John Cochrane 1969 GPO Concorde First Flight Hand Signed FDC

STB023 This is vintage 1969 Concorde first flight limited John Cochrane historic first person to fly Concorde and where his signature rests perfectly on the front of the cover on the date of the flight.  This comes with full lifetime COA as the signing has been officially certified by the publishers with full hallmarking and authenticity of the series in absolute brand new mint condition. (you will see this was sent to stamp dealers on its first day of issue in 1969 with them knowing this would become a sought after collectors item).

John Cochrane (26 July 1930 4 November 2006) was a British test pilot for the Anglo-French supersonic airliner, Concorde. On 9 April 1969, John Cochrane flew as co-pilot on the maiden flight of Concorde 002 with Brian Trubshaw as chief test pilot, exactly five weeks after the French sister aircraft first flew. Cochrane would stay with the Concorde test programme for its entirety.[3] Concorde finally acquired its certificate of airworthiness in December 1975 and flew commercially for the first time with British Airways on 21 January 1976.[  Cochrane piloted Concorde 002 for many of its proving flights and commanded Concorde 101 on its trials.  He had specific responsibility for the engine intake control system, which required him to test the aircraft to the limits of its speed, altitude and ability to carry a payload of passengers over the most likely potential routes at Mach 2. He commanded Concorde 101 when it reached its fastest supersonic speed of Mach 2.23 and a height of 68,000 feet. Cochrane also established record sub-three-hour transatlantic crossings in both directions.