The famous Concorde sim at Filton has finally been decommissioned and loaned to the Brooklands museum. A team of contractors started to decomission the sim on Fri 13th and spent two weeks (except Sundays) on the job. Prior to this, a lot of work was done to install a large roller door in the wall of the building to allow the sim to be extracted from its location in two halves.

All the hydraulic parts of the sim were scrapped, as were the miles of wiring, some of its non-moving systems and the outer portions of the cockpit base that had railings attached. The umbilical cords were also cut off and scrapped. The SPX500 image generator, projectors and 150 degree mirror (dome) were shipped to Heathrow for use as spares on BA simulators currently in use. (£3million technology from its upgrade back in 1988 still in use!). The sim cockpit section was split into two and will be re-joined prior to display.

The signed and framed photos and other artifacts from the corridor within the simulator complex have been given to Oliver Deardon, ultimately for display alongside 216 at Concorde at Filton.

It has been loaned to the Brooklands Museum and will never work again.

Credit (words and images): Andrew Kayes.

In pictures: Loaded onto HGV in two parts: click on images to load