Aerospace Bristol, Filton
British Concordes were assembled at Filton, partner to the French line at Toulouse. Concorde Alpha Foxtrot is on show.
The types
Aérospatiale aircraft you can see
| Type | First flew | Built | UK museums |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aérospatiale Puma & Super Frelon | 1965 | ~940 | 6 |
| Aérospatiale Gazelle & Alouette | 1967 | ~3,000 | 10 |
| Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde | 1969 | 20 | 7 |
| Agusta A109 & the civil twin helicoptersA109A, MD902 Explorer, SA365N Dauphin, Bell 214ST | 1971 | many hundreds | 4 |
The firm
Aérospatiale in brief
Concorde was a joint programme with the British Aircraft Corporation. Sud Aviation had begun the Gazelle helicopter in 1966. Under a February 1967 Anglo-French agreement, Westland built Gazelles for British forces, 262 in all. The Puma also served with the RAF. Concorde first flew from Toulouse in 1969. Aérospatiale’s A300 work led to Airbus, and it also built the Ariane launchers.
In 1992 its helicopter division merged with Germany’s DASA to form Eurocopter. In 1999 the rest became Aérospatiale-Matra. In 2000 that merged with DASA and CASA to form EADS, now Airbus.
Where to go
Museums holding Aérospatiale aircraft
| Museum | Aérospatiale types | Adult entry | Airframes | Headline exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fleet Air Arm MuseumYeovil, Somerset | 3 | £21 | 97 | Concorde 002 (G-BSST), the first British-assembled Concorde, which made her maiden flight from Filton in 1969 and now headlines a hall of… |
| The Helicopter MuseumWeston-super-Mare, Somerset | 3 | £15 | 108 | G-LYNX, the modified Westland Lynx that took the absolute helicopter world speed record (249.09 mph) in 1986 and holds it still; parked… |
| Army Flying MuseumStockbridge, Hampshire | 2 | £18 | 43 | Middle Wallop's Army Flying Museum covers everything the Army has flown from observation balloons to Apaches, with superb dioramas and a… |
| Farnborough Air Sciences Trust MuseumFarnborough, Hampshire | 2 | Free | 16 | FAST at Farnborough guards the birthplace of British aviation science — Cody, the RAE, wind tunnels — with sit-in Harrier, Puma and Lynx… |
| Newark Air MuseumNewark, Nottinghamshire | 2 | £12.50 | 95 | Vulcan XM594, with cockpit tours occasionally given by former Vulcan aircrew, which reviewers describe with the reverence normally… |
| Royal Air Force Museum MidlandsShifnal, Shropshire | 2 | Free | 78 | TSR-2 XR220, one of two survivors of the most gifted aircraft Britain ever cancelled, sharing floor space with the stainless-steel… |
| South Yorkshire Aircraft MuseumDoncaster, South Yorkshire | 2 | £7.50 | 109 | Doncaster's South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum sprawls across the old RAF Doncaster site: dozens of airframes and helicopters, strong… |
| Ulster Aviation Society (Maze Long Kesh)Lisburn, County Antrim | 2 | By appointment | 63 | The Shorts family — SC.1 vertical take-off research aircraft included — plus a Buccaneer, Phantom, Wildcat, and a newly arrived AV-8… |
| Aerospace BristolBristol, Gloucestershire | 1 | £20 | 14 | Concorde G-BOAF, the last Concorde ever built and the last ever to fly (26 November 2003, into Filton, forever). You can board her.… |
| Boscombe Down Aviation CollectionSalisbury, Wiltshire | 1 | £13.50 | 49 | The Lancaster cockpit reproduction tour, and a test-and-evaluation pedigree collection you can physically inhabit rather than admire… |
| Brooklands MuseumWeybridge, Surrey | 1 | £24–£27 | 32 | Concorde G-BBDG, the British production-test aircraft, bookended by a Wellington bomber dredged out of Loch Ness in 1985 and the only… |
| East Midlands AeroparkDerby, Leicestershire | 1 | £5 | 35 | East Midlands Aeropark: a Vulcan, Nimrod R1 and Buccaneer parked on grassy mounds overlooking EMA's runway — half museum, half premier… |
| IWM DuxfordCambridge, Cambridgeshire | 1 | £29 | 146 | Concorde 101 (G-AXDN), the pre-production development aircraft and the fastest Concorde of them all at Mach 2.23 — plus an SR-71A… |
| National Museum Of FlightNorth Berwick, East Lothian | 1 | £15 | 47 | Concorde G-BOAA, which flew British Airways' first commercial supersonic service in 1976 and arrived here by barge and giant road-crawl… |
| North East Land, Sea and Air MuseumsSunderland, Tyne and Wear | 1 | £7.50 | 46 | NELSAM in Sunderland mixes Vulcan XL319 (flew in when the airport still existed), a Pucará from the Falklands, trams, buses and a… |
| Runway Visitor Park, Manchester AirportAltrincham, Greater Manchester | 1 | £6–£15 | 5 | Concorde G-BOAC, British Airways' flagship (the 'OAC' registration was no accident), enthroned in her own glass hangar with tours from… |
| South Wales Aviation MuseumBarry, Vale of Glamorgan | 1 | £10 | 73 | The resident Harrier and a growing VC10/Tornado-era collection, most with steps and open canopies. Kids exit wearing thousand-yard grins. |
Questions
Frequently asked
Who built Concorde?
Aérospatiale (originally Sud Aviation) and the British Aircraft Corporation, as a joint Anglo-French programme.
Why do British museums have French helicopters?
Under a 1967 agreement, Westland built Gazelles in Britain, and the RAF also flew the Puma. The Army retired its last Gazelles in October 2023.
Does Aérospatiale still exist?
No. It became Aérospatiale-Matra in 1999 and part of EADS, now Airbus, in 2000.