Captain Concorde: The True Story of One Man's Remarkable Journey of Flight and Faith

by Brian Walpole OBE, Graham Lacey

Overview

In Captain Concorde, Brian Walpole offers a rare, firsthand account of life as one of the select few entrusted with flying the legendary Concorde, the supersonic marvel that redefined air travel. With breathtaking speed and unparalleled luxury, Concorde soared at 60,000 feet, allowing its passengers to witness the earth’s curvature and the deep blue of outer space. For Walpole, who piloted this engineering masterpiece at Mach 2, it was an experience like no other—a demanding, thrilling, and ultimately life-changing career. As the captain of this “beautiful bird,” Walpole provides a unique perspective on the precision and skill required to control an aircraft that was both a national pride and the darling of the world’s elite. But beyond the glamour and awe, he reveals the intense pressures and behind-the-scenes challenges that came with commanding the world’s fastest passenger plane. More than just an aviation memoir, Captain Concorde is also a deeply personal journey of faith and discovery. Walpole shares how his remarkable experiences in the skies led him to a profound understanding of a higher power and shaped the course of his life in unexpected ways. From the thrilling highs of supersonic flight to the introspective lows of personal trials, Walpole’s story is a testament to the transformative power of faith and perseverance. Join Brian Walpole as he relives the golden age of aviation, offering tales that will make you marvel, smile, and perhaps even shed a tear. Captain Concorde is a celebration of human achievement, a tribute to a bygone era, and a powerful exploration of one man’s spiritual journey.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781917455008
Publisher:	Malcolm Down Publishing
Publication date:	11/28/2024
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Brian Walpole =============

Captain Brian Walpole OBE joined the RAF as a pilot, before entering into civil aviation with BOAC, which later became British Airways. He rose through the ranks to become BA’s first Concorde division General Manager, responsible for the world’s most advanced commercial aircraft. Brian was married to his late wife Rosemary for nearly six decades, and they have three children, thirteen grandchildren and an ever-growing number of great-grandchildren.

Graham Lacey ============

Graham Lacey has been a Christian for more than fifty years. In his working life, he traversed the globe, and frequently flew on Concorde in his role as strategic helper and trusted confidant to leaders and evangelists worldwide. He is the author of a number of books, including Take My Life.

Read an Excerpt

As a Concorde captain, I quite literally had the best seat in the plane, looking out on the vast horizon as we flew towards 60,000 feet. Before me was 250,000 square miles of magnificent creation, which we traversed at Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound), meaning we were flying twenty-three miles every sixty seconds. Most of us cannot even begin to comprehend the reality of these staggering statistics. And as for the view – it’s one which precious few have had the privilege to witness. In the captain’s seat, just like the one Graham Lacey purchased from Bonhams, as you sped through the air you could see where the earth and space meet with the naked eye; the darker blue of outer space and the curvature of the earth gently existing in such close and electrifying proximity as depicted so stunningly in one of the iconic images produced by Adrian Meredith, the long-time photographer for BA. Concorde’s instantly recognisable adjustable droop nose, her streamlined body, delta shaped wings, expandable fuselage and most notable Rolls Royce Olympus turbojet engines with afterburners, were what enabled supersonic flight to occur. The product of fifteen years of design, planning, manufacture and testing, Concorde was quite simply an engineering masterpiece, and yet so much more beyond. Like flying a fighter jet, the engineering triumph that was Concorde, was very precise and exceedingly sensitive to handle. Throw-away comments that Concorde would expand during supersonic flight, gradually elongating an extra ten inches, never failed to wow! With the air passing over the hull at supersonic speeds, the metal heated up so much that it expanded, and the fact that all the carpets did not get wrecked every time was another remarkable design feature. To allow for such expansion, an engineering brainwave placed the interior of the plane on rails so that as the hull of the plane expanded (and contracted when returning to subsonic), the interior of the aircraft would not be impacted. Though ten inches is not much compared to Concorde’s vast length, the impact of the expansion was not always fully comprehended, so on the occasion that a VIP was on the flight deck at the right time, I would often take my captain’s hat and put it between two stanchions on the flight engineers instrument panel. As the fuselage expanded, the stanchions would move, thereby crushing the hat; proof, if it was needed, that I was not exaggerating! Exhibiting hitherto unmatched wonders of innovation and ingenuity, Concorde heralded a new era, and single-handedly took air travel to new heights. Not surprisingly, Concorde was a source of great national pride and became the darling of the jet-setting elite. From rock stars and sporting heroes to supermodels, CEOs and royalty, they all flocked to sip champagne and dine on Concorde’s caviar, to enjoy the unrivalled aura of thrill and luxury which she so exquisitely provided. Behind the scenes, life within the Concorde fleet was a seismic shift from the perceived public persona and her patrons were completely oblivious to the internal maelstrom of unrest orbiting the back-room corridors. Concorde was the product of the tireless input of a multitude of brilliant minds, many of whom I knew well. From the initial designers, manufacturers and test pilots to the subsequent team of pilots, engineers, cabin crew, ground staff and others who managed her on a daily basis, Concorde required a village to make her work. It was through the invaluable contributions of this “Concorde family” spanning many decades, dating as far back as the 1950s when the idea of supersonic travel was first conceived, that Concorde was delivered into the hands of British Airways via the UK Government. Having undergone the first test flight in March 1969, Concorde made her first commercial flight on 21st January 1976. That same year, the British Government required British Airways to take ownership of seven Concordes and, with the fortune of good timing (which blessed so much of my flying career), I happened to be of the right age, seniority and experience as a Boeing 707 captain, to be invited on to the second conversion course for Concorde pilots. I have often referred to Concorde as the beautiful bird, paralleling her flying capability and the aesthetic beauty of her double delta wings which were perfectly shaped for supersonic flight. I wasn’t the only one – countless millions regularly looked up in awe at Concorde as she passed overhead. Equally, I was once quoted in a Sunday paper as saying that she was a demanding animal. Both were true. Behind the beautiful metal finish were some of the most complicated systems of civil aviation, and my first flight in command of her came in the summer 1976. The fulfilment of a long training programme, it was an exciting experience knowing that I was responsible for this beautiful bird and the 109 lives she carried: 100 passengers and 9 crew. Concorde’s Chief Test Pilot, Brian Trubshaw, described Concorde as “very slippery”, which summed her up perfectly and was the reason we Concorde pilots tended to sit a little closer to the edge of our seats. Any less than textbook execution of critical manoeuvres, be they turns, climbs, descents or otherwise, and control of the aeroplane could slip away from us in seconds. The ease with which it was possible to over or under control her, is what kept the seat edge hot; after all, things can go wrong quite quickly at 1,350mph.

What People are Saying About This

Josh McDowell

A delight to read, Captain Concorde is a wonderfully entertaining true story and will capture the imagination of all, from the most cynical of engineers, to those who dreamt of flying on Concorde and never got the chance, to those who have questions about faith and who Jesus really is.

Jock Lowe

The success of Brian and the Concorde Division exceeded every expectation and was a joy to be part of.