Concorde An Inside Story
Who am I and where do I fit in?
The story starts in 1642………..
1642
Born Christmas Day
Sir Isaac Newton
Newton Joined The King’s School, Grantham
5th Sept 1655
Gravity making
things fall led to
Newton’s
Principia
Mathematica
First hot air balloon flight
c 200 AD
The Kongming Lantern
The Montgolfier Brothers
Joseph and Jacques
November 1782
First hot air balloon flight
carrying passengers
A Duck, a Sheep and a Cockerel !!
19th September 1783
15th Oct 1783
First Manned
Flight in a hot
air balloon
Oct 1890
First flight in powered machine
by Clement Ader
Oct 1947
First
Supersonic
flight
Chuck Yeager
May 1952
First commercial jet service
5th Sept 1955
Exactly 300 years after Sir Isaac Newton
I started at The Kings School, Grantham
and my brush with science began
including differential calculus
and the attraction of bodies!
1962
First issue of the Design Specification
for the Anglo- French SST
1962
Leeds University
John Glen -
Just about to
leave earth
for the first
time
1962
1965
My first job in Luton
- BBC OB links
Nov 1972
Joined BAC, Stevenage and began
37 years in the Aerospace industry
primarily in Radar with specialisation
in antennas and radomes
2” (50.8)
English Design
2” (50.8) 50mm (1.97”)
English Design French Design
XB70 - too big and heavy
TU144 - Concordeski - Wrong material
Tall people should always have chosen to fly
by Concorde.
Why?
Seat spacing when flying at Mach 2
increases to 37.2”
Tornado Subsonic Configuration
Tornado Supersonic Configuration
Concorde’s Compromise Wing
Fuel Storage - 30,000 Gallons in the Wings
Afterburners light up the night sky
High Altitude Temperatures
-50
0
50
100
150
200
250
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Speed (Mach No)
Tem
pera
ture
(C
)
Skin
Nose
AU2GN
CIBA Resin System MY750
• High Temperature Transmission Capability
• Excellent in Compression
• Poor in Tension
Pilkington Woven E-Glass
• High Temperature Transmission Capability
• Excellent in Tension
• Poor in Compression
The Resin Transfer Moulding Process
Male Mould Female Mould
The Resin Transfer Moulding Process
Fitting The Stockings
The Resin Transfer Moulding Process
Fitting The Stockings
The Resin Transfer Moulding Process
Fitting The Stockings
The Resin Transfer Moulding Process
Fitting The Stockings
The Resin Transfer Moulding Process
Fitting The Stockings
The Resin Transfer Moulding Process
Fitting The Stockings
The Resin Transfer Moulding Process
Mating The Moulds
The Resin Transfer Moulding Process
The Moulds are Inverted
The Resin Transfer Moulding Process
Resin is Pumped in through the Bottom
The Resin Transfer Moulding Process
Resin is Pumped in through the Bottom
The Resin Transfer Moulding Process
Resin is Pumped in through the Bottom
The Resin Transfer Moulding Process
Resin is Pumped in through the nose
Mould Tool
and
Moulding
Special
Curing Oven
Radar and Radome Test System
Installation
at
Filton
The beginning of the end
Tragedy strikes in 2000 – a loss of 113 lives
The Last Farewell 24th October 2003
The Last Journey from JFK to New York’s Museum
The Nose Radome at Christie’s Auction in Paris
Auction Reserve
€ 11,000
All money raised
went to a French
children’s charity
The Nose Radome at Christie’s Auction in Paris
Auction Reserve
€ 11,000
Actual Sale Price
€480,099 !!
All money raised
went to a French
children’s charity
French Super Etendard Sold to Argentina
Anglo- French Jaguar
Indian Jaguar and Sea Eagle Missile
Type 42 Destroyer
Feet Air Arm Jetstream
Sea Harrier (Mk1)
Sea Harrier (Mk2)
Skyflash Missile leaves a Tornado ADV
Nimrod - a variant of the Comet
The new radome technologies researched
towards the end of my career in 2009 will be
in service in the year 2020 and
Newtonian Mathematics is still being used !
Who’s going to look in at 60,000ft?
…… and finally…..
Why do they fit frosted glass in
aircraft loo windows?
‘Concorde’
Good-Bye
The end of a story
I am proud to have been
part of the team
Compiled by
Colin McCartney BSc CEng