Brian Owen Walpole OBE,

FRAeS The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows ...

is a pilot who was the General Manager with responsibility for

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

with

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...

. Walpole started his career in aviation by joining the RAF in 1952. In his four years service he served as an operational fighter squadron pilot, flying Meteors and was also a member of the Fighter Command formation aerobatic team, giving displays all over Europe. In 1956 he joined

BOAC British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passi ...

, which was later to merge with BEA and become British Airways. Initially as a First Officer on the

Argonaut The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo'', n ...

fleet and later he was made the first training co-pilot in BOAC and in 1971 he was promoted to command becoming Fleet Captain of the 707 Fleet in 1972. In 1975 he commanded the

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...

aircraft used for the Royal Tour to the Far East which Her Majesty the Queen undertook and a year later he transferred to the Concorde Fleet. In 1977, he commanded the Concorde which flew the Queen from

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and the first supersonic commercial service from London to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. His achievements were recognised in 1978 when he was awarded the Britannia Trophy, presented by HRH Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales (now

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

), for his work on the launch of the Concorde New York service. In 1982 he became the General Manager of the Concorde Division at BA and was responsible for all aspects of British Airways Concorde operations, from marketing and advertising to control of the fleet's day-to-day operations. His achievements in aviation were again recognised in 1983 when he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows ...

and two years later he was granted the Freedom of the City of London. In 1988 he was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in The Queen's Birthday Honours List. In July 1988 Walpole was grounded by British Airways for landing a transatlantic Concorde at Heathrow with 25 minutes of reserve fuel remaining, instead of 30 minutes of reserve fuel. Walpole had the option to divert to Shannon airport to refuel, but had not done so. He

barrel roll A barrel roll is an aerial maneuver in which an airplane makes a complete rotation on both its longitudinal and lateral axes, causing it to follow a helical path, approximately maintaining its original direction. It is sometimes described as a ...

ed the

during testing, along with another test pilot, Jean Franchi.Television documentary
Concorde Captain talks about Barrel Roll
on YouTube.

References

External links

Brian Walpole Official WebsiteBritish AirwaysRoyal Aeronautical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walpole, Brian British aviators Royal Air Force officers Officers of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Concorde pilots Living people Year of birth missing (living people)