The Concorde Project - 2006 News Archive

Concorde ^{2006 News Archive}

This page contains archived Concorde Project news from 2006. Also see the links at the bottom of the page for archived Concorde Project news from 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

December 2006

Concorde Delta Golf was closed to the public for one day at the beginning of the month to allow volunteers to carry out some necessary maintenance. This included wiring up lights in the forward toilet and in the rear cargo hold to illuminate the exposed rear fuselage join and the fitting of perspex panels in front of the test equipment in the mid-cabin. Also completed was the fitting of a brass plaque in the front vestibule area to commemorate the opening of Delta Golf by HRH Prince Michael of Kent.

In DG's cockpit, volunteers have now wired up and lit several areas of the engineers panel. This work will continue in the new year. On the outside, DG's port side TSN (Twin Secondary Nozzle) is now resplendent with 4 thrust reverse buckets. Some restoration work is required on the buckets for the starboard TSN before they are fitted in the new year.

One final piece of good (and surprising!) news just before the Christmas break is that DG's original fuel panel - once thought to be lost for good - has turned up for sale on eBay! Fortunately the seller has been contacted and is willing to donate it to Brooklands.

Finally, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

November 2006

Having had their new coats of paint completed at the end of last month, the remaining elevons have now been fitted to Delta Golf by volunteers from BA engineering. Although Concorde's elevons would normally hang down when unpowered, DG's have been fixed in the up position to avoid them hanging to close to people walking under the wings.

The first of Delta Golf's 8 thrust reverse buckets has been fitted for engine number 2. The remaining 7 buckets are in various states of restoration and will be fitted over the coming months. It is planned to display the buckets in the various positions they would have been used in, ie. closed for thrust reverse and the different open positions for subsonic and supersonic flight.

Elsewhere on DG, a small gutter has been fitted above the forward passenger door. This has been done to prevent water from getting into the cabin when the door is open during heavy rain showers - something that has been a big problem over recent weeks. The cockpit restoration team are continuing their work to fit switch/instrument indicator panels on the various instrument panels. This week has seen them fitting a newly made panel for controlling the various panel lights in the cockpit.

October 2006

Despite having been cleaned back in March, Delta Golf has started to look rather grubby over the last few weeks and so and team of volunteers has now given the aircraft another washdown. Working in teams, the volunteers completed the work by hand using a combination of brushes, mops and elbow grease. DG is now gleaming again and ready for the winter months ahead.

September 2006

Work on the remaining 8 elevons to be fitted has progressed this week with a final coat of white gloss having been applied. Inside DG the forward cabin toilet will soon be lit to allowing visitors a better view inside. Presently it is rather dark and difficult to see through the perspex door. During the week preparations were made to fit the necessary wiring and light units.

The cockpit restoration team continue to fit the last few remaining instruments and trim panels as and when the become available.

Since opening its doors to the public at the beginning of August, Concorde Delta Golf is proving to be hugely popular at the museum with visitor numbers not far short of a staggering 10,000 people! As well as this being very gratifying for all the volunteers who worked on restoring DG over the last two years, it is also strengthening Brooklands Museum's position as one of the top attractions in the South East.

After the very hectic few weeks that lead up to the grand opening, the Concorde volunteers have taken the opportunity to slow the pace of the continuing restoration work down a notch or two during September. The cockpit restoration team have been continuing to fit some of the remaining instruments and also some of the headliner trim. A couple of volunteers are progressing well with the manufacture of the missing port side vortex generator and another team of vounteers are now painting the remaining elevons now that they have been restored by former BA engineers. The elevons will be fitted in the next few weeks.

August 2006

Concorde Delta Golf is now fully open to visitors at Brooklands Museum. Please note that tour availability is limited to 15 places every 30 minutes so getting there early is advised to avoid disappointment. The tours start at 10.30am and end at 4.30pm and boarding passes can be purchased from the Shell Petrol Pagoda in front of the Clubhouse. Click here for more details.

July 2006

After two years of blood, sweat and tears and after thousands of man hours from a team of over a hundred volunteers, Concorde Delta Golf has been officially opened as a museum exhibit this week by HRH Prince Michael of Kent, royal patron of the museum. Several hundred guests and VIPs were in attendance at the museum to witness the event and to get a chance to tour the aircraft.

Earlier in the morning of the grand opening, the finishing touches to the forward and rear cabin displays were completed. A small amount of 'tweaking' will now be done to the displays ahead of the public opening of DG on 1st August.

Following on from the re-application of Delta Golf's registration on the rear fuselage, volunteers have now applied the British Airways titles and the Speedbird logos to the forward fuselage. On the inside of the aircraft, the forward cabin had been transformed with the completion of the installation of the passenger service units, overhead luggage bins and 40 Concorde seats (from Concorde G-BOAB). Proper carpet has also been fitted. In the rear cabin, the installation of the exhibition is progressing well.

Delta Golf has got her identity back! With the help of stencils supplied by British Airways, the 'G-BBDG' registration has been applied on each side of the rear fuselage. Also this week, the final section of the cheatline has been painted on the port side of the rear fuselage. In the forward and rear cabins, the ceiling panels have been fitted and in the forward cabin work is underway to install the passenger service units (reading lights, call buttons, air vents etc.) in the overhead luggage racks. Before these could be fitted, however, it was necessary to manufacture a structure that the units could be fixed to - the original assembly not being available for use on DG.

The last week has seen the completion of the forward and mid-cabin lighting. This means that work can now get underway to fit the luggage bins. All available cabin wall panels have been fitted in the forward cabin along with the window blinds. All that remains is the fitting of the blind trim panels on a few of the windows. Also in the forward cabin, the Concorde sign that greets people when entering the aircraft has been replaced and will ultimately be covered with a perspex cover to protect it. In the rear cabin, the new 'Foamex' ceiling panels are now being fitted.

Cheatline work on DG's fuselage is nearing completion with the application of the blue line on the starboard side of the rear fuselage.

June 2006

Delta Golf is now closed to the public while the final fitting out of the cabin interior is completed ahead of the official opening on 26th July. In the forward cabin, the proper wall panels are being fitted along with the window blinds and their associated trim panels. In the rear cabin, the floor in the aft cargo hold has been fitted with aluminium sheeting for extra strength and protection. The hold door is currently being repaired and will ultimately become the public entrance to the aircraft.

Externally, the remaining two leading edges have been fitted to the tail fin and the cheatline has now been applied to the port side of the fuselage. This just leaves a small section on each side of the rear fuselage that is still to have the line painted on.

With the exception of a small section at the rear of the aircraft, the cheatline on the starboard side of DG's fuselage is now complete. Weather permitting, work will now be concentrated on painting the cheatline on the port side. In the rear cabin, the remaining lights in the exhibition area have been fitted and wired in. Fitting of the exhibition itself is scheduled to begin in the next couple of weeks.

For the first time in 18 years, Delta Golf now has its tail fin and rudders fitted. They were removed in 1988 to allow DG to be stored inside a low hangar but have now been fitted at Brooklands with the help of a group of former BA Concorde engineers. First to be fitted was the fin itself followed by the lower rudder, then the upper rudder and then the dorsal fin and one of the leading edges. Over the next week or so, volunteers will fit the remain two leading edges and will complete the remaining livery paintwork on the fin.

The newly arrived airstairs for DG are now in place by the forward cabin door and they have had the cover fitted to them. Work to fabricate the missing leading edges is now complete for the port wing and the new sections have been primed ahead of the white top coat being applied. All being well, Delta Golf's tail fin and rudders should be fitted this week - as long as the weather is favourable on the day. This will be a big occasion for all the volunteers working on the project.

May 2006

Work on the exhibition area in DG's rear cabin is picking up speed ahead of the summer opening. This week some of the new lighting panels that will illuminate the display boards have been fitted and wired up. On the outside of the aircraft, the aft fairing panels that were test fitted earlier in the year have now been completely restored, repainted and have now been refitted. Also, having had a set on-loan for a couple of weeks, the newly overhauled airstairs have arrived this week for use on DG.

Delta Golf's cockpit took another step closer to looking as it did in its flying days as the 'ram horn' style control yokes were fitted this week. Just outside the cockpit door, work is well underway to fit the number one galley. This should be completed over the next few days. UniS volunteers have now fitted the eighth and final intake ramp this week. The final ramp to go in was the forward ramp for intake 3. Finally this week, the company who are to supply a proper set of airstairs for Delta Golf have temporaily loaned a set to the museum until the new stairs arrive in the next week or so.

This week, volunteers working on Delta Golf's tail fin have made more progress towards re-applying the 80s BA livery by painting the blue triangle onto the left side of the fin and lower rudder. The upper rudder has had the first coat of red applied to it and will be fitted in the next couple of weeks and the dorsal fin has had it's first coat of white. Also, over 4 tons of spares and equipment have been loaded into DG's forward hold to act as ballast.

April 2006

The whole of Delta Golf's forward cabin is now open to visitors and in the mid-cabin the 70s area is now on view with luggage bins, 6 rows of seats and carpet. Work on DG's rudders continues and the lower rudder is now attached to the tail fin and has had the red part of the livery applied to it. The upper rudder is currently having it's white top coat applied.

This week a small team of volunteers travelled down to Filton, the former home of Delta Golf, to recover some of the original test equipment that was used on the aircraft during the 1970s. This equipment will eventually go on display at Brooklands. (see photo)

Work is well underway to replace damaged/missing seals on some of DG's many cabin windows after recent rain uncovered a few leaks. Also inside the cabin, work continues with both the construction of the wooden framework for the new ceiling panels and the fitting out of the 1970s area. On the outside of the aircraft, the team who restored DG's tail fin last summer are now working on the rudders and have started by applying two coats of primer to the upper rudder.

The port side aft fairing panels have been test fitted to Delta Golf. These panels have come from the old Concorde fatigue test airframe and will need modifying before they can be fitted properly to DG. The bay doors for the tail bumper wheel have also now been fitted.

Work is continuing to replace the flooring in DG's rear cabin. While this is happening, volunteers are also taking the opportunity to begin laying new power cables under the floor in preparation for the exhibition displays being installed over the coming months.

March 2006

The assembly of the four engine bays is now complete. To prevent it being possible to see straight through the bays (due to the engines not being fitted), Olympus engine covers have been modified and fitted to the backs of each of the intakes (see photo).

Now that the starboard side Twin Secondary Nozzle is back on Delta Golf, work has commenced to rebuild engine bays 3 and 4. So far the 4 upper bay doors and the 2 rear lower doors have been fitted. The 2 forward lower doors are currently being restored by volunteers from Surrey University.

Following on from the fitting of the port side Twin Secondary Nozzle a few weeks back, a team of volunteers from British Airways Engineering returned to Brooklands this week to fit Concorde Delta Golf's starboard side TSN. Museum volunteers will now begin work to fit the engine bay doors on that side of the aircraft.

Following work to repaint it, the tailcone has been fitted to Delta Golf thus returning the aircraft back to its full length of 202 feet. The tailcone was bolted onto the rear fuselage by museum volunteers after it had been lifted into position by a hi-ab crane loaned by Queens Motors. Also completed this weekend was the fitting of the rear ramps inside the intakes for engines 1 and 2 (port side intakes).

February 2006

The forward lower engine bay doors have been fitted to bays 1 and 2. This completes the assembly work of the port side engine bays. Unis volunteers have started painting the red warning text onto the intake ramps ahead of fitting them over the next couple of weeks.

Volunteers have test fitted the port side aft fairing panels. This has been done to establish the availabilty of each panel and to check that each one fits correctly. Now that this has been done the panels will be removed again so they can be restored. The starboard side aft fairing structure is not the original from DG (it's actually from the fatigue test airframe) and needs to be modified to fit DG properly.

With the assistance of a couple of volunteers from British Airways Engineering, museum volunteers have fitted the aft lower doors to engine bays 1 and 2. Restoration work on the forward lower doors is continuing and they have now been sanded, primed and have had their first coat of white top coat. Once the second coat is completed the doors will be attached to DG. This will complete the re-assembly work for engine bays 1 and 2.

A team of volunteers from British Airways Engineering have fitted Concorde Delta Golf's port side TSN (Twin Secondary Nozzles). The starboard side TSN is still at Farnborough College of Technology undergoing restoration and should be back at Brooklands in the next few weeks. With the port TSN back on, museum volunteers have also now been able to fit the upper engine bay doors on that side if the aircraft.

January 2006

Following on from the recent fitting of the starboard side engine centre walls, volunteers have now fitted the (very heavy!) centre walls to the port side (for engines 1 and 2). This will now enable the engine bay doors to be fitted once restoration work on them is completed in the next few weeks. Volunteers have also now fitted the starboard side main landing gear door.

Volunteers from British Airways Engineering (including a number of ex-Concorde engineers) have fitted Delta Golf's engine intakes. They have also fitted the centre walls for engines 3 and 4. Museum volunteers can now get to work sanding/painting the underside of the intakes and fitting the ramps and the engine bay doors.

To mark the 30th anniversary of the inaugural flights of British Airways' and Air France's Concorde service (which started on 21st January 1976) and also to celebrate the opening of Delta Golf to the public, volunteers joined together this weekend to pose for a group photograph and to raise a toast with a glass of Champagne.

The cockpit restoration team are continuing the job of returning DG's cockpit back to its former glory. The majority of the instruments on the main instrument panel have now been fitted and work has begun on the engineers panel.

For the first time since the Farnborough Airshow in the late 70's Delta Golf is now open (on certain days only) to members of the public to look around. While the interior restoration continues visitor access is at the moment restricted to the forward cabin only. For the time being entry to DG is free but the museum is asking adult visitors for a voluntary donation of £2 each towards the restoration fund. The cabin restoration work itself continues to progress well with gallies 2 and 4, toilets 1 and 3 and both forward wardrobes having now been fitted. Alongside this work a temporary exibition display has been put together inside the cabin.