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Brian Trubshaw and André Turcat



Brian Trubshaw and André Turcat

Brian Trubshaw and André Turcat
BRIAN TRUBSHAW and ANDRÉ TURCAT
Experimental and Developmental Test Pilots
Brian Trubshaw was born in Liverpool, England, on 29 January 1924 and André Turcat was born in Marseilles, France on 23 October 1921. Beginning with military aviation service, they progressed through illustrious test flying careers in their respective countries, eventually sharing in the flight testing of the first supersonic aircraft used successfully in commercial air transport service.

Following service in the Royal Air Force, Trubshaw joined Vickers Armstrong Ltd. in 1950 as an experimental test pilot primarliy concerned with the testing of large transport and bomber aircraft. In 1954, after serving as director of the French Air Force Test Pilot School, Turcat was appointed chief test pilot of Nord Aviation.

When England and France decided to undertake the joint development of a supersonic transport airplane, Trubshaw and Turcat were chosen to develop and carry out the flight test program of the aircraft which became known as Concorde. The test program involved the use of eight Concorde airplanes and 5500 test flight hours and resulted in extensive redesign and improvements required for Mach 2 cruising speeds.

For their test work on Concorde, Trubshaw and Turcat were awarded the Harmon Trophy. The excellence of their test work and their contribution to the advancement to aviation is attested to by the fact that Concorde completed the first 22 years of scheduled airline service without a significant mishap or problem.
Elected to the International Aerospace Hall of Fame 1998