EXCLUSIVE!
It was a select few who took the controls of the Anglo-French supersonic airliner, whether for testing or in service. The challenge, and the experience, was never to be taken for granted. To mark the 50th anniversary of the type’s maiden flight, the sole surviving manufacturer’s Concorde test pilot describes five memorable years at the sharp end
“With no instruction whatsoever, I found myself in a dreadfully archaic three-axis simulator”
Concorde was not an easy aircraft to fly. By that I don’t mean it was difficult, just that it was rather better flown by an above-average pilot. The real issue was getting onto the beast in the first place. With only one or two exceptions, unless you worked either for the manufacturer or the customer you stood little or no chance. Over a period of some seven years there were six prototypes involved: three with the British Aircraft Corporation at RAF Fairford and three with Sud Aviation/Aérospatiale at Toulouse.
The Fairford trio notched up just short of 3,000 hours between 1969 and 1976, and to play a part in that was a highlight of my career.
I had flown for 20 years before I joined BAC in 1968 as a One-Eleven training and test pilot, based at the Wisley fli…
