Testing Concorde
 

Saw a photograph of Brian Trubshaw in the cockpit of a very early Concorde and he seemed to be / was wearing a parachute.

Q's
1: Could it have been used in an emergency from the a/c? Yes height permitting etc.
The testbed concorde at Duxford reputedly has an escape hatch near the cockpit

2: Has any civilian a/c been fitted with ejection seats during developement?

Just asking.

Moved to 'Flight Testing' Forum.
 

Thirty 'views' but no response!

As it is avaition related I am moving it to the 'Flight Testing' forum in the hope that more people who may know will see it.

BlueEagle - Moderator.

Any chance of seeing the pic? I have operated with one man dinghy in a back pack, and from above and behind the seats this could look like a chute pack. Though I don't know if this as likely as a chute in a testbed airliner, I can only speak helos as thats all I've really worked on.

I wouldn't like to try jumping out of Concorde (but given the alternative.....), How slow can concorde go? There is also the wing and intakes to dodge.

Given the right conditions I suppose you jump out of any aircraft (emergency jumps have been done with helos).........though a chute would help. :D

I'm now curious about parachutes and airliners in general.....

In Answer to Q1

Both Prototype Concordes, 001 & 002 along with the Briitsh Pre-production Concorde has escape hatches.

The prototypes had a rear 727 style hatch, a Mid and Front escape trap door.

The Pre-production aircraft had the mid and front escape trap doors.

The assemblies has steel ramps would have dropped down into the airstream, to allow the crew to bail out even at high speeds....and avoid the wing!

Have a look at this page for the ones of the prototype

http://www.concordesst.com/002/002detail.html

And this page will show you a couple of shots during the testing the pre-production's escape hatches prior to its first flight

http://www.concordesst.com/history/b...ingfilton.html

Gordon.