Ministry of Aviation and successors: Air A Division and successors: Registered Files...

FV 2

1957-1988

Contains files relating to the administration and financial control of the Concorde supersonic aircraft project, and its technical direction and management, created by the Ministry of Aviation's Air A Division and its Concorde Division, and by the Concorde Divisions of the Ministries of Technology and of Aviation Supply, and Departments of Trade and Industry and of Industry.

For other files relating to Concorde see: AVIA 63

For the minutes of meetings and technical reports of the Concorde Project see BT 242 SUPP 29

For files generated by the Directorate of Technical Costs of the Ministries of Aviation, of Technology, of Aviation Supply and of Defence, relating to various costing matters in connection with Concorde, and for papers of the Concorde Management Board, see AVIA 93

TS file series

Public Record(s)

English

• Department of Industry, Concorde Division, 1974-1977
• Department of Trade and Industry, Concorde Division, 1971-1974
• Ministry of Aviation Supply, Concorde Division, 1970-1971
• Ministry of Aviation, Air A Division, 1959-1967

1297 file(s)

Subject to 30 year closure

Topics

Trade and commerce

Air transport

The development of the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic aircraft was one of the largest and most advanced technological projects ever undertaken in Western Europe. Preliminary research in industry and government establishments on the problems of supersonic flight as applied to passenger aircraft started in Europe in 1956, and between 1959 and 1961 independent design studies in Britain and France reached similar conclusions. Discussions which began in 1961 led to the signing in London on 29 November 1962 of an agreement between the British and the French Governments to share costs, design, development and production work and the proceeds of sales of a supersonic aircraft which ultimately became known as Concorde.

Detailed work was the responsibility of the companies concerned in both countries. These were the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), which became part of British Aerospace when this new public corporation was established in 1977, and the French Company Sud Aviation (which became part of the Société Nationale Industrielle Aerospatiale) for the airframe. This was assembled at Filton near Bristol and at Toulouse in France. Rolls Royce Ltd and Société Nationale d'Étude et de Construction de Moteurs d'Aviation (SNECMA) were responsible for the power plant which was assembled at Bristol.

Altogether hundreds of companies were involved in the project through sub-contracting and supplying materials. Overall control of the project was exercised by a Directing Committee comprising officials responsible to the British and French Governments.

The project was originally the responsibility of the Ministry of Aviation, but was dealt with in turn by a number of government departments. Each of these departments had a Concorde Division, which worked together with the Directing Committee.