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Old 12th Jun 2011, 15:26
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NW1
 
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What was the minimum maneuvering speed for Concorde
It was expressed in the flight manual as "Lowest Authorised" speed, Vla, and didn't depend on weight. 0-15,000' Vla=V2 or Vref as appropriate, 15,000'-41,000' Vla=250kias, 41,000'-60,000' Vla=300kias

Also what was the typical climb speed I'm guessing you mean rate of climb rather than IAS?
- At lift-off? From memory Vr was around 200kts, V2 around 220kts and if restricted to 250kts (way below min drag) you'd get pretty poor rates of climb - about 1000fpm if you were lucky and IIRC - you'd quickly want to lower the nose, just barely climb and get her up to 400kts when she'd really fly...
- Once 240 kts is achieved? see above - but once you got her up to min drag (about 400kts at MTOW) things went better - about 4000fpm without reheat
- At minimum maneuvering speed at typical takeoff weight? At V2 she staggered up due the the drag of the slender delta wing at low IAS - but climb performance on three engines (in contingency reheat) at V2/MTOW was better than a conventional subsonic jet on three / MTOW / V2 due to conservative certification requirements of the TSS
- At MTOGW? Does the above answer your Q? Happy to add more if you need...

Edited to add, most transatlantic takeoffs were at MTOW - around 185 tonnes - and due to the slender delta aerodynamics, weight didn't affect performance as much as a conventional wing anyway because induced drag was the bigger player at slow speeds - and I've just completely exhausted my very limited grasp of aerodynamic engineering!!
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