Supersonic hours

[OneMileHigh]

Now here's one to mess with the mind:

Concorde, all 16 of them, have between them chalked up more hours at supersonic speed than all the worlds supersonic aircraft that have ever been, put together.

Now that is very impressive.....

But is it true.

Over to you lot.........:-D

[Loc-out]

Interesting but useless information. :)

[Bellerophon]

Hmm…

[quote]all 16 of them<hr></blockquote>

Why not include the supersonic hours flown by the other four aircraft as well? :)

[Check 6]

Does this include the previously classified hours flown by the SR-71 (including the other versions such as the A-12 and YF-12)?

[ 23 January 2002: Message edited by: Check 6 ]</p>

[gravity victim]

...and don't forget Chuck Yeager's 30 secs! <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

[OneMileHigh]

Ok LOC OUT, it is trivia, but hey, half the threads on this forum is pure triv. I happen to think that this is interesting trivia, and if true then impressive trivia.

Maybe some Concorde Jocks can give an idea of the average Concorde flight time.

My hunch is that the basic statistic is true, even considering SR-71 time.....

[Drop and Stop]

From the <a href="http://www.britishairways.com/concorde/docs/facts/facts5.html" target="_blank">British Airways</a> web-site.

[quote] Since entering, commercial service, British Airways Concordes have operated almost 50,000 flights, travelling some 145 million miles and clocking up more than 145,000 flying hours - over 100,000 of them supersonically. <hr></blockquote>

and...

[quote] British Airways has clocked up more supersonic miles than all the world's Air Forces. <hr></blockquote>

[Bright-Ling]

I s'pose it is true if on the BA website!!

Seriously, there weren't lots of SR71's flying and I wager that they didn't fly on a daily basis.

Sure we will never know for definite given the security around the SR71 et al.

[Bright-Ling]

By the way.....if you want to know more about airframes etc see:

<a href="http://www.bird.ch/bharms/asr_sh00.htm" target="_blank">Aircraft census</a>

..and click the concorde link.

You will see that out of 20 airframes, a few are pre-prod models etc (which I guess had minimal/no supersonic hours??)

I guess that is why the stats are based on 16 a/c.

[Bright-Ling]

Edited due to finger trouble!

[ 24 January 2002: Message edited by: Bright-Ling ]</p>

[twistedenginestarter]

One wonders where they possibly could get such a statistic from. If a few blokes start taking down numbers in Greece and get banged up I can't believe the world's airforces are going to email BA with their latest supersonic hours tally.

What's behind this is how truly wonderful Concorde is. Other aircraft can do some of what it can do but none can do it so routinely and continuously - not to mention first class standards including fine wine and food.

The SR71 is amazing but so expensive even the Americans can't afford to fly it.

Concorde was a great feat, even if it didn't quite hit the mark.

Be proud.

[OneMileHigh]

Thanks Twisted, I think you've hit the nail on the head, and I suppose that was the reason I put up the topic in the first place.

Cheers to all Concorde supporters :-0

[hot 'n' heavy]

Was the SR 71 operated by USAF or the CIA? I thought the pilot of the downed U2 was a CIA man?!?

[willbav8r]

U2's and A12's (SR71 predecessor) were flown by the CIA. SR71 flew for the Air Force beginning in 1964 (I think). Finally retired in 1990's. Francis Gary Powers was indeed flying on behalf of the CIA.

If you ever buy a book on aviation, make it Sled Driver by Brian Shul.

I would bet that F4's, 15's or 16's have amassed more time M1 plus than anything else??

[John Farley]

If anyone is interested in SR-71 stats including fleet flying hours in great detail, then get hold of Paul Crickmore's book Lockheed SR-71. Osprey Publishing Ltd ISBN 1 84176 098 6

Paul is acknowleged by the Skunkworks as the leading historian of the type, Bob Gilliland who did the first flight is very impressed with Paul's work

[VnV2178B]

According to BAe (or whatever they are this week). .prototypes F-WTSS has 254 supersonic hours and G-BSST 173. Pre-production models G-AXDN 217 and F-WTSA 280, which I make a total of 924.

any the wiser ?

. .VnV...

[Bally Heck]

I think the crux of this claim depends on the fact that most military jets have only a supersonic dash capability. Staying supersonic for more than a few minutes seriously depletes their fuel reserves which are not particularly generous in the first place.

Also there are few places for them to go and play at Mach 1 plus.

So the vast number of supersonic capable military jets spend little or no time in that part of their envelope. Whereas Concorde spends somewhere around 80% (at a guess) of its time supersonic, for hours at a time.

I would be prepared to believe that boast.

[OneMileHigh]

Ok, Here are some totally guesswork figures some that I would think underestimate the final answer.

If an assumption is made that each individual Concorde averages just one round trip a week scheduled, and during each round trip 4 hours are spent at supersonic speed that's 208 hrs supersonic per year per Concorde. 16 Concordes over 25 years amounts to 83,200 hours supersonic during the career so far of this brill' machine.

That's a lot of potentially underestimated hours, and doesn't include the pre-production machines or other non-scheduled flights. I think the original claim holds water.

[fantom]

Bally Heck:. .a bit harsh I feel, old bean. your 'facts':'..only dash capability..' and '...vast number..little or no time..' reveal you have only slight experience of the mil.not your fault but..... .I suggest there is a difference between sitting in the magnificent Concorde eating fois gras,working out one's expenses etc,etc, and being pursued by the enemy (real or exercise) whilst wearing a g-suit;oxy mask;air-vent suit;psp;bone-dome and/or immersion suit. then there is the matter of S+L vs max rate turning and the acquisiton of target(s)and escape.you properly mentioned the matter of fuel.I trust our magnificent men in big airways do not have to worry to the extent our lads do about fuel.. .it was a long time ago, my last adventure in that part of the envelope - as you call it,but being chased by two lightnings and a 104 at M1.8 does keep one on one's toes. and no fois gras either.... .by the way, the IR renewal was partly performed supersonic at medium level - about FL200. things change there. try it. <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">