Brian Trubshaw – Test Pilot

Citation

(2002), "Brian Trubshaw – Test Pilot", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 74 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2002.12774bae.002

Brian Trubshaw – Test Pilot

With Sally Edmondson – Foreword by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh

Keywords: Aircraft, Pilots

Brian Trubshaw was at the controls on the maiden test flight of the world's first supersonic passenger transport aircraft, when Concorde 002 took off from Filton in Bristol on 9 April 1969. This historic occasion marked two significant milestones – one technological, the other personal. It was the inaugural of Britain's first supersonic passenger aircraft, and for Trubshaw the crowning glory of his lifetime's work as an experimental test pilot. His close involvement with the Concorde flight test programme saw him become a household name overnight.

This fascinating account of Brian's career as a test pilot was written from his own unique viewpoint on the flightdeck, covering a period of tremendous upheaval in the British aircraft industry. His thrilling descriptions of stall- testing the massive VCI0 airliner or breaking the sound barrier for the first time in Concorde are interwoven with some telling insights into manoeuvrings of politicians, industrialists and trade unions which led ultimately to the decline of the British aircraft industry in the 1970s – and very nearly spelled disaster for the Concorde programme.

Brian Trubshaw CBE, MVO, FRAeS was a key member of the Concorde flight test programme. He wrote Concorde The Inside Story, which was published by Sutton in 2000. Sadly, Brian passed away in March 2001.

Details available from: Sutton Publishing, Tel: +44 (0) 1453 731114; Fax: +44 (0) 1453 731117; E-mail: sales@haynes- manuals.co.uk ; Website: http://www.haynes.co.uk