Post #47 – The Lightning (Mk3) that once overtook Concorde was described as 'the best of the best' by Flt Lt Mike Hale at the roll-out ceremony for XR749 at Teeside Airport on September 28th 1995.....
Having made a few transatlantic crossings on Concorde as a pax, I was twice invited to spend some time on the flight deck.
Thus with stick time on the Mk3 & having enjoyed & observed the standard routine Concorde cruise parameters, it is impossible to believe that a Mk3 Lightning ever overtook a Concorde in normal cruise.
The Lightning Mk3 was fast and could accelerate well, but it had only just enough fuel to reach Mach2 on a carefully planned out and back flight.
Pilot’s Notes for the same fuel capacity, but smaller engined Mk1 quote a fuel consumption of 300lbs per minute, per engine, at a Mach 1.7 cruise. Full wing + ventral fuel at start-up is 7,284lbs Avtag.
Throwing in a lucky encounter with a tanker at toc may help a little – if the tanker AND CONCORDE routing are perfectly timed to allow our aviator in XR749 to make a crossing intercept & still have just enough fuel to safely rtb. An angled intercept & missile acquisition just maybe,
but not an overtake and wave as you pass Hale (hail?) manoeuvre.
But back to the real world of onboard fuel, for how many minutes could a Mk3 fly at Mach 2?
One minute, maybe two .... and to overtake a Concorde in cruise it needed Mach 2+.
This is another figment of imagination which has become more heroic with time....... Nonetheless a great and enjoyable tale.
The Lightning (Mk3) is a great hotrod in many ways, but it is severely fuel limited, rather than aerodynamically limited when operating at the higher Mach numbers.
Google to see this hotrod Lightning Mk3 picture ....... XR749 - Score Group PLC (gate guard), Glenugie Engineering Works, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire