2005 News Archive
This page contains archived Concorde Project news from 2005. See the News page for current news about the project or either the 2006 News Archive or 2007 News Archive for news from 2006 and 2007 respectively.
December 2005
Before Christmas Delta Golf was pulled forward a few metres (using one of the museum's tugs) to allow the intakes to be moved out of the Stratosphere Chamber and place on the ground outside. DG was then pushed back so that the intakes now sit directly under the position of the wing where they are to be fitted. Work to fit them is currently scheduled for the first week of the new year. The first of the two MLG bay doors has also now been fitted.
Contractors ASI briefly returned to Brooklands before Christmas to fit the remaining 14 aluminium plates to the rear fuselage join. Once this was completed they then sealed the join with aircraft grade sealant. They also fitted aluminium plates to the cut in the pressure floor in the forward fuselage. ASI have now completed all their contracted jobs on G-BBDG and have now left the museum.
November 2005
Delta Golf is now even closer to being at full length as the radome has been fitted to the droop nose. This is the first time that DG has had her full nose assembly fitted for over 10 years.
All the available leading edges have been fitted to the newly fitted outer wings. On both wings there are a total of 5 leading edges that are missing and these will require basic replacements to be manufactured. There are also a few others that are incomplete and/or slightly damaged and require restoration. This will be done over the coming months.
Volunteers have re-fitted Delta Golf's outer wings. The two sections of wing were moved into position using a hiab crane and the more than 600 bolts required to hold them in place were then fitted.
October 2005
Contractors ASI have completed work on re-fitting Delta Golf's landing gear. All three gear legs were pressurised and had their wheels fitted over the last few days and now DG stands proud on her proper landing gear for the first time in 15 years.
The small team of volunteers that are currently restoring Delta Golf's tail fin have taken some time out to start re-painting the blue cheatline on the side of the fuselage. Completion of this is very weather dependant and will be done alongside the work on the fin.
September 2005
With the help of two British Airways engineers, volunteers have fitted Delta Golf's droop nose. The radome will be fitted in the coming weeks. The next task will be to fit the outer wings and the tail cone.
July/August 2005
The large tent that housed Delta Golf for 6 months was taken down in late August thus revealing DG in her new white finery. The week leading up to this has seen volunteers working to make DG as watertight as possible to protect against the unpredictable British weather. The exhibition that was located inside the tent has temporarily been move to an undercover area adjacent to DG and will eventually be re-housed inside DG's rear cabin as and when the work on the interior is completed next year. The ex-Filton Concorde simulator that was also in the tent has temporarily been moved inside the Wellington hangar at the museum.
Contractors Air Salvage International (ASI) are still on site at Brooklands and continue to progress well with work to re-assemble the main 5 sections of Delta Golf's airframe. Having moved the 5 sections onto a combination of special jigs and railway sleepers in position near the centre fuselage back in March, they then started work preparing the internal sections of the right wing and fuselage so that aluminium channel splice plates could be bolted into place. These plates have been used to securely hold the wings in position.
The right wing was then hoisted back into place and aligned with the fuselage using a custom built jig. This jig has 4 jacks that allowed the wing to be manoeuvred into precisely the exact spot ready to be re-joined. With the wing safely in position a special scaffolding structure was put into place to allow the jig to be removed and used on the left wing. Once re-joining work was completed on the right wing, the scaffolding was then moved to support the left wing and the whole process was repeated. Having re-joined the main wing sections ASI then moved onto the forward fuselage.
As with the wings, the forward fuselage was positioned and aligned in front of the centre fuselage using a custom built jig. It was re-joined using aluminium plates similar to those used on the wings. These plates have been riveted into place in such a way as to make the re-join look like a standard production join. ASI have now almost completed work on re-joining the rear fuselage using the same method. Also now completed is the re-fitting of the two forward wing sections.
After several months of preparation work on the fuselage and the wings, volunteers have applied two coats of white top coat and made a very significant step towards restoring Delta Golf to her former glory. The paint has been supplied by PPG Aerospace and is the same paint that British Airways used on their Concorde fleet. Another team of volunteers are working on DG's tail fin and having applied the red part of the Union Jack livery on both sides of the fin.
Staff and students from the University of Surrey (UniS) have completed most of the work on the restoration of DG's engine intakes and have applied the proper 'Concorde White' paint. They are currently working on the eight intake ramp doors (two per intake). Technicians at UniS have also manufactured some elevon pins and a bell crank to replace the original parts that are missing from DG. The parts will be required for the fitting of the large inboard elevons later in the summer. DG's two Twin Secondary Nozzles have been transported to Farnborough College of Technology where a team of volunteers are working on restoring them.
June 2005
On Thursday 23rd June, Concorde G-BBDG's logbook was formally handed by former Chief Concorde Pilot Mike Bannister - on behalf of British Airways - to HRH Prince Michael of Kent, who is Patron of Brooklands Museum. The event was attended by over 300 specially invited guests and dignitaries. Prior to the event, DG's droop nose was temporarily re-positioned in front of the forward fuselage (see photos of the event here).
The Delta Golf fund raising campaign currently stands at £100,000. A further £150,00 needs to be raised over the next 12 months to ensure that the restoration work is completed. A donation form can be downloaded from the 'Links' page of this site. All donations will be very gratefully received, no matter how large or small.
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