When Concorde took off from RAF Fairford on 9th April 1969, Captain Brian Trubshaw was at the controls. This historic occasion marked two significant milestones – one technological, the other personal: it was the maiden flight of Britain’s first supersonic passenger transport aircraft and for Trubshaw the crowning glory of his lifetime’s work as an experimental test pilot. His close involvement with the Concorde flight test programme saw him become a household name overnight.
Brian Trubshaw spent the whole of his career in aviation, first in the RAF then in experimental test flying. With Vickers-Armstrongs he tested the Viscount, Valiant, Vanguard, VC10 and Super VC10.
Throughout his distinguished career Brian had received many honours in recognition of his services to aviation. In 1948 he was awarded the MVO for service to the Sovereign in the King’s Flight; in 1964 he received the OBE and in 1970 a Companion of that order for his work on Concorde.
Brian retired from BAe in 1986 but his passion for aviation never ceased as he set up an aviation consultancy from his home in Gloucestershire until his death in March 2001.
