DG Then & Now - The Droop Nose
Delta Golf's droop nose has an interesting background. The original droop nose that was fitted to DG when she was built in the early 1970s was actually removed in 1995 while the aircraft was in storage at Filton and was fitted to British Airways Concorde G‑BOAF. AF's nose was damaged in a collision with a hangar door at Heathrow (note: the aircraft was being towed at the time!). The damaged nose from G‑BOAF was removed and put into storage until it was repaired in 2005. The damage to the nose was relatively minor and was repaired by volunteers at Brooklands. Following this, the visor was fitted to the nose and the whole assembly fitted to DG in September 2005.
In 2016 work was carried out by museum volunteers to restore the operation of the droop nose. This was a considerable task as much of the mechanism had been removed from the aircraft during its time in storage at Filton and was unavailable to volunteers. Many of the hydraulic lines had to be re-manufactured and the system now runs from a stand-alone ground powered hydraulic pump. Demonstrations of the droop nose are carried out at Brooklands during special events at various times of the year.
