Originally Posted by
Nick Thomas
I have yet another couple of questions and I hope all you Concorde experts don't mind me taking up your valuable time.
In my case, my time is no longer THAT valuable, being retired for several years !
And I enjoy answering those questions,
if and
whenever I can!
As regards fuel burn: was there any difference between each indvidual airframe and if so was it significant enough to be considered when calculating the trip fuel?
There WERE differences... after its misadventure at Dakar, F-BVFD definitely consumed more fuel, although IIRC he was already reputed as a gas guzzler even before that incident.
It was one reason why, when Air France withdrew an aircraft from service, Fox Delta was the first one to go.
Also, due to the gradual improvements in production methods, and minor redesign, the last British production Concorde, G-BOAF, was about a ton lighter than the first one (G-BOAC). While the differences weren't huge, they were noticeable.
Also did different engines also have slightly different fuel consumption?
Of course... but there I have no figures at all, and I doubt the differences, evened out over four engines, were really significant.
Whilst on the subject of engines, I just wondered how many were required to keep the BA Concorde fleet flying? What sort of useful life could be expected from the engines?
Interesting question, and I hope somebody will come in and answer it.
According to 'Wikipedia', 67 engines were built, which would mean,
in theory, 64 engines for 16 aircraft and 3 spares....
In practice, of course, fewer aircraft flew at any one time, so the statistics are different, but even so, a lot of engine swapping went on over the years.
As to the MTBO, I don't know... it's not my field at all....