Is this the best thread on the Internet?
 

98 Pages - have read them all. Absolutely unique given the tailspin that a lot of threads (not just on this site) find themselves in - this thread is a credit to those who have made it so captivating.

I lived in the UK for 10 years and was lucky enough to (well my wife did) win a return for 2 to NY on Concorde. Courtesy of the Evening Standard. This was June 1997. We sat in 3A/B and as an avid aviation follower (my dad flew in the RNZAF) spent way longer than my welcome in the cockpit when it was our turn. Purely because unlike a lot of other people who pointed and wowed - I spoke to the F/E and the skipper (Mike Bannister) about the flying aspect and marvelled at the engineering and the systems.

My dad broke the sound barrier in 1963 in an F-105 in Thailand somewhere whilst on manoeuvres with the USAF and as a wee chap always remember the mach meter at 1.06. So I asked Capt Bannister if he would take a picture of this for me from the same aspect - and he did. I proudly showed my dad.

So on the way back from NY on boarding I asked the Chief Purser if there was any chance of sitting in the cockpit for landing - a fairly stern no was the answer. No problem - 3 hours of caviar, mango, fillet steak and Krug ensued.

Then lo and behold - about 25 minutes from landing, the purser found me and said (verbatim) - "are you the young chap whose dad broke the sound barrier? Capt Bannister would like to know if you would like to sit on the jump seat for landing." I levitated to the cockpit.

Was strapped in, given headphones - told not to talk unless spoken to (nicely of course). Mike Bannister did say to me that I was one of the few people (of 100) to actually pay any interest to the flight systems aspect - which was why he asked if I was keen to join them for landing.

Oh the good old days!!

At the time we lived in Brockham and as a bonus it transpired that Bill Clinton and Air Force One was in the circuit and as it was explained to me - there was an exclusion zone whilst Air Force 1 was on finals? So we had to do 2 laps of the Ockham circuit. Which as fate would have it was almost directly over my house.

In all a surreal experience - just over 24 hours LHR - JFK - LHR return - didn't sleep a wink.

So not really a contribution to the thread - but a memory of a whirlwind, never to be repeated 24 hours. I think I was unbelievably lucky.

About the only thing I recall about Concorde (by way of a question) that I can't recall seeing here was when Concorde visited Auckland in the late 70's? Was the damage to either the rudder or a stabiliser? Surely at Mach 2.0 the vibrations/difference in control would be marked? From memory the flight crew was interviewed and I'm sure they said they didn't notice anything? Comments?

Anyone able to tell us what the cabin altitude was at FL600 ?

According to this, 5500-6000 feet/1700 meters

Heritage Concorde

IIRC from one of the previous posts here, the strong differential required also defined the normal descent/deceleration timing and distance.

Power could only be reduced to 94% (N1 or N2, I forget which) or there would not be enough "bleed" air available to maintain the cabin altitude at TOD.
(although I could have misinterpreted that - it may have had more to do with maintaining the oblique inlet shocks, or hydraulics, or some such.)

Thanks for that, very impressive,as if I couldn't be more impressed by this amazing Aircraft.

Roger. Great first post!. I too have been lucky enough to 'flight-deck' Concorde as a passenger, tho' not for the landing. {Did that as a pax in a Trident, amongst others!] I still have the video that I took!. Like you, I was interested in the flying of it, and asked questions, but didn't have the same luck as you with the jump seat.
I recently flew Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur in an A.380, and whilst driving from Croydon to Heathrow, went along the road at the side of BA Engineering, and there, looking beautiful in the sun, was 'my' Concorde, G-BOAB. Happy memories!. There was, I believe, the occasional rudder skin loss on a couple of Concordes, and vibration was experienced if I remember correctly.

Good day,

Just found this pic on the www and I think the reheat looks a bit ragged compared to the Reheated Engines I have worked on - RR Spey & RB199.

Is this a representative sort of view or a false picture and the real thing is much neater with Mach Diamonds and the like???

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/v...psvqo3n4v7.jpg

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/v...psnybm8e6q.jpg

Nice picture but definitely a fake

Yes - I should have Googles first - but there again it brings this thread to to front page again

Hello,

In the early eighties, Braniff "we'd better be better !" leased (rented ?) Concorde for firstclass flights between Washington and Dallas.

It was a subsonic flight.

Question: Where had the crew (I guess they were Braniff's) been trained , was the training supersonic too ?


What a super thread. Thanks a lot !

Yep - Braniff crews trained to fly the full envelope. But for BA insurance reasons, there had to be a BA captain and flight engineer riding along in the jumpseats.

Another cute trick - the European airlines "sold" the airframes temporarily to Braniff, with new US N-numbers, so they could fly a "domestic" route without violating cabotage laws. Then "sold back" to BA or AF for the transatlantic legs.

CONCORDE SST : Braniff Concorde Services

INS
 

I've got a few little questions about the INS's memory...
So as I understand selecting DSTRK/STS on the CDU and pressing HOLD would allow the flight crew to enter a code to bring waypoints and DME stations out of the memory. So what would this code look like? how many codes where saved? And where would it be possible to find exactly what these codes are?

I may have overlooked this but did Concorde have a flight mode annunciator ?

Fraser -


You are correct, the INS's had a access to a separate memory facility in later years of operation. The access method is as you described, and then a numerical entry to access the relevant part of the route (or Flight Plan Segment), which would be numbered between 01 and 87.

The comms log would list the appropriate FPS number. Obviously, it was still possible to enter all waypoints longhand.

It was also possible to access a DME lat/long database using the same system which enabled DME updating and saved a lot of finding/typing Lat/Long for DMEs. (These were numbered between 90 and 99).

FWIW there was a specific Delco variant for supersonic flight (Delco IV-AC). It was permissible to have a 'standard' IV or IV-A in the number 3 position. IIRC the aircraft would be restricted to subsonic flight unless there was a IV-AC in both 1 and 2 positions.

Before my time, I believe there was a card reader system to do a similar job.


Stilton -

It did have a well-disguised FMA..... the Mode Select Panel was also the FMA. Lit button = active mode.

Thanks for that EXWK, doesn't look like there would be any room in that cockpit (while a masterpiece of design) for a separate FMA.

FraserConcordeFan

To show you what EXWOK was referring to when he posted ...and then a numerical entry to access the relevant part of the route (or Flight Plan Segment), which would be numbered between 01 and 87. The comms log would list the appropriate FPS number... this is a photo of a Concorde Comms Log from a JFK-LHR sector in 2003

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/n...20-%20Copy.jpg

Best Regards

Directly above the Captains ADI there are two small annunciators side by side, the one on the left has a symbol I can't quite make out while the one on the right appears to have four separate segments, the upper right of which is amber, there also seems to be a small
white switch to the right of this.


Can you tell me what these are for ?

Is this the section you mean ?-
Heritage Concorde - select Item 1 in the Pilots Instruments section.

Thanks for that, J4, just what I was looking for, as amazing, cleverly laid out cockpit
using every nook and cranny in an incredible aircraft.

I understand Concorde had no speed brakes / spoilers but was certified to use reverse in flight.


What were the airspeed and altitude limits on its use ?


Was this done very often in service and was it activated on
all engines or just the inboards ?