In the October 2023 issue of Airliner World, Dominic Ward talked to John Britton, the chief engineer on Concorde up until its retirement, about his work on the icon
The year 1969 was a watershed for the human race. It saw Neil Armstrong become the first man set foot on the Moon and witnessed the last live performance by the Beatles on the roof of Apple Records. More than 400,000 people travelled to upstate New York for The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, while on the other side of America the cult leader Charles Manson sent his followers on a murderous mission In the Hollywood hills. The future King Charles III was invested as the Prince of Wales and Brazilian football legend Pelé scored his 1,000th goal.
On March 2, 1969, an aviation revolution was taking place in the skies above Toulouse in France to the roar of four Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 engines. Just two years after its rollout, Concorde was taking to the air for the first time. The Sud Aviation-built example 001 made its maiden flight at the hands of André Turcat. A little over a month later, Brian Trubshaw flew the first British-built example at the British Aircraft Corporation’s Filton base in Bristol.
Long before both Turcat and Trubshaw could clamber aboard th…
