Originally Posted by
Jofm5
1) I adore the lady in many ways but I would imagine she was far from perfect with the challenges that had to be overcome.
She was pretty well 'state-of-the-art', really.
And through the long proto-preprod-prod developent cycle, I would say she was as near 'perfect' as we could make her at the time she went into service.
Maybe I should mention that in 'my field' (automatic flight control systems) the 'state-of-the-art' was changing significantly almost from year to year.
I would imagine the positives way out weighed any negatives. So what were the downsides for the Capt/FO/FE that were most discussed - was anything done to alleviate these is design/Pre-Production and what if any gripes made it through to production.
I'd be interested too.
2) For each of you (I would imagine they would be different based upon your skill set) what were the biggest challenges you personally had to overcome when switching to/designing our iconic aircraft.
LOL.....
Being Dutch, I had to convert my school French to engineering French on the one hand, and 'argot' on the other hand, while at the same time getting familiar with the way 'my' firm was implementing the latest developments in electronics.
Finally some more anecdotes from LandLady and Concorde Trivia from M2 would be good.
Has anybody here read "The Soul of a New Machine", by Tracy Kidder?
It's a pity no book quite like that has ever been written about Concorde... and I can't imagine it could be written today. Too many of the 'actors' have retired, or are not there anymore....
Maybe somebody ambitious could use this thread as a base, and do some interviews, and write "Concorde, From Then to Now" ?
CJ