As engineering feats go, Concorde, with its aerodynamic shape and sweeping delta wings, will forever captivate the attention of aviation aficionados. Making the choice of Aerospace Bristol for Sumitomo (SHI) Demag’s 2018 getActive on July 4th – with the opening address by Concorde pilot and record breaker Captain Tim Orchard – especially memorable for the 40+ plastic moulding guests.
Captivating the attention of the multi-generational plastics engineers, Captain Tim kicked off the meeting providing a insightful glimpse into his ‘office’ chauffeuring the rich and famous 60,000 feet high, and reaching Mach 2 – twice the speed of sound. Describing his job as a privilege, he recalled: “Every single time any of us got to fly Concorde we knew in our hearts we were doing something extremely special.”
In 1996, Tim co-piloted the fastest transatlantic flight – two hours and 52 minutes – from New York JFK to London Heathrow. As impressive at that was, Tim’s astonishing recollections of the innovation and creativity that went into Concorde, the concept of which was first conceived in 1956, involved 50,000 technicians, and was developed as part of a formal international treaty between Britain and France, resonated with the engineers in the audience.
The plane’s long nose constructed so it could droop on take-off and landing to improve the pilots’ view, the way in fuel was shifted between 13 tanks located around the aircraft in flight to compensate for the changes in the centre gravity, and the special heat shield visor needed as the nose heated to 127°C during supersonic flight, were just a handful of its iconic engineering attributes. “Back then there was no CAD design. We flew with 95% of the atmosphere below us. The plane’s fuselage expanded by 10 inches in flight due to friction heating. The crew used a calculator on board to check that Heathrow had done the fuel calculations accurately. And we performed 339 checks on starting the engines before taxying, which were always double checked,” noted Tim.
After 27 years, Concorde was withdrawn from service in 2003. However, getActive guests were able to step aboard Concorde Alpha Foxtrot: the last of the iconic supersonic passenger jets to be built and the last to fly. Knowledgeable engineers, some of whom were involved in Concorde’s development and maintenance, pointed out further features during private tours.
Jo Davis, Operations Director at technical moulding company Broanmain commented:“Not only did the talk by Captain Tim Orchard evoke so many emotions, it, alongside the tour of Concorde by the engineers, reminded me of how much ingenuity and tenacity was required for the Concorde project to succeed – particularly at that time in history. I believe this is particularly pertinent currently, with the technological advances leaping in all directions, and provides inspiration to ensure as an SME we keep not just up to date, but aim to think differently and secure original outcomes to these future challenges.”
Chris Brooks from Dolphin concurred saying: “The anecdotal style of the presentation from Captain Tim was every bit as cool as you’d expect from a renowned aviator and the tours of Concorde and the aviation museum were awe inspiring. A great mix of team building fun and useful industrial information exchange. I was especially interested in the discussions on Industry 4:0, as well as the trading challenges posed by Brexit, skills shortages and current ecological perceptions.”
Partners at the annual event also included the British Plastics Federation, Piovan, MouldShop, Sepro, Lawson Keys and Plastribution, with individual messages all centering on Getting Future Ready.
Reflecting on Industry 4:0, what it is and what it can offer moulders, Andrew Gibbons from Piovan commented: “It was great to be able to present to the delegates a real world example of a customer’s system, which follows the Industry 4.0 strategy and highlights the tangible benefits it brings to the customer’s operation. Having seen the presentation, two customers confirmed that they will install our WinFactory 4.0 software.” Designed to control all equipment, the innovative software collects up to two years of data, can measure energy consumption and helps to eliminate human production errors by collating raw data straight from the production floor.
Sumitomo (SHI) Demag’s presentation by MD Nigel Flowers also focused on practical machine connectivity solutions being rolled out by the company in the coming months, including MyConnect, LifeCycle Log and MySelfService. Skills and attracting new entrants, especially women, into plastics were also touched upon.
Nigel wrapped up saying: “During the day much of the talk centred on whether it would be feasible to revive supersonic travel. Concorde was the plane of the future: 50 years ago. And its legacy lives on. In order to be ‘Ready for the Future’, there are valuable lessons that we can learn from engineering triumphs like Concorde. Technology provides us with an awful lot of tools to make development faster and more predictable. Yet, we need to combine this with creative thought leaders drawing upon the UK’s long tradition of engineering and scientific innovation to meet our future industry challenges.”
