Product Description

When British Airways and Air France announced that Concorde was to be retired from service in October 2003, it signalled the end of nearly three decades of supersonic passenger flights. Concorde had flown for years without a major incident. But in July 2000, an Air France Concorde crashed near Paris, killing all 109 people on board and four on the ground. By the time the modified aircraft went back into service in November 2001, both BA and Air France faced mounting problems, which spelled the end for Concorde. As the former British chief test pilot, Brian Trubshaw's close association with Concorde placed him in the unique position of being able to write the inside story of this world-famous supersonic passenger jet. He piloted the world's first (and only) supersonic passenger transport aircraft on its British maiden flight from Filton in 1969, and remained a key member of the Concorde programme after the aircraft entered airline service in 1976. Brian was closely involved in the exhaustive investigations into the 2000 tragedy. Illustrated with 200 photographs and illustrations, including 100 in colour, this updated edition covers the Paris crash, Concorde's brief return to service and its decommissioning in 2004.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #310016 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

From the Publisher
Brian Trubshaw - Chief Test Pilot
'The testing was more thorough and advanced and took a longer time than anything that has been done before and anything done since'

'It is the highlight of my aviation career . . . I am proud now and proud then to have been so intimately involved'

'I don't think anyone in this country today has a greater sense of pride in Concorde than I do'

About the Author
Brian Trubshaw was chief pilot of Concorde during its development phase. Widely regarded as one of Britain's most famous test pilots of the 20th century, Brian's autobiography was published by Sutton in 1998. He died in 2001.

Customer Reviews

somewhat disappointing
I was quite disappointed with Trubshaws' account of the development of Concorde. His technical explanations are very disjointed and he is not good at explaining.The book is padded
with plenty of name-dropping and photos of himself with various dignitaries. Buy Christopher Orlebars' book, that's streets ahead.

Concorde
This book was written by the Senior test pilot during the entire design and first flights, Brian Trubshaw. He wrote the book, using his countless years of experience around and flying the aircraft. He writes in a non-technical tone, which may appeal to those readers with a passing interest, rather than a passion. The book contains many pictures of the plane's parts. The book covers all areas from adaptions, to the Paris crash in 2000, I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Interesting but you will be able to put it down.
A reminder of a major technological achievement. If you are a fan of Concorde - and who couldn't be - you will have to read this account. It has many interesting insights into the process of developing airliners. However if you want an account of political intrigue and the raw emotions of cross-cultural working relationships then sadly you'll find nothing compulsive here. Trubshaw is an excellent test pilot rather than a great story teller.