-
First flight of the Bristol Brabazon
The first flight of the Bristol Type 167 Brabazon took place at Filton on this day. -
First flight of the Bristol Type 173
First flight of the Bristol Type 173 tandem rotor helicopter, at Filton. The 173 was the wortds first twin engine twin rotor helicopter. -
world altitude record
Bristol test pilot Walter Gibb sets world altitude record in a Bristol Olympus-powered Canberra. A height of 63,668 ft (19,406 m) is reached on a flight from Filton. -
Bristol cars win at Le Mans
In the 1954 Le Mans race, all three Bristol 450 cars take first, second and third positions. The Bristol team is awarded the team prize. -
Bristol cars win at Le Mans
For the second year in a row, all three Bristol 450C cars take first, second and third position in their class in the 1955 Le Mans race. The Bristol team is awarded the team prize. -
First flight of the Bristol Type 188
First flight of the Bristol Type 188 high speed research aircraft. -
First flight of the first British Concorde, 002
The first British Concorde, 002, made its first flight from Filton on this date. It landed at Fairford, which is where the flight test centre was based. It pilot was Brian Trubshaw, the co-pilot was John Cochrane and the flight engineer was Brian Watts. -
British Concorde prototype goes supersonic for the first time
Concorde 002 (first UK prototype, G-BSST) reaches Mach 1 for the first time -
Launch of Prospero satellite
The first (and only) British satellite to be launched by a British rocket was launched on this day, from Woomera in Australia. The job of the Bristol designed and built satellite was to test the effects of space on communications satellites. It is still in low earth orbit today. -
Launch of Ariel 4
The Bristol-designed and built ionospheric research satellite Ariel 4 (also known as UK 4) was launched on this date, by an American rocket, from Vandenberg Air Force Base. -
First flight of first pre-production Concorde
The first pre-production Concorde, 01, made its first flight from Filton on this date. -
First flight of first British full production Concorde
The first British full production Concorde, 204 G-BOAC, makes its first flight at Filton. -
British Airways receive their first Concorde
British Airways receive their first Concorde, 206 G-BOAA -
First Concorde commercial flight
Concorde entered commercial service on this date, when both British Airways and Air France flew Concordes to Washington Dulles Airport, from London and Paris respectively. Both Concordes touched down at the time, on each parallel runway. -
First flight of the last Concorde
The last Concorde built, 216, makes its maiden flight from Filton. -
Fastest transatlantic crossing by Concorde
A British Airways Concorde makes the fastest Trans-Atlantic crossing from west to east, New York to London was made by Concorde in 2 hours and 56 minutes. -
Flyby of Halleys Comet
Bristol-built space vehicle Giotto achieves its mission - a close flyby of Halley Comet. The it was the first space vehicle to provide close-up images of a comet nucleus, the first to return from interplanetary orbit to perform an Earth fly-by, and the first to be reactivated from hibernation mode. -
First Flight of Airbus A320
The Airbus A.320 airliner made its first flight from Toulouse on this date. The wings of the first few hundred A320s were built at Filton. The A320 was the world's first airliner with fully computerized fly-by-wire controls. -
First Flight of Airbus A340
The Airbus A.340 wide-body airliner made its first flight from Toulouse on this date. The Airbus A.340 was the largest airliner to be built outside the USA. -
Last Concorde flight
The last ever flight by a Concorde was made on this date, when the last Concorde built was flown to Filton for preservation. -
First flight of the Airbus A380
The Airbus A.380 makes its maiden flight from Toulouse. -
First A400M wings delivered
The first set of wings for the Airbus A400M are delivered from Filton to Seville in Spain. They are flown out in an Airbus Beluga aircraft. -
First flight of the Airbus A400M
The Airbus A400M makes its maiden flight from Toulouse. The wings, which are carbon fibre reinforced plastic, are made at Filton. -
Centenary of aircraft industry in Bristol
The centenary of the Filton Bristol company celebrated. The first aircraft design and manufacturing facility in the world to be in continuous operation for 100 years, the site is now occupied by Airbus, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, MBDA and GKN.
