Mach 2 magazine

Focus on engineering Concorde operations through the decades

Concorde Watch Life under lockdown Issue 26 May 2020 Mach 2 May 2020 Introduction

Keeping Concorde in operation – from the first flights of the prototypes to the final journeys of the fleet aircraft – was both an awesome achievement and a monumental feat of aero engineering. In this issue we look at the British engineering opera- tions, from the earliest flights to the end of British Airways services. Three of the engineers who made these Concorde flights possible recall the challeng- es and triumphs of their work.

The current COVID-19 crisis has affected com- munities all over the world. The specialists and volunteers who take care of the are no exception. The museums are currently closed to visitors, but in Concorde Watch we bring you a brief update on each of the aircraft, together with information on fund-raising drives for G-BBDG and G-BOAF.

Very best wishes to all the Concorde maintenance teams, all of Mach 2’s readers, and your families – please stay safe, wherever you are.

In this issue

2 Introduction 12 The view from the flight deck 3 Feature: A technical triumph David Macdonald 4 Manufacture and testing 13 Concorde Watch John Dunlevy 6 In-service maintenance Editor: Katie John Pete Comport Cover: Concorde undergoing maintenance. Photo: Stephen Payne

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A Technical Triumph To help counteract the passage of time in recording this history, British Air- ways Concorde engineer Pete Comport asked John Dunlevy (BA Concorde avionics engineer) and David Macdonald (BA Concorde flight engineer), both intimately involved in the Concorde story, for their reminiscences. The three engineers share their thoughts here.

24-hour operation Above and left: The Concorde engineering teams worked around the clock to ensure that the next day’s flights would leave on time. Photos: Peter Ugle

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Manufacture and testing John Dunlevy, BA Concorde avionics engineer

y introduction to MConcorde took place in September 1965, on starting my ap- prenticeship as an aircraft electrical technician with the Aero- plane Company, Filton (before the amalgamation of all the British Air- craft Companies to form the British Aircraft Corporation – BAC). The Filton complex The first components for the manu- facture of prototype 002 had arrived (several fuselage sections) and been placed in the purpose-made jig con- structed and positioned in the large centre bay of the Brabazon hangar. Brabazon hangar, Filton Around the Filton complex were windows) was a daily, disturbing Concordes under construction, 1971: dotted various test sites, such as event that became the norm. In an G-AXDN (left) is structurally complete; wind tunnel, fuel test rig, fuselage emergency (possible fire and ensuing G-BBDG (right) is being assembled. thermal test specimens, and the explosion), the building housing Photo: Christian Julius (with thanks to chicken cannon! This was a rather the rig could be completely filled the Julius family for permission to use) large gun barrel powered by com- with thousands of gallons of water. pressed air rather than gunpowder, Escape plan to avoid drowning was The flight test aircraft with the ability to simulate bird less than 2 minutes from klaxon Concorde prototypes 001 and 002 strikes onto various materials at sounding. Thankfully my career in were test aircraft used to discover supersonic speeds. flight test continued! the basic handling qualities and The fuel test rig (a full-size Wooden mock-ups were plenti- performance up to Mach 2. In the layout of the fuel tanks within the ful around the complex, from a process, information from the in- Concorde wing shape and tail) was full-size aircraft to a droop nose and struments, covering many hundreds an amazing structure. Driven by engines, all to help with the final of parameters, was recorded and hydraulic power, it could simulate design, testing and trial fitting of stored using data and tape recorders. all manner of flight conditions. It components for production. The construction of the proto- could also create almost boiling fuel Machine shops were equipped types was a real learning curve as during the hot fuel tests (simulating with the latest technology of the so many complex issues had to be heat soak at Mach 2). All was con- time (punched tapes), which enabled solved; modifications were constant- trolled from a watertight/fuel-tight the automatic machining of intricate ly needed to facilitate construction control room. It was one of the most panels and structures from solid bil- of the prototype and later the pre- disturbing and awesome devices I lets of aluminium. production and production models. have ever encountered. When ven- Foremen were locally in charge Flight testing was shared be- turing out to work on the rig, you of the various engineering sections, tween the British and French manu- signed a possible ‘death by drowning and departments were overseen by facturers, with flight programmes in fuel/water’ manifest and left your production managers. Quality con- being designed so that there was identity tag on the appropriate hook. trol and inspection was carried out not too much duplication unless a Work was carried out with the thing to civil aircraft regulations. serious event occurred which needed live and pumping kerosene every- The joint project between Britain more detailed investigation. where – hopefully not into the tank and France was to be carried out that you were working in. Witness- under the Official Secrets Act, and Fairford ing an adjacent tank to the one you complicated parts and drawing On this side of the channel, RAF were working inside filling with fuel numbers were devised to confuse Fairford was nominated as the loca- (through porthole-type observation any spies. tion for the Concorde Flight Test

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Rare sighting at Fairford 7 January 1972: French prototype 001 (right) with British prototype 002 (left) and pre-production Concorde 101 (centre), at a publicity event. Photo: John Dunlevy

Centre; noise and close proxim- with extreme climate variations) ity to housing, as well as a nasty and, where possible, on routes that bump somewhere along the Filton would suit future Concorde airline runway, made Filton unsuitable for operations. the demands of testing. Concorde Fairford, although operating was originally designated a 1–2 year fairly remotely from Filton, had test programme; however, due to a similar departmental structure the complexities of supersonic flight regarding management and supervi- with a passenger aircraft, the test sion. Aircraft Engineers (mechani- programme stretched out to 7 years. cal and electrical) had their own Test flights were carried out to separate workshops; these, together various global destinations (some with the Quality Control inspection Aerial view department, were all housed within The two prototypes with G-AXDN. a single main flight shed, with the Photo © BAE SYSTEMS addition of a main store supply- ing the relevant parts and spares required. The departments for the flight test development personnel (responsible for all the on-board aircraft test equipment), test pilots, and observers were housed in an adjacent complex. All personnel in all departments were expected to be able to work at high pressure and extremely long hours to achieve the certificate of airworthiness for Concorde. Flight testing in Tangier Left: BAC engineers with G-AXDN In-service check during flight testing in Tangier, Mo- Above: John Dunlevy operates the rocco; John Dunlevy is centre right, Intake Status Test Set to assess intake holding the ear defenders. performance in Mach 2 cruise. Photo: John Dunlevy Photo: John Dunlevy

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In-service maintenance Pete Comport, British Airways Concorde engineer

he ancestral home of BA’s Operations were planned by who- TConcorde fleet operated out of ever was on duty on the early shift, Centre and North Bay, Technical with the next day’s aircraft being Block B East (TBBE), with minor allocated to individual Concorde operations executed from Centre registrations in the Maintenance Bay mezzanine offices. control/Flight operations scheduling systems. The night shift teams were Concorde Tech crucial to delivering the operational In the 1980s, the Concorde opera- schedule. The duties of the late shift Work on Alpha Golf tion (known to the team as Con- and the night shift foreman were to G-BOAG needed extensive work in the corde Tech) was a unique organisa- execute the plan by continuing to early years. Here, she awaits repaint- tion within BA Engineering. Some assess each aircraft’s airworthiness, ing in 1984, after being grounded due managers regarded it as a short-haul and its technical and spares needs, to hydraulic system contamination. operation for a while, as Concorde ensuring that the licensed engineers Photo: David Gee spent so little time in the air. and their teams were given as much Don Hullah was the first manag- time as practicable to get the Con- was avoided by BAC, Rolls-Royce, er, followed by Mike Phillips; both corde ready for its flight. HM Government and British Air- reported to general managers. The ways agreeing that we would buy the foreman took full control of all air- The early years whole UK Concorde business from worthiness management of the fleet, Initially, in the late 1970s, the BA Government, to include AG and with the help of an airworthiness Concorde operation consisted of five development Concorde G-BBDG. clerk on each shift. The airworthi- Concordes; Alpha Fox (G-BOAF) At that point AG was taken into ness clerk’s role was vital in creating and Alpha Golf (G-BOAG) were work; she was parked outside TBB work package tasks from the fore- still to be inducted into service. West (TBBW) for a while, until man’s airworthiness instructions. The Alpha Golf – initially registered licensed Concorde engineers Keith foreman also signed the Certificates as G-BFKW, a manufacturer’s Leyland and Eric Smith took her of Maintenance (a Civil Aviation standard production 191 model – on as a separate project to bring her Authority Certificate of Airworthi- was leased from BAC whilst Alpha up to BA fleet standard. This was a ness regulatory requirement), con- Charlie was returned to Bristol for massive undertaking; it was always firming that all maintenance tasks wing repair. (See Mach 2, April virtually impossible to maintain a complied with the CAA-approved 2020.) The lease was renewed right full set of components, due to con- Maintenance Schedule. up until a major ‘mandatory modi- stant shortages, hydraulic fluid con- Foremen were rotated: 6 months fication lay-off ’, at which point Her tamination checks, and rectification on Minors, 6 months Major mainte- Majesty’s Government (AG’s owner) needed to restore any breakdown of nance. Foremen were: #1 shift Don would not fund the work. Thus AG chemical structure due to inactivity Dixon, Brian Stead; #2 shift Peter sat in limbo. Political tension at of the system. Comport, Trevor Leavold; #3 shift the time came close to terminating After a year or so of operations, “Mooch” Manucchi, Neville Fergus- Concorde operations; this outcome the earliest-delivered aircraft be- son. Night shift had 2 foremen: Peter Collins, Permanent night shift (PNS) #1; Eddey Helifity, PNS #2.

Planning daily operations All Concorde flight operations were planned and controlled by the “Minor” Concorde Tech foreman. Multi-level access G-BOAF surrounded by the platforms used for major checks. These plat- forms are in TBA. Photo: Gordon Roxburgh

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Flight delay G-BOAC returns to the stand due to an intake problem. Engineering carried out preventative maintenance to keep such incidents to a minimum. Photo: Stephen Payne came due for the 1,200 flying hour Inter(mediate) maintenance check. These were undertaken in the North Bay, which had been newly modi- fied with trestling and platforms to provide ‘access all areas’ (although, in fact, the very first may have been completed, using temporary scaf- folding, in the Centre Bay). Concorde Maintenance were particularly pro-active in the early was generally due to a combina- article for 28 March 2011 on the days. Within the first year of service tion of complex fault-finding and Concorde Mach meter, which was it became apparent that the refuel- replacement of parts; naturally, presented to Concorde Tech’s Peter ling operation would best be per- if high numbers of defects were Gravestock by the author (https:// formed by personnel with a deeper reported, more maintenance time www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ar- understanding of the system, so was needed, which inevitably meant ticle-1367575/Concorde-Machme- the Maintenance team took on the that the risk of the aircraft miss- ter-recorded-fastest-flight-London- role. Fuel loads would vary between ing its allocated departure time was New-York-goes-auction.html ). about 40,000 kg (short charter) and increased. Priorities were changed, a full-tanks figure of 96,000 kg on with the engineering teams work- Special operations most westbound trans-atlantics, ing together towards getting the Charter operations during summer each load having a specific distribu- next service departure time matched months added more flying hours tion between the 13 tanks. Particular with a serviceable aircraft. Pressure to the fleet, which inevitably took care had to be taken with tank 11, to ensure an on-time departure was out maintenance downtime and ran located at the very rear of the 204-ft significant for all involved, especially down the clock towards the next fuselage (max capacity 10,500 kg). as a financial supplement of hun- major maintenance event. Typically, Note that an aircraft loaded to full dreds of pounds for supersonic travel linking an aircraft to more than one tanks, but without baggage and had to be refunded to passengers if a flight – often a charter operation, passengers, would adopt a very tail- late departure occurred. followed by a scheduled flight – down attitude – alarming to all but Concorde’s maintenance was would be planned as flying sched- the cognoscenti! always challenging technically and ules demanded. Generally, charter Having taken over the refuelling logistically, especially so for com- operation timings were planned to duties, it was just one further step ponent supply, as a full set of spares allow the scheduled services to run to set up a satellite Maintenance were not always available. Disrup- on time. branch adjacent to Concorde’s de- tion to maintenance was inevitable There were occasions when the parture gates – a hut equipped with when shortages of parts occurred; Concorde team temporarily re- spares, a company frequency radio examples might include limited scheduled the evening New York and a kettle. The Concorde opera- supplies of critical system compo- flight to depart an hour later, allow- tion sold speed and time saved; to nents such as air cycle machines, ing Concorde Tech to do a tarmac have a rapid-response team along- flying control components and some turnaround of the first arrival from side to respond promptly to depar- avionic equipment, and times when JFK (arriving 17:30) and send the ture snags was invaluable, likewise spare engines were not available. same aircraft straight back again the ability for Maintenance and Some components, including to night stop, then repeat the same Flight Crew to brief/de-brief before instruments, were more taxing to thing the next day, so there would and after each flight. maintain, parts and wear taking be a New York shuttle of sorts for a their toll on how many spares would week or so. Maintenance challenges be available for continued use. Some Logistical demands were Keeping to on-time operations was parts were actually removed from inevitably increased as charters oper- sometimes an exacting task. This the operation: see the Daily Mail ated out of terminal 1; supporting

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operations with spare parts having nance, co-ordinating with engineer- the vibration would, however, affect to be sourced from Terminal 4 or ing system specialists. the rear ramp hinge line, with a large the engineering base added time unplanned maintenance downtime pressures to the challenge of keeping Increasing workload needed to re-engineer this structure. Concorde to schedule. Concorde Engineering undertook Some of the fleet required all of preventative maintenance after the intake assemblies to be removed, Data and communications evaluation of systems and compo- to allow access to rework and rewire It’s worth reminding readers that nents – especially those that might all circuits associated with ramp engineering data management tech- cause the aircraft to have to return and spill door control; these were nology/hardware at this time was once airborne. These events, though complex tasks involving months of very basic; computer software was irregular, would often attract the downtime for the aircraft. not user-friendly, and stock control attention of the news media, and as and spares availability were not as a result a returning Concorde was Engines reliable, so there were times when it likely to draw TV coverage. Nor- Two significant issues were: was quicker to rob a part needed for mally, though, it wasn’t unusual for • Engine turbine blade wear, requir- a departing aircraft from a Concorde BA’s office staff to set their watch by ing regular boroscope inspections. in the hangar. the roar down the runway of four • Engine bearing oil leaks, requiring In my first few months as a Olympus engines, the distinctive constant monitoring, with detailed foreman in Concorde Tech manage- crackle a signature for timeliness! spectro analysis of oil to ensure that ment, tools were a blank piece of A3 Concorde’s unscheduled main- bearings would not fail in flight. paper, which required you to write tenance in the 1980s challenged all Engine specialists Mike David- each and every maintenance task involved, with the following techni- son and Robin Vidler often called and any special technical instruc- cal issues requiring resolution on in to Concorde Tech to liaise with tions by hand; Microsoft Word an ongoing basis. As the in-service the foreman in support of maintain- wasn’t invented then! Fax machines aircraft passed the test aircraft’s ing operations. Nevertheless, engine were standard for communications flying hours testing thresholds, new changes after limited engine run across technical issues, and a Polar- maintenance requirements would times were inevitable. oid camera was your only method of show themselves. Typically, one or two engines creating any imagery of an engineer- The following examples illustrate (handed odd or even) were avail- ing issue. (It was a Polaroid image the work needed on various systems. able as serviceable spares. Removing of a damaged rudder sent to me by (known by Engineering as “rob- Captain David Leney from Sydney, Intakes bing”) engines from aircraft on after an upper rudder delamina- Rear intake ramp vibration at Mach routine maintenance was inevitable tion event at around Mach 1.7 on 1.8, generated by a sharp lip: to rec- – remembering, of course, that each deceleration.) tify this a modified rounded lip was engine had its own time-constrained No mobile phones existed, but a developed over time, and temporary maintenance to be carried out. Every walkie-talkie helped, and Concorde revised flight crew procedures were item robbed required the licensed Tech was a regular user of VHF RT introduced pending modification; Engineer to certify it as airworthy between flight crews and ourselves. Technical support was provided by a BAC technical expert, Jim Edwards – a delightful, incredibly knowledgeable gentleman who resided in an office next to the newly created Concorde Inter check dock. Snecma/Rolls-Royce also offered support in the same office. In the early days Doug Foley, another superb engineer, supported mainte- Engine change G-BOAE awaits the replacement of an engine. Each engine had its own maintenance schedule, in addition to that for the aircraft. Photo: Stephen Payne

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both wing and fuselage, requiring that heat – it was that system that great technical skills with cutting- kept us cool … and alive!) edge technology, were part of the As a comparison, it’s worth re- emerging additional workload. These membering that the odd fighter jet, necessitated specialist cold working with a pilot in a G-suit and oxygen with structural loading of wings, and mask, would fly alongside Concorde this work was undertaken by Keith during Certification of Airworthi- Leyland and Eric’s team. ness test flights. Engineering exper- tise kept Concorde passengers safe Nozzle replacement Air conditioning system without any need for oxygen masks January 1982: Following work on Cabin air conditioning system or G-suits, whilst flying close to the G-BOAF, the engine exhaust assem- components worked at high tem- edge of space for several hours. bly is lifted into place by crane for peratures to maintain passengers re-attachment. and crew in a cabin environment Secondary air doors Photo: David Gee where champagne could be sipped. A system malfunction came to light Air conditioning was a very high- as flying hours of the fleet increased: before it could be fitted to a donor workload system for Maintenance, failures of secondary air doors (an aircraft. Engineers worked incred- but never really featured as a system engine cooling and fire containment ibly hard, diligently removing com- that caused delays or cancellation; a component) were troublesome to the ponents across engines to keep them true credit to the design team! Concorde operation for a while, as compliant with the approved main- Here was a system that, at Mach they stopped supersonic flight. A fix tenance schedule. Often, they would 2, with air entering the intakes at was sought, and Concorde engineer be working to meet a flight deadline, about 125° to 130° Centigrade, Bill Larman developed, designed achieving all engine change work was compressed and further heated and helped install a new monitor- within an 8-hour shift, which was a within the engine compressor. It ing system that predicted when the true feat of engineering skills. needed two ram air heat exchang- component was likely to prevent a ers (for the lay reader, a bit like car successful supersonic acceleration, Airframe and control surfaces radiators), a fuel/air heat exchanger doing so by monitoring the motor’s Flying control surface delaminat- and finally a Cold Air Unit; togeth- current draw; this allowed a plan for ing required regular non-destructive er, these had to drop the incoming preventative maintenance and saved testing and replacement if required, air temperature to about minus 10° many ‘return from airborne’ events. as spare elevons and rudders were Centigrade, to circulate between the not always readily available. The aircraft skin and the cabin trim as a Undercarriage work of Jim Kinross, Specialist thermal barrier, before being inject- Another ‘return from airborne’ Structures Engineer, was crucial to ed into the cabin through punkah troublesome system during winter developing, design and testing of the louvres at a balmy 21° Centigrade months (damp and cold ops) was flying control surfaces as well as ter- (70° Fahrenheit) or thereabouts. the undercarriage shortening lock tiary aircraft structure (load-bearing (Flight engineer Dave Mac- micro switch component; should structures, such as brackets, webs donald comments: To give a clear this fail, the landing gear would not supporting wing spars, and certain indication of the system’s signifi- retract after take-off. The switch was fuselage structures). cance, rainwater seen to be trapped necessary to avoid damage to the Programmes of regular overhaul in a double-glazing inter-space in a aircraft wing and landing gear if the and preventative maintenance of flight-deck window would begin to landing gear failed to shorten. Re- flying control surfaces (to ensure simmer at about Mach 1.7 and by placement switches were subject to no further flying control delamina- Mach 2 it would all boil away. We planned programmes of removal and tion events post Alpha Fox’s rudder humans had to be protected from replacement where possible, to avoid incident) took priority, with regular failures in undercarriage retractions. testing additional to all flying con- trol surfaces. Hydraulic system Structural modifications sup- Concorde’s hydraulic system has porting flight cycle life extension on a 4000 psi operating pressure. As Elevon repair aircraft flying time increased, the Trailing edge of the port wing, showing hydraulic system seals’ durability one elevon removed for repair. suffered. This issue was brought Photo: Stephen Payne about by the massive changes in

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Close work Left: Engineer Baz Glenister reconnects hy- draulic hoses on an outer elevon PFCU. Photo: Baz Glenister Multiple jobs Right: The engi- neers would often work on more than one Con- operating temperature, thus sub- corde at a time. jecting the system to sub-optimal Photo: Peter Ugle operating standards. In response, the manufacturers developed a Utilisation of aircraft out of hours and clash with another new seal (known as Viton GLT) Selection of aircraft for flight opera- aircraft’s check! specially designed for both Mach tions required active management of Typically between 3 and 5 2 high-temperature operations and aircraft accumulated flight hours. It aircraft were available for selec- subsonic low-temperature cold soak was important to maintain similar tion to fly operations in the winter conditions. Replacement took time, utilisation of all the aircraft in the months, with an additional aircraft with a preventative maintenance fleet; to fail would mean several added during the summer months. programme that entailed multi- aircraft needing to be grounded for Long-duration charters such as the ple hydraulic component changes, routine service check maintenance world tours, requiring engineering including powered flying control at the same time, and this was not staff support and spares logistics unit (PFCU) relay and feel unit practicable for numerous reasons management, all inevitably reduced replacements, all requiring leak, rig- – not least the fact that Concorde resources for the daily operations ging and function testing. This was flying schedules would become out of Heathrow. a massive undertaking, challenging unstable and we would run out of Having any aircraft on routine all engineers tasked with supplying hangar space. maintenance meant that the choice airworthy Concordes. Some Concordes behaved better of remaining aircraft to fly the daily ‘Flying’ over the floor than others, so naturally they would schedules became limited. For this Below: G-BOAE raised on jacks, with be selected more regularly. Invariably reason, Concorde’s Inter checks were the landing gear up and the engine the best aircraft for the next flight scheduled in the winter months, bays open, as the engineers correct a (the one that returned with few if to help alleviate tight timelines in problem with the hydraulics. any in-flight defects) was the one selecting a serviceable Concorde for Photo: Peter Ugle you couldn’t select as it would run any given flight. Modification programmes Large-scale modification pro- grammes kicked in during the mid-1980s/early 1990s. These included rework of the flight record- ing system, mandated following an accident involving flying controls on a US-based airline Airbus; modifications on wing, fuselage and intake structures following some due fatigue testing results; and other life extension programmes. The rework of the Cabin Mach number indicator feed from the Captain’s Mach number to the Marilake cabin display system took place in this era. This system offered

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Replacement landing gear August 2003: The last ever landing gear change on G-BOAG. The gear from Alpha Golf is now fitted to G- BBDG, at . Photo: Peter Ugle the passengers more detailed infor- mation, including Mach number, speed in miles per hour, altitude, outside air temperature, and distance to destination in miles. (This latter information was fed from #3 Inertial Navigation system (INS) and Air Data Computers (ADC).) Undercarriage overhaul for the early-delivered aircraft kicked in during this time. Limited spare sets of undercarriages inevitably affected Concorde fuel tanks held almost downtimes of routine maintenance. as much fuel as a Boeing 747; how- Fitting, rigging and testing took sig- ever, getting inside a jumbo wing nificant time, especially if no spare tank was considerably easier than undercarriage was available. working in Concorde’s wing tanks. Delays to return of service due to Concorde was made even more heavy maintenance events impacted difficult by structural limitations on the planning and execution of for tank access. Notwithstanding the daily operation, as other aircraft this issue, leaks of even the most Test flight would have to fly operations. This minute levels were not allowed; the Post-modification Certification of meant that those other Concordes consequence of fuel being super- Airworthiness test flight on G-BOAF, would rack up flying hours faster heated in front of the intake was not March 1982. Photo: David Gee towards the ‘never-exceed’ limit of something to be contemplated at all. their own next maintenance event. The truly unsung engineering heroes delay was anything over 3 minutes The other significant unsched- were the many engineers who spent late from the published timetable! uled workload dictating routine months inside cramped, smelly fuel Dave Macdonald reminded me Inter check downtimes was the tanks on all the fleet, to ensure safe of the opportunity for engineers rectification of fuel leaks. These daily operations. There was little to join flight crew on flights across leaks were large time consumers of glamour in returning home to wives the Atlantic. A unique and truly manpower, with many engineers and girlfriends day after day smell- memorable experience for Concorde spending weeks at a time with heads ing of Concorde fuel! engineers, these flights created a and bodies buried in fuel tanks. Naturally modification work learning opportunity for them to During conversations with other following the Air France tragedy in see their systems functioning during supersonic (some military) aircraft 2000 led to many engineers spend- supersonic flight and appreciate the maintenance engineers, all agreed ing huge amounts of time in fuel complexities of operation. that supersonic aircraft needed tanks fitting special liners. In 2019, the year of the 50th unscheduled fuel tank sealing. anniversary of the first Concorde Realistically, flying a metal aircraft The end – and beyond flight, the Honourable Company at Mach 2+, with the high tem- Spares availability continued to be of Air Pilots recognised the entire peratures hardening the fuel tank a challenge in later years. Worn-out British Concorde team for a special sealant and the structure expanding parts increased with use and age, and award (see Mach 2, November and contracting, made it impossible this resulted in serviceable spares be- 2019). The award was not just for to keep the aircraft as fuel-tight as coming ever more difficult to source. flight and cabin crew; included in subsonic aircraft. Needless to say, a The task of keeping Concorde the citation were the engineers who logical assessment and repair plan serviceable was rewarded with built and maintained her. Rather fit- was devised in conjunction with special tea mugs celebrating 100 ting, and a genuine recognition that manufacturers and authorities to departures without any technical de- engineers were very much a part of maintain a safe operation. lays – remembering that a Concorde the Concorde story.

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The view from the flight deck David Macdonald, BA Concorde flight engineer David Macdonald ends this feature with an overview of the whole Concorde op- eration in the UK, from the earliest days to the highlights of Concorde services.

he Maintenance task was the forward fuselage, wings and Tlike no other. There had never engines were inside. been an aircraft that flew at twice A few years later, following the speed of sound for hour af- BOAC’s investment in the Vickers ter hour (although the SR71, the VC10, the hangar was extended out- American spy plane, has to be ac- wards and upwards to accommodate knowledged; its maintenance crews that aircraft’s high T-tail and rear- worked to the same standard). mounted engines – all under cover. Concorde is the most thor- Boeing 707 heavy maintenance oughly tested airliner ever. It had to lodged here during this period. And Technical Block B be – it broke so much new ground. then came Concorde: it is a pleasing June 1992: G-BOAG surrounded by The bulk of the nearly 6,000 flight symmetry that TBB’s final tenant work platforms in the enlarged hangar. test hours was shared between 2 was the Bristol-designed Concorde Photo: Baz Glenister prototypes, 2 pre-production aircraft 102 and its Bristol Aero-engine and 2 production aircraft. Thus, the Olympus turbo-jets! the whole aeroplane is bathed in a maximum number of hours flown TBB was a rectangular build- temperature of 125 to 130°C – well by any one aeroplane was only 910 ing split along its length into 3 bays above the boiling point of water. – by aircraft 201, F-WTSB – and of facing east and 3 facing west. One of Ally to this the ever-present vibra- those only 340 were supersonic. And the westerlies (North Bay) was fitted tions associated with flight – the this is perfectly fine; the step-by- out with permanent multi-level plat- ones we don’t feel, but Maintenance step exploration of such an expand- forms that would close in around an know are there; throw in a dynamic ed flight envelope was meticulous aircraft to provide ‘access all areas’, structure that expands with heat and – as was the preparation for Entry- invaluable for the annual Intermedi- contracts again during every super- Into-Service. ate Checks and the Major Checks sonic flight; and you have the mak- arising after 12,000 flying hours. ings of problems – not Concorde Arrival at Heathrow (See Mach 2, August 2017.) problems, but those presented by Concorde Maintenance found a physics. We learned quickly; special home in a building named ‘Techni- British Airways operations checks were instituted on a range of cal Block B’ (TBB) at the east end Within BA, utilisation gradually electrical and hydraulic connectors, of Heathrow. But that hangar wasn’t built up to about 1,100 hours per cables, seals; engine internal inspec- always so named; it was originally year. As our experience grew, it be- tions in the hangar and real-time ‘The Wing Hangar’, designed to came clear that the BAC and Rolls- internal assessments in the air, and house the Bristol Britannia 102 and Royce Concorde Support Groups, pragmatic rules for fuel tank sealing, its Bristol Proteus turbo-props. Just together with BA’s Engineering were all part of our life. and Maintenance and Flight Ops, An appropriate metaphor for were embarking upon what may be Maintenance would be, ‘not so much called ‘in-service development’. This an A&E; more an ICU department’. is not unusual; in fact history shows Problems were there to be solved, it to be the norm at each step, from and solved they were. We had the to supersonics. In Brian confidence to dispatch aircraft on Trubshaw’s book, Concorde: The In- Royal flights, 4-week luxury world side Story, he says, probably tongue- air cruises, and high-profile cor- The Wing Hangar in-cheek, that “the problems with porate charters, visiting over 300 Bristol Britannias in the Wing Hangar, aircraft only arise after airlines take airfields worldwide – as well as 1958. The building accommodated delivery”. Or words to that effect. making Concorde available to the just the wings, engines, and fuselages. It must be understood that, dur- great British public, whose taxes had Photo: Mirrorpix / Alamy ing Concorde’s Mach 2 supercruise, originally paid for the project.

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Concorde watch

The current COVID-19 crisis has led to the closure of visitor attractions in many countries – including all of the museums that house Concorde aircraft. Some mu- seums, though, are still working to take care of the aircraft, and many offer on-line attractions that may appeal to Concorde enthusiasts and their families.

F-WTSS (001) French prototype aircraft F-BTSD (213) French production aircraft Location: Musée Air et Espace, Le Bourget, France

The website has extensive information in French on their collections, including the two Concordes: https://www.museeairespace.fr/aller-plus-haut/ collections/?fwp_halls_dexposition=hall-concorde The page on Sierra Delta also includes an account of the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the first Concorde flight, an event put together by Cap Avenir Concorde.

F-WTSS (facing) and F-BTSD Photo: Alex Beltyukov / Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

G-BSST (002) Information on 002 can be seen here: https://www. fleetairarm.com/aviation-museum-concorde.aspx British prototype aircraft The Museum is currently working to raise funds to help preserve their collections. Further Location: Fleet Air Arm Museum, information is available here: https://www.fleetairarm. , UK com/support-naval-aviation-museum.aspx

G-AXDN (101) Maintenance tasks are still being carried out on G- AXDN; this includes testing the hydraulic system British pre-production aircraft and lowering and raising the nose. The British Airliner Collection website offers Location: , a Concorde app for 99p, which gives 360° virtual Duxford, UK tours of the aircraft, including detailed information and videos: https://www.britairliners.org/airliner- detail?type=aerospatiale-bae-concorde&id=23

F-WTSA (02) There is no maintenance work happening with Sierra Alpha at the moment, but the website is still being French pre-production aircraft updated daily with articles on what has been done so far, and it has plenty of information about the Location: Musée Delta, Orly, aircraft, in both French and English: France https://museedelta.wixsite.com/musee-delta/home

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F-WTSB (201) French development aircraft F-BVFC (209) French production aircraft Location: Aeroscopia Aeronautical Museum, Toulouse, France

The website provides information on the Aeroscopia collection, including the two Concordes, in both French and English: http://www.musee-aeroscopia.fr/en/discover-the- aeroscopia-museum/the-collection/aircrafts

F-BVFC Photo: Katie John

G-BBDG (202) The aircraft in the collection, including G-BBDG, are being inspected daily, and regular maintenance British development aircraft jobs are still being done. In addition, the website provides plenty of information about Concorde and Location: Brooklands Museum, the other exhibits, and there is a page of activities: Weybridge, UK https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/concorde Brooklands has also created free online jigsaw puzzles of Concorde: https://www.brooklandsmu- seum.com/learning/family-learning/jigsaw-puzzles Brooklands is currently facing some financial challenges, made more acute by the current COV- ID-19 situation. The museum has launched a fund- raising drive to raise money for the upkeep of the collections and the site; for further details or to make a donation, please see their “LoveBROOKLANDS” page: https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/about/ support-us/lovebrooklands

G-BBDG Photo: Justin Robson

G-BOAC (204) Information on G-BOAC can be seen on this page: https://www.runwayvisitorpark.co.uk/visit-us/ British production aircraft explore-our-aircraft/ The team at the Runway Visitor Park invite Location: Runway Visitor Park, visitors to check the website and social media for up- Airport, UK dates on when the museum will reopen: https://www. runwayvisitorpark.co.uk/whats-on/news-and-alerts/

F-BVFA (205) The National Air and Space Museum “Air and Space Anywhere” page offers virtual tours of the French production aircraft museum: https://airandspace.si.edu/anywhere The museum already has a page giving facts Location: Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy about Concorde and outlining Fox Alpha’s history, Center, Chantilly, VA, USA which can be accessed here: https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/con- corde-fox-alpha-air-france/nasm_A20030139000

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G-BOAA (206) The “Museums at Home” feature has a page on Al- pha Alpha: https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-col- British production aircraft lections/stories/science-and-technology/concorde/ There is also a “Concorde blog”, including Location: National Museum of articles by Concorde pilot Tony Yule, and a post by Flight, East Fortune, UK Ian Brown, Assistant Curator of Aviation, on Alpha Alpha’s recent role in the award-winning filmThe Wife: https://blog.nms.ac.uk/tag/concorde/

F-BVFB (207) The team at Sinsheim has recently given Fox Bravo an internal clean while the museum is closed. Fans of French production aircraft exhibits including Concorde and the Tu-144 are in- vited to keep in touch via social media. The web page Location: Technik Museum on Fox Bravo can be accessed here: https://sinsheim. Sinsheim, Germany technik-museum.de/en/concorde

G-BOAD (210) The museum website includes virtual tours of aircraft including Concorde. The Intrepid has also instituted British production aircraft an Oral History Project, featuring interviews with people associated with the various aircraft, and includ- Location: Intrepid Sea, Air and ing an interview with Concorde Captain Leslie Scott: Space museum, New York, USA https://www.intrepidmuseum.org/digital-resources

G-BOAE (212) The Concorde Experience museum has been closed British production aircraft for some time now, but the Barbados Tourism Board page on the exhibition gives some information on Location: Grantley Adams Inter- what it includes: national Airport, Barbados https://barbados.org/concorde.htm#.XqTe0i3MzOY

G-BOAG (214) The museum has set up an on-line area called “The British production aircraft Museum At Home”, which includes virtual tours, vid- eos, podcasts, and other activities, including features Location: Museum of Flight, on Alpha Golf: https://pages.museumofflight.org/ Seattle, USA museum-at-home

G-BOAF (216) The museum web page “At Home With ” offers videos about the exhibits, including Al- British production aircraft pha Fox; an invitation to online reminiscence sessions, including one about Concorde; and suggestions on Location: commemorating Concorde with champagne, cocktails, Aerospace or afternoon tea. Details are available here: https:// Bristol, aerospacebristol.org/at-home-with-aerospace-bristol Filton, UK Aerospace Bristol has also launched a “Return to Flight” appeal for donations to help the museum con- G-BOAF Photo: tinue their work in preserving their collection: https:// Aerospace Bristol aerospacebristol.org

Mach 2 Concorde magazine © Katie John 2020

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