When Concorde first took to the sky 50 years ago

When the misty skies cleared over southern France on the afternoon of Sunday March 2, 1969, the green light was signalled for the highly anticipated first ever flight of the Concorde.

Journalists had been alerted two days earlier that the test flight was imminent; the world had been waiting since the futuristic aircraft, with its pointed nose and triangular wings, was publicly presented in December 1967.

Here is an account of the momentous day in aviation history when the supersonic turbojet first took to the skies 50 years ago.