Nick Thomas
... I wondered how you could chose to fly in Track instead of Heading i.e. did you say have to push the button quickly twice to get the track mode?...
We should establish which
button you mean, because there are two
buttons, both associated with TRK/HDG, either of which might be the one you are referring to.
On the auto flight control panel there is a white push-button switch engraved with the letters
TRK and
HDG.
Photo courtesy of, and copyright to, Gordon Roxburgh, from his ConcordeSST.Com website.
When pressed, this will initiate the acquisition and subsequent hold of the preselected track or heading selected on the three digit counter beneath it (and repeated on the track/heading pointer on the HSI). This switch will illuminate White when this mode is engaged.
Photo courtesy of, and copyright to, Gordon Roxburgh, from his ConcordeSST.Com website.
So what determines whether this mode, if selected, would follow TRK or HDG? Beneath the three digit counter is a combined push-pull and rotary control, beside which is marked
HDG PULL and
TRK PUSH.
The rotary function of this control altered the reading in the counter and the Push/Pull function determined whether the entered number was a TRK demand or a HDG demand. With TRK/HDG illuminated on the push-button control, and with the rotary control pulled out (and thus in HDG mode), this little rotary control was effectively the steering wheel for the aircraft.
Why HDG and not TRK? Mainly because nearly all ATC vectors are HDG vectors. In practice TRK was rarely used, with the aircraft either in HDG or INS.
Best Regards
Bellerophon