Switches help passengers "go" supersonic

Concorde passengers will be relieved to know that WASP reverted to some of its original engineering skills to provide some very important switches.

As Concorde takes to the skies again with the resumption of its supersonic transatlantic flights, passengers will be relieved to know that WASP reverted to some of its original engineering skills to provide some very important switches.

Having supplied the avionics industry with switches for decades, the south coast company was delighted to be asked to design and build toilet flush switches to match the efficiency and design of the world's most famous airliner.

Using a microswitch as the activating mechanism, WASP's engineers then built it into a depressed pushbutton switch cover which they moulded in aluminium and then mounted into a matching matt-finished bezel.

Concorde's washrooms also have another WASP product of an entirely different kind created with the latest laser etching equipment which was originally designed for prototyping membranes and touchscreens.

Thanks to its ability to computerise the laser settings to give different depths of etch, WASP was asked to supply mirrors with the Concorde logo etched into them.

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