WG774

WG774 was the first of two Fairey Delta 2 research aircraft. Fairey test pilot Peter Twiss flew it for the first time on 6 October 1954. On its 14th flight, on 17 November 1954, a fuel collector tank collapsed and the engine flamed out. Twiss glided it to a dead-stick landing, and repairs kept it grounded for eight months.

On 10 March 1956 Twiss flew WG774 to a world air speed record of 1,132 mph, about Mach 1.73. The runs were timed by cameras at Chichester and Ford, with radar tracking from Ford and Sopley. The mark was 310 mph above the previous record and stood until December 1957.

From 1958 the aircraft flew research for the Royal Aircraft Establishment, including work on ejector nozzles. On 5 September 1960 it was flown to Bristol's works at Filton to be rebuilt as a testbed for Concorde's ogee wing. It gained a new wing, relocated intakes, a Rolls-Royce Avon RA.28, a modified fin and a longer undercarriage.

Renamed the BAC 221, it first flew in its new form on 1 May 1964 and reached about Mach 1.6. It flew research sorties until 1973 and then went on public display. It now stands at Yeovilton beside the British Concorde prototype it helped develop.

The BAC 221 is in Hall 4 alongside Concorde 002, so you can compare its ogee wing with the airliner it was built to help.