNJCX4DRGUGXLM.jpg?smart=true&auth=3dca81c30f516a51ab78841d1131d4ade4016c66719996954b377b4f802b1c35&width=400&height=225)
![Another card showing unique safety instructions for Concorde. Photo: Michael Stokes](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/ZZXT6WJ2XNCRHAAZSNSTGMENWI.jpg?smart=true&auth=b7290e4beb6cfb6ce8cb13c0167076faae643054ccb7c1e8994d9937e388cd02&width=400&height=225)
![The first commercial flight of Concorde takes off from London Heathrow on January 21, 1976, bound for Bahrain. Another took off simultaneously in Paris for Rio de Janeiro via Senegal. Photo: Evening Standard / Getty Images](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/AGNY4IFJFJHQXPICO3HWUXQNSI.jpg?smart=true&auth=7f7b8e1b48c620c9b13135c8ddfdd140f8e36f25ba9283cd38da28354b39be9a&width=400&height=225)
![Spectators watch the last ever British Airways commercial Concorde flight touch down at London Heathrow airport on October 24, 2003. Graeme Robertson / Getty Images](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/S7F7WWACJAUWYPAVJVP4V2JQ5E.jpg?smart=true&auth=8bdcdffadb1dac55c2516fec334c62cf5652d69d173ada64ceafb569e587cea3&width=400&height=225)
![Concorde G-Bravo Bravo Delta Golf at Bahrain in 1974 for hot weather testing. Photo: Richard Harris](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/U3L6ROT5AFHWNDF3KPAWZ3ATQI.jpg?smart=true&auth=9cf74f02f86e8884d29a8a2812a954abc8170972a712c2c91e27fb681c72204b&width=400&height=225)
![Michael Stokes, pictured right, on board a Concorde flight in the 1980s. Photo: Michael Stokes](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/Q5ZTUQ7VN5AWXDZZ62YXJFUPWY.jpg?smart=true&auth=5456641cba4d395f88a8a2569b77790a48a619f55eec05e8029312dc87bd0f4e&width=400&height=225)
![The certificate of participation Michael Stokes received after the flight on Concorde. Photo: Michael Stokes](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/4FHRSKKSFFADDN3RSZHIKENOIY.jpg?smart=true&auth=ef0721fdba8ca8afbdefdf4ad668cc278c671eb08ec7e48d3884d897be42f05a&width=400&height=225)
![Welcome aboard cards for Concorde Delta Golf’s test flights in the Middle East. Photo: Michael Stokes](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/DUKW6SIJCZAQ5HOKV33R63A5JY.jpg?smart=true&auth=d069a8c27b5fa88c27810ac594239b052225d8e06b395aa1f6b3e0c7753acda2&width=400&height=225)
![The welcome aboard cards underlined that the aircraft would look different to those that would fly commercially. Photo: Michael Stokes](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/TEY6FZ7VCVATNGVTYINCLJ3G2Y.jpg?smart=true&auth=fb18288f3da7ad2a9452d94f864e9609e46e16733a24ca73fd9917e4f111f04e&width=400&height=225)
![Delta Golf stops at Abu Dhabi's Al Bateen Airport in July 1974. Bateen was then the city's main airport. Photo: Peter Alvis](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/BEBCABSUZBFTQTPJC2S4MAGARY.jpg?smart=true&auth=b049a99f40e182a0425fa9640c43e772008c859d185bf3f89059661407856f6b&width=400&height=225)
![Concorde takes off from Abu Dhabi's Al Bateen Airport. Photo: Peter Alvis](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/RDNYSIDBTSJYVNJCX4DRGUGXLM.jpg?smart=true&auth=3dca81c30f516a51ab78841d1131d4ade4016c66719996954b377b4f802b1c35&width=400&height=225)
![Another card showing unique safety instructions for Concorde. Photo: Michael Stokes](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/ZZXT6WJ2XNCRHAAZSNSTGMENWI.jpg?smart=true&auth=b7290e4beb6cfb6ce8cb13c0167076faae643054ccb7c1e8994d9937e388cd02&width=400&height=225)
![The first commercial flight of Concorde takes off from London Heathrow on January 21, 1976, bound for Bahrain. Another took off simultaneously in Paris for Rio de Janeiro via Senegal. Photo: Evening Standard / Getty Images](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/AGNY4IFJFJHQXPICO3HWUXQNSI.jpg?smart=true&auth=7f7b8e1b48c620c9b13135c8ddfdd140f8e36f25ba9283cd38da28354b39be9a&width=400&height=225)
![Spectators watch the last ever British Airways commercial Concorde flight touch down at London Heathrow airport on October 24, 2003. Graeme Robertson / Getty Images](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/S7F7WWACJAUWYPAVJVP4V2JQ5E.jpg?smart=true&auth=8bdcdffadb1dac55c2516fec334c62cf5652d69d173ada64ceafb569e587cea3&width=400&height=225)
When the sonic boom of Concorde echoed across the Gulf
In 1974, when Michael Stokes was 17 and living in Bahrain, he volunteered to board a test flight that turned out to be 'supremely surreal' - despite the unprecedented speed
James Langton
August 09, 2024
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