Concorde At Brooklands Museum : Diary

Restoration Diary

Restoring the Engine Air Intakes

Student and staff volunteers from the School of Engineering , Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering courses at the University of Surrey (UniS) are working on refurbishing both Engine Air Intakes for Concorde 202. Further details can be found at www.surrey.ac.uk/concorde


One of Concorde 202's intakes pictured at Filton in early 2004 prior to removal before transit to Brooklands. Note the primer applied to protect the intakes whilst in storage in the hanger.	Both intakes were moved under cover at Brooklands so that the UniS volunteers could begin work on restoring them prior to reattaching to the aircraft.

With assistance from museum volunteers Nik Reid and Martin Strick the number 1/2 intake joins the number 3/4 inside for restoration to begin.	Looking inside the number 3/4 intake shows the amount of grime and grease we have had to remove before any assessment of the condition of the structure could be made. Some limited corrosion has been found, but it is fairly minor and treatable.

Taking a break inbetween intake movements!	Once the intakes had been cleaned up the preperation for painting and reassembly could begin. Notice the missing inspection panels which we will be fabricating in the workshops at the University in Guildford.

Volunteers Dr Alan Packwood, Kirty Mistry, Kerstin Huber and Iacapo Burtucelli (inside the intake!) continuing to sand down the number 1/2 intake on a cold Saturday in December 2004.	Several smaller parts from the intakes are being restored in the University of Surrey workshops. Here UniS volunteers Zen Cassinath and Clay Ludik unload a front intake ramp.

Before Painting of the upper and inside surfaces of the intakes could begin an Alocrom solution is applied to protect the exposed aluminium from corrosion.

During April 2005 UniS volunteers start to apply the 2/3 coats of green aircraft primer to the intakes prior to topcoating with Concorde white later in the spring.

The final tin of original 'Concorde White' paint is opened and applied to the intakes in early May 2005. 3 coats of the paint will be applied by roller to achieve the desired result.

The number 4 intake is pictured after its first coat of white has been applied to the outer surfaces. Fine sanding will be carried out between coats to achieve the best possible paint finish.

Before they could be reattached to the intake the 4 spill doors had to be reassembled and painted

Once reattached the spill doors have been held in place by a metal bar through their mechanism to prevent them extending to their fully open position. This is exactly the same procedure as used by BA for all their retired Concorde Aircraft.

Both forward and rear variable geometry ramps have had to be reassembled and painted before they can be fitted later in 2006. Here student volunteers Kirsten and Mike study the maintenance manual for instructions on fitting an actuator to a front ramp.

Several ramps required fairings and other parts to be attached before they could be painted. Pictured above, Andrew attaches the fairings to a rear ramp.

All the front ramps have had rubber shims attached before fitting. These provide a seal between the intake wall and ramp so that the ramp works effectively with no air bleeding in behind the ramp, thus reducing effectivness.

Both intakes were fitted by a team of volunteers from BA Engineering in January 2006.

Both intakes were fitted successfully enabling restoration of their undersides, ramp fitting and snagging to be continued over the coming months.

Finally the students were themselves able to fit the final two centre pins that hold the intake onto the wing, as well as the 4 safety bolts onto the front fixing points.