André Turcat: the test pilot who took Concorde supersonic

Herve Morvan, University of Nottingham Last year it was reported that a design for a successor to Concorde, which would fly between London and New York in one hour at more than 4.5 times the speed of sound, had been patented by Airbus. This would have been thrilling news to French test pilot André Turcat, …

Big is beautiful: why the A380 could still have a bright future

Demand for the Airbus A380 appears to have stalled, but it’s still the best Very Large Aircraft out there… The Airbus A380 is a marvel of technology; a majestic aircraft. It is beloved by passengers and it also is an environmental asset for airlines operating out of airports in built-up areas such as Heathrow with …

The IAT: Enabling Aerospace Research and Innovation for the Aerospace Sector in the UK

The global aerospace market is buoyant, to say the least. Over the next 20 years, the original equipment market is forecast to exceed $5trn globally, with services exceeding over $2trn. It is predicted that by 2033, 57,000 new fixed wing aircraft and 40,000 new helicopters will be required. The UK is at the forefront of …

Industry Insight: AGP Technology Showcase

This week (February 25th-26th) the Aerospace Growth Partnership (AGP) held its first ever Technology Showcase – “a unique event to articulate the plan to grow both the UK economy, and the UK share of the global aerospace market through investment in technology” (www.theengineer.co.uk). The University of Nottingham’s Institute for Aerospace Technology (IAT) was well represented …

Industry Insight: UK Government Backs Winning Industry

Newspaper headlines have long sounded the death-knell of British manufacturing. Nevertheless, recent government announcements are testimony to how wide of the mark these headlines have been. The aerospace industry of the United Kingdom is the second- or third-largest national aerospace industry in the world, depending upon the method of measurement. The industry employs around 113,000 people directly …