SA. Orphan again.

Former Concorde flight engineer Ugo VENCHIARUTTI, alias "Totor" has left us.

Here in the cockpit of a C160 Transall. ©/ Venchiarutti Family Collection.

Here is a quick summary of his life from his granddaughters and Pierre Grange, president of APCOS.

Ugo was born in 1928, in Osoppo, Italy, and moved to France at the age of 1 with his father Tomaso, a mason, his mother Isolina and his brother Jean.

Passionate about aviation, after his studies certificate, he will scour the booksellers on the banks of the Seine, take evening classes, with one goal: to fly!
He entered SNCAC*, as an apprentice and after 3 years, graduated with a fitter / toolmaker's CAP (French degree) at 16 years old.
It was around this time that he was nicknamed "Totor" (Ugo) a nickname he would keep for the rest of his life.
As a true autodidact, he will have the chance to meet extraordinary people who will accompany him throughout his journey.
Thanks to Lucien Coupet, he became a flight engineer at Toussus le Noble.
In August 1949, SNCAC closed and he joined CEV (France, Tests flight centre) at the end of the year (for 25 years).
In 1959, certified MNE (Mécanicien Navigant d’Essais, Tests flight engineer) at EPNER, he was assigned to Brétigny.
He learns to fly on SV 4 Stampe
In 1966 he was assigned to the Concorde program.
Conveying 02 to Orly: a lot of dismantled equipment including anti-skid box, reverses, not too much fuel. Crew: J. Franchi, G. Defer, C. Durand, and "Totor". On landing, there was a big storm on the ground, despite a straightforward and short touchdown, and to avoid going off at the end of the runway, Franchi took the last exit slip but could not avoid rolling in the dirt and then getting back on the TWY. In the parking lot: 5 tires out of 8 burst, plus 1 front tire.

* SNCAC = National company of aeronautical constructions of the Centre.

Between May 28, 1969 and March 30, 1973 He performed 31 CEV test flights aboard Concorde 001 F-WTSS.

Between August 3, 1973 and May 26, 1982 he will perform 339 flights on the following planes: F-WTSA, F-WTSB, F-WTSC, F-BVFA, F-BVFD, F-BTSC, F-WJAN, and the F-BTSD by performing flights: test, demonstration, ferry and will actively participate in certification flights.

From Toulouse to the other side of the world…

He notably participated in the famous extreme cold tests in Fairbanks and Anchorage in February 1974, through other tests in Caracas, Libreville, Bordeaux, Dallas, Paris, Washington, Dakar, Rio , Miami, Marseille, Boston, Bahrain, Prestwick, Brétigny, Tangier, Singapore, Manila, Hong Kong, Seoul, London, Montpellier, Bodo, Jakarta, Perpignan, or Casablanca.

We did not have the chance to know Mr. Venchiarutti personally, but he knew our SA very well...

In the middle, returning from a Concorde test flight. ©/Venchiarutti Family Collection

Below, we will limit ourselves to retracing the 90 flights made on our plane.

Among others, here are the two remarkable dates in which he participated :

September 26, 1973. First transatlantic crossing between Washington and Orly in a supersonic with 32 guests, in 3 hours and 33 minutes of flight.

June 17, 1974. First double crossing Boston-Paris-Boston, take-off is synchronized with the one of a Boeing B747 which provides the Paris-Boston link, the two planes meet during the outward flight, and after a stopover of nearly one hour in Paris, SA arrives as it approaches Boston more than 5 minutes before the Jumbo.

©/ Venchiarutti Family Collection

To know all the other Concorde flights of Mr Ugo VENCHIARUTTI the only reference is the "Borentin" or the "Small encyclopedia of French Concorde flights" by Philippe BORENTIN or his website : http://lesvolsdeconcorde.com

We partner with:

His beloved wife, Denise,

His daughter Chantal,

His grands daughters Aurélia and Elodie,

His grandsons, Bruno and Julien

And his 4 great-grandchildren, Océane, Mélina, Lino and Côme,

And his friends with equally legendary journeys,

Let's say goodbye to an exceptional man whose memory will live on forever.

Our thanks to Pierre Grange, Philippe Borentin and the Venchiarutti family for their help in making this tribute possible.