Concorde

Concorde was an aeronautical icon of the late 20th Century; the only way to travel greater than the speed of sound across the Atlantic. A hugely ambitious design at the time is reflected in its beautiful delta wing and its arrow like appearance. There was nothing else like it, a real stand out at any air show and the envy of every passenger at the airport. Just catching sight of one of the 7 Concordes at London Heathrow made you feel excited and evoked feelings of pride. Not a big aircraft by today’s standards, Concorde appeared relatively small when sat next to, say a 747. My model sits 110.4 cm long which is a scale of 1:56. It is made up of 2,506 bricks. It features fully retractable landing gear. I intend to include 2 display options; one for take-off and landing with the nose section dropped and one for supersonic flight with the nose section out straight (as pictured).

Concorde has always been a huge passion of mine. When I was a child, I remember listening out for the distinctly noisy engines as it took off from London Heathrow. Staring out of my bedroom window I would often try to catch a glimpse of it on the horizon between the small buildings. I had many Lego sets as a child and naturally the idea of making a Concorde made its way into my consciousness when I was about 8. I remember trying to turn some Legoland Space models into a Concorde model but failing miserably. 

Fast-forward a few decades and the idea returned to me. At first, naively, I thought this project would be challenging but more than possible. It quickly became apparent that achieving a cylindrical form, that tapers - all the way round - was going to be more than a challenge! The engineering masterpiece of the real Concorde is impressive in terms of functional space-saving design. For my creation, the 2 biggest challenges were the drop-nose and the rear undercarriage. After many, many attempts to produce a good-looking drop-nose that moved up and down I decided to put that part of the build to one side and focus on the delta wings. The engines are attached to a weight bearing platform that runs along the width between each engine. The wings are built on this platform and the fuselage sits in the centre on top of it. The underside has reversed bricks peppered along the bottom with curved tiles attached to plates.

Back to the drop-nose. To overcome the challenges, I eventually decided on a 2-piece display system. The nose section would be interchangeable - one for super-sonic flight and one take-off / land. Not necessarily what I wanted but my desire to achieve an aerodynamic cone was more important to me. The drop-nose section is still under development and I plan to share this update in the near future. 

As I looked back at the memories and excitement that Concorde created, I believe this creation would make an equally exciting Lego set. To me, Concorde is an important part of our aeronautical heritage. It was not very accessible to most - something you might only see on the television. A stand out masterpiece that should be celebrated and childhood memories rekindled. To share this idea has been my passion for the last few years and I hope everyone young and old will join me on this journey. 

Thank you.