BEags: If it's 177 tonnes for that day's OAT and QNH, but with a 12 kt headwind, how much lower for an 8 kt tailwind? What ballpark difference would we expect?
Incidentally, for those who doubt it, the Structural weight limit for take off is 185,070 kg and for taxying is 186,880 kg.
The accident report suggests that the aircraft taxied out at 186,757 - 87,251 kg, and took off at 185,757 - 186,251 kg, though these are guesstimates, based on what the two Air France Concorde chaps producing the report for the magistrate regard as unduly optimistic estimates of baggage and pax weights.
Covenant: With regard to the trace of control column inputs, the idea that all the +s represent stick forward seems bizarre - do the traces show that they pushed forward to rotate (it would be a neat trick)?
Also, the AoA was held to a reasonable level (without much stick input at all), so the subject of stick inputs is hardly relevant - 2° either way hardly represents the Captain pushing forward to keep the nose down (nor pulling back to keep it up) terribly hard. Right up until the final turn, where the speed started to decay (from 208 kts down to 181, and later much lower), the AoA went up and the aircraft's rate of climb began to increase markedly, the Captain was flying it with great delicacy, nursing the aircraft into a gentle climb straight ahead. The lack of 'fighting to keep the AoA down' may also be indicated by the fact that the pilots' had wound in significant nose up trim however, and did nothing to select more nose-down trim.
Also, while the co-pilot kept shouting for airspeed, the captain kept it pegged at 199-211 kts (precision flying, under the circumstances), and the aircraft gently but steadily climbed to 182 ft as it crossed the motorway, and to 300 ft as it began the final turn.
Would you guys have done that, or would you have stayed at 100 ft and tried to get closer to the Vzrc speed as you belted for Le Bourget?
gear up:
two engines 262 kts, three engines 193 kts
gear down:
two engines 300 kts, three engines 205 kts
VMCA:
three engines 132 kts
two engines 157 kts
Did they begin turning for Le Bourget too late (forcing them into turning more tightly, with more angle of bank, than was perhaps wise)? Would you have begun turning earlier (even before crossing the motorway, perhaps turning to intercept the Le Bourget extended centreline, rather than flying a mile beyond it?) would the aircraft have departed in a gentler, faster but much lower turn?
I hear what you've all said about Delta wings stalling, but looking at the altitude/airspeed/AoA traces you can see that the aircraft effectively stalled and spun once airspeed decayed/alpha increased beyond a certain critical point.
If I'm being over-simplistic or showing my PPL limitations, please educate me!