A. Russell; Designed the Concorde

LONDON â€”  Sir Archibald Russell, designer of the Concorde supersonic airliner, died a day before his 91st birthday, his family said.

Russell, who had been ill with cancer, died in his sleep Monday at his home in Cornwall, in western England.

A pioneer in aviation engineering, Russell led a team of engineers in the 1960s that produced the supersonic passenger airliner.

More than a quarter-century after its 1969 maiden flight, the Concorde is still the fastest--and one of the most expensive--ways to travel. It can fly at 1,350 m.p.h. and climb to 60,000 feet.

Many see the Concorde as the most elegant plane ever built, with its long, pointed nose and streamlined features. An Anglo-French project, the Concorde was built on the British side by Bristol Aircraft Ltd., of which Russell was deputy chairman.

Its creators realized early on that in order for a supersonic plane to carry anything and do much more than fly it would have to be huge.

“The loads were enormous and it had to be a very light structure, and Russell was the foremost structural man in world aviation,� his colleague Barrie Bailey-Watson said. “His great contribution was that he made aircraft lighter without sacrifice of safety.�

Russell was awarded a knighthood in 1972.

He is survived by his second wife, Judith, and two children.