Description
Object description
Promotional film for Anglo-French supersonic civil airliner Concorde, focusing on the co-ordinated development work carried out by the British and French partners in the Concorde project.
Content description
Film opens with an introduction to the Concorde project. A series of animations are used to illustrate the various theoretical forms considered for Concorde. Scale models of Concorde are evaluated in wind tunnels in order to assess the design's response to various levels of speed. Much of this testing is carried out at the BAC site at Warton in Lancashire. In France similar testing is carried out using chambers filled with water, as a means of measuring airflow over the wings. In a laboratory at Farnborough, various metals are tested, including aluminium alloys. The testing of materials intended for use in the construction of Concorde is a carefully co-ordinated process involving teams in Britain and France. Structural testing and evaluation is conducted using a scale model of Concorde. Compressed air is used to evaluate the potential audibility of the aircraft's engines while in flight. Scale mock ups of a Concorde fuselage section are used to test and assess the required levels of air conditioning to ensure that the aircraft's passengers remain comfortable during their flight. The fuel systems, hydraulic systems, and flight deck are all tested and evaluated at Filton. The BAC 221 (WG774, a modified Fairey Delta 2) is used for high speed research having been re-built to mimic Concorde's design, including wing structure and undercarriage. The HP.115 delta wing test aircraft (XP841) is used for low speed research. Further development work is carried out at ONERA (the Office National d'Études et de Recherches Aerospatiales) in France, including testing and evaluating Concorde's engine air intakes. Full scale models of Concorde will be built in order to complete the detailed testing and development programme for Concorde prior to the construction of the prototypes, for it is essential for testing to be conducted on a complete full size model in order to fully understand how the various components of Concorde will function.
Physical description
16mm