Brabazon75

Thursday 5th - Sunday 29th September

Imagine an ocean liner soaring through the sky—a plane equipped with an on-board cinema, a cocktail bar, and a luxurious lounge, offering passengers the ultimate journey from London to New York. This was the ambitious vision behind the Bristol Brabazon when it took to the skies for the first time 75 years ago this September.

Visit Aerospace Bristol to find out more about the Brabazon and how its ground-breaking design and development at Filton paved the way for the legendary Concorde.

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On 4th September 1949, a small army of technicians swarmed Filton airfield, hundreds of cyclists gathered at vantage points, and around 10,000 more people arrived to witness the first flight of what promised to be a new era of passenger travel.

The Bristol Brabazon was an ambitious project, aiming to offer passengers greater luxury than any other modern aircraft. Featuring on-board cinemas, cocktail bars, lavish lounges, and separate sleeping quarters, the Brabazon was designed to be the ocean liner of the sky.

Despite its technical brilliance, the Brabazon was a commercial failure. By the time it was ready, the market for expensive luxury travel was shifting towards smaller airlines with high-density seating and lower fares.

However, the development of the Brabazon laid the groundwork for the Bristol Aeroplane Company’s eventual contract to build the world’s first supersonic passenger jet. The Brabazon Hangar and Filton Runway, specifically built for the aircraft, would later prove to be the ideal location for designing and building Concorde.