Who gets to fly Concorde?

[pete o'probe]

...When it flies again of course.

Are there strict rules on time in company, previous experience (with afterburners!), etc

Is it the BA equivalent of joining the Reds, ie selection by the club members if your face fits?

To put it bluntly, what chance of joining BA on Concorde fleet? I know ... dream on!

[Flying Leprechaun]

Think its only ex-RAF jet pilots are let lose on Concorde. If its the perfomance that appeals why not look at the bizjets eg Lear, Citation. Nearest thing to Concorde us mortals can get our paws on.
http://avanimation.avsupport.com/gif/Planerol.gif

[mad_jock]

Why would you want to?

I know it is sexy machine but lets face it you don't do many hours on the stick. And after seeing pictures of some of the cracks in the airframe it takes someone with alot of balls or utter faith in fracture mechanics to get in it.

I would much prefer 4 sectors a day working my backside off, in and about europe (at least for the first few years). Then go for the new boeing if it's got a front lounge instead of a cockpit like the 777 has.

MJ

[airforcenone]

Subject to the inevitable seniority, and it is a pretty senior aeroplane (in all seats), any BA pilot with a reasonable amount of experience can fly it. I think there used to be a requirement for an interview with the fleet management - not sure if that still applies.

The only down side is that as a FO, you're tied to the type for seven years so it doesn't allow a lot of flexibility career wise. Still, would be nice to have a go ...

[WOK]

Nope, no ex RAF pilots on the fleet at the mo.

No stick time? What????

I've only flown six types in BA, but I can promise you that you get vastly more 'stick time' on SSC than any other type in the fleet - the aeroplane is designed to be FLOWN. The FD and autopilot aren't even optional for departure/arrival(except autolands).

As for who flies it - the good and bad news is that it is, as stated, something of a sideways career move. As a First Officer you will have passed up a command to bid for the Conc and as a skipper you will have to commit the rest of your career to this a/c. This is too much for many given the very substantial pay cut entailed in flying it. The good news is that it's a very small fleet and, owing to the foregoing, everyone is there because they want to be.

Is it worth it?

Does Dolly Parton sleep on her back?

[mad_jock]

I stand corrected. But i though concorde had the lowest % air time of any fleet. I just presumed that was passed on to the pilots.

Hows things going getting the old ladys back in the air anyway?.
Did BA refit all the cabins as well during
the down time?

MJ

[gas path]

FYI
G-BOAF finally rolled out of the major dock today following the tank mods............and promptly into another hangar to be completed, where the fuel capacity, flow checks etc. will be carried out.
If all goes to plan will fly to BZZ early in july for flight tests.

[gordonroxburgh]

On the same topice as the 2 up front where do the Concorde FE's now come from?
Before I would have though they would have come up from the older 747's but there can't be that many aircraft in the BA fleet from them to graduate from anymore.

Are they now directly employed and trained specifically for Concorde? From waht I understand the Fe's johb on Cocnrode is MUCH different from that on another aircraft with the CofG work etc..

[Bellerophon]

gordonroxburgh

I see we’re on to the tricky questions now! :)

“Where do Concorde Flight Engineers come from?”

We’ve been wondering about that as well! The favourite theory is...er...no...perhaps I’d better not, most of them are bigger than me, one of them a lot bigger! :)

There are no direct entrant F/Es, nor are any envisaged. They are drawn from other BA fleets, in recent years mainly the DC10, L1011 and B747C. Provided they are not within seven years of their compulsory retirement date, they bid for vacancies on Concorde in seniority order, and if successful with their bid, are allocated a course.

All they have to do then is to pass it – naturally whilst helping along any pilots on the course with them (good CRM and all that) - and they are on the fleet!

This source will disappear within about a year, as you suggest, and so to ensure that enough experienced F/Es are available on the fleet for the foreseeable future, their numbers have been steadily increased over the past few years, and are currently estimated to last the next 10 to 15 years.

The job is different and very demanding, but they all seem to love it! As WOK has said, everyone who is on the fleet is there because they want to be, and that makes for a fantastic working atmosphere.

Spare a thought for the last two F/Es who passed the ground school and simulator course, but are still waiting to fly on the aircraft!

[gordonroxburgh]

Well maybe in 10 years time which I get fed up with my broadcast engineering career I could try my hand as an FE.....as I do know just a little bit about concorde..I think!!!

Hopefully the 2 new FE will get their chance very shortly!!

I wonder how it will be decided who gets to fly the first new flights or is there a seniority structure in the Dept already? AF has done pretty well with all their flighst and spread out who got to fly to keep everyone up to speed.

I have to admit that it is the FE's that I admire as they are the guys, IMO, that really know the aircrafts complex systems inside and out and know what it can do technicallydo, where as the 2 in the front seats know what it can aerodynamically do. This is not in anyway to put down the 2 in the front, if anything this adds to a stronger team, which as Bellerophon says turns it into a fantastic working environment.

Slightly off topic on this one; but as some of the regular PPRUNE'ers know I look after the Concordesst website. I have just added the start of a virtual cockpit tour to the Inside section and am looking for some feedback to its effectiveness and and accuracy etc. (Only parts of the flight controls section are on-line)

Gordon

[DownIn3Green]

I'd just like to say what a great thread...very interesting, and obvivously told from the inside.

One can really feel the closeness of the Concorde crews here.

Thank you.

[AMEX]

In order to bid for the Concorde Fleet, you need 7 (or is ten) years left before retirement at least.
It belongs to short haul so many will fly A320(and family)/757/767 on top of it. Seems to be a great mixture but all depends on what you want. http://www.stopstart.redhotant.com/aircraft2/757300a.gif