On May 29, 1987, a strange bird of prey took a long detour through the skies over Moncton before landing gracefully on the airstrip. Richard Cormier remembers this day as if it were yesterday.
The famous Concorde supersonic plane carried the President of the French Republic, François Mitterrand, during his last stopover on Canadian soil, en route to the French department of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.
“I was 17 at the time,” remembers the man who lived in the Lakeburn area.
“It was a very exciting time for me because I was very interested in airplanes. I remember that the arrival of Concorde created quite a stir in Dieppe. There were a lot of people gathered along the fence trying to see the plane registered F-BTSC,” adds the man who now lives in Switzerland.
“Unfortunately, this is the same plane that crashed in Paris in 2000 (killing 113 people). »
A little history
The Concorde, designed by Sud-Aviation and British Aircraft Corporation, was operated between 1976 and 2003 by Air France and British Airways. With a cruising speed of Mach 2.02 and a delta wing, it became a symbol of European technological prowess.
Its commercial flights began in 1976 but ceased in 2003, in particular because of its high operating costs and the accident of flight 4590 in 2000. Produced in 20 copies, it was limited to transoceanic journeys (due to the supersonic boom ).
It allowed you to connect Paris to New York in just 3.5 hours compared to 8 hours for a classic flight.
Lots of noise
Richard Cormier remembers the deafening sound of this supersonic aircraft whose cruising speed reached 2150 km/h.
“It was really loud, definitely louder than conventional devices.”
He also remembers the excitement among the crowd that day.
“I think everyone realized that this was something out of the ordinary in our little neighborhood of Lakeburn. I think we can certainly compare this moment to the visit of Queen Elizabeth and Pope John Paul II to Moncton,” emphasizes the man who was born in Waltham, Massachusetts.
In his speech on the tarmac, President Mitterrand recalled the close ties that unite Acadia and France.
“This stopover in Acadia represents for travelers that we are a factor of emotions that I will express poorly. This encounter with a part of our common history and what a story!”, he mentioned.
“Few countries, and few populations, have been to this extent tested, struck, hunted, decimated and, yet, by the will of a few, of a handful of women and men, despite the greatest dangers and from the cruelest separations, they always returned. What love did they have for this land and as Antonine Maillet says, it was perhaps not the geography, the places that counted, it was you, your ancestors, your parents, those who together represented a community, a wandering community chased from everywhere and yet returned, rooted in its land and faithful to that of the past,” he added
This event was undoubtedly a trigger in the life of Richard Cormier, who joined the Marines straight out of Harrison Trimble High School.
He notably worked on CH-53 helicopters during his time in the American army.
In 2005, he moved to Switzerland where he pursued a career with the defense company RUAG.
He works in particular on the F-5 Tiger and F-18 Hornet combat aircraft of the Swiss Air Force.
