I’d like to add my regrets at Reg’s passing. In April 1969, I was a very junior press officer at BAC Filton, drafted in from my usual tasks at the Guided Weapons Division to be part of an ‘all hands’ team hosting the media for the UK Concorde first flight. I ended up looking after Reg and his camera/sound crew. It made my day, he was so helpful and professional. For many years after, he’d recognise me and stop for a natter at Farnborough, Le Bourget and the like. A really friendly, intelligent man.

Re post #70, I certainly remember Ferranti, having been employed by them from ’79 to ’94. Are you aware of any other British company that bought US defence/security interests and then discovered a massive circular fraud lay at the heart of the largest contract? A bit of a special case, perhaps.

However, and something you touched on in your post #27, in the current EADS/BAE Systems debate, I’ve so far seen no specific reference to the requirement for a US proxy board to be in place, comprising US citizens only, through which all US defence/security business had to be channelled. The so-called ‘special security agreement’ set up between the UK and US specifically to enable BAE Systems to acquire US assets may perhaps contain this requirement.

V1: re your original post, a couple of corrections.

De Havilland had no connection with the Concorde programme. The UK progenitor was the Bristol Type 223, which was renamed BAC 223 in 1963 when the UK aircraft industry was rationalised into two groups: British Aircraft Corporation included Bristol, Hawker Siddeley Group included De Havilland.

The drawing below, which I have posted before in a thread within Historic, was released by BAC in 1969 to illustrate the main similarities/differences between Concorde’s two immediate ancestors.