Press releases
Cambridgeshire’s Concorde 101 at IWM Duxford was presented with a prestigious Engineering Heritage Award on Wednesday 30 April.
The award is in recognition of Concorde being the first supersonic transport to enter service, and also in recognition of this particular aircraft holding the speed record for the fleet.
The Engineering Heritage Awards recognise artefacts of special engineering significance and previous winners of these awards include Mallard locomotive, Tower Bridge and the Jaguar E-type.
The award was presented by Patrick Kniveton, President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, to David Garside, Chairman Duxford Aviation Society at a special ceremony.
Patrick Kniveton, President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said:
“Concorde is without overstatement an engineering icon and, although well over 40 years old, is still one of the most inspiring examples of modern design and engineering.
“Concorde made supersonic passenger flight possible and pioneered the development of double delta shaped wings and fly-by-wire in an aeroplane, along with numerous other technologies.
“Concorde 101 is a pre-production aircraft, and is particularly significant as it holds the speed record for the fleet.
“The Engineering Heritage Award celebrates not just the wonderful achievements of Concorde, but also the achievement of all the staff and volunteers involved in preserving Concorde 101 for the public to enjoy and learn from.”
David Garside, Chairman Duxford Aviation Society, said:
“We are extremely proud that Concorde 101 has been given this prestigious Award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
“The development of Concorde was a remarkable engineering achievement and the culmination of a period of extraordinary technical progress in British aviation technology after WW2.
“On completion of its testing programme, Concorde 101 was gifted to the Duxford Aviation Society by the government and was flown to Duxford airfield in 1977.
“For some 37 years the Society’s volunteers have maintained the aircraft to the highest possible standard and since 2006 the IWM have provided permanent covered accommodation for the aircraft in their Air Space hangar.
“It has been on continuous display to visitors throughout its time at Duxford and remains one of the most popular visitor attractions.”
Concorde 101 was the third of the six aircraft used in the extensive six and a half year testing programs that preceded Concorde's entry into airline service. In April 1974, in the course of a test programme conducted from Tangier, Concorde 101 reached Mach 2.23 (1450 mph), and in November of the same year it flew from Fairford to Bangor, Maine, in 2 hrs 56 minutes, a record time for a commercial aircraft flying across the Atlantic in a Westerly direction.
Concorde flew regular transatlantic flights from London Heathrow and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport to New York JFK and Washington Dulles; it flew these routes in less than half the time of other airliners.
With only 20 aircraft built, the development of Concorde was a substantial economic loss. Concorde was retired in 2003 due to a general downturn in the aviation industry after the type's only crash in 2000, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and a decision by Airbus, the successor firm of Aérospatiale and BAC, to discontinue maintenance support.
Concorde is one of only two Supersonic transport vehicles to have entered commercial service; the other was the Tupolev Tu-144, constructed in the Soviet Union.
Notes to Editors
- Photos courtesy of IWM Duxford.