3rd Sep 2010, 19:24
permalink Post: 201
Biggles,
The Braniff crews [ I think it was 5 sets of crew] were trained for Concorde with some of crews trained in France whilst the others were trained in the UK. Flying training was done using an Air France Concorde
F-BVFA with flying being at Shannon initially but when they ran out of fuel it was moved to Montpellier. As their operation was to be subsonic they were only trained to operate the aircraft subsonically, but they were given a supersonic trans Atlantic trip as an observer.
ChristiaanJ
If I remember correctly ground effect tended to force the aircraft nose down, so requiring the pilots to pull back on the stick as if they were flaring ,but in fact what they were doing was as you say maintaining the pitch attitude constant. I have to say that in the early days the landing could be a bit of a hit or miss affair with some being perfect and some less so. The crews were originally taught to pull the power off in one stroke at about 15ft, but later they used to bleed it off and in my opinion this improved the landings greatly.
The problem with landing Concorde was when it got into ground effect if you let the nose drop you lost a lot of lift and arrived somewhat heavily. However if you pulled too hard you could raise the nose too much and suffer a big loss of speed causing a subsequent un-attractive landing, and you could also touch the tail wheel. This touch would be noticed by the ground engineer after landing as a scuff mark on the tail gear tyres. Therefore your friendly F/E on his external check prior to departure would always check the tail wheel tyres for scuff marks and if there were any you could inform the engineers at the other end of the trip that they were there prior to you taking the aircraft, and they would have to go and find another crew to blame
At touch down the pilots eye height was similar to that of a 747 pilot at touch down. Below 800ft when the aircraft had slowed down to landing speed the pitch attitude was such that the F/E could not see the runway ahead
The Braniff crews [ I think it was 5 sets of crew] were trained for Concorde with some of crews trained in France whilst the others were trained in the UK. Flying training was done using an Air France Concorde
F-BVFA with flying being at Shannon initially but when they ran out of fuel it was moved to Montpellier. As their operation was to be subsonic they were only trained to operate the aircraft subsonically, but they were given a supersonic trans Atlantic trip as an observer.
ChristiaanJ
If I remember correctly ground effect tended to force the aircraft nose down, so requiring the pilots to pull back on the stick as if they were flaring ,but in fact what they were doing was as you say maintaining the pitch attitude constant. I have to say that in the early days the landing could be a bit of a hit or miss affair with some being perfect and some less so. The crews were originally taught to pull the power off in one stroke at about 15ft, but later they used to bleed it off and in my opinion this improved the landings greatly.
The problem with landing Concorde was when it got into ground effect if you let the nose drop you lost a lot of lift and arrived somewhat heavily. However if you pulled too hard you could raise the nose too much and suffer a big loss of speed causing a subsequent un-attractive landing, and you could also touch the tail wheel. This touch would be noticed by the ground engineer after landing as a scuff mark on the tail gear tyres. Therefore your friendly F/E on his external check prior to departure would always check the tail wheel tyres for scuff marks and if there were any you could inform the engineers at the other end of the trip that they were there prior to you taking the aircraft, and they would have to go and find another crew to blame
At touch down the pilots eye height was similar to that of a 747 pilot at touch down. Below 800ft when the aircraft had slowed down to landing speed the pitch attitude was such that the F/E could not see the runway ahead
29th Jan 2011, 19:57
permalink Post: 1151
Just visited
F-BVFA
at the Udvar-Hazy Museum near Dulles airport. In nice condition, indoors but sadly, no interior viewing. The Conc at Boeing's Museum in Seattle allows interior tour, but sadly again, didn't look in very good shape.
GF
GF
9th Sep 2011, 19:27
permalink Post: 1450
Saw BOAG this weekend
I was in Seattle for a wedding this weekend, and got to see BOAG at the Museum of Flight.
It was gratifying, but I can't say she's in stellar condition. I'd give her a solid "B" grade. For one thing, it drives me nuts that all the literature and display placards all say "the Concorde." I far prefer Concorde to stand on her own. Her paint was dull and oxidized, and the exhibit sort of stands alone, without much in the way of history or surrounding material. It pained me a bit to see her outside in the Seattle weather, too. The interior is nice, being cordoned off by plexiglass that could stand a replacement sometime soon. I didn't see peeling paint.
That said, it was a spectacularly more enjoyable experience than the last time I saw Concorde F-BVFA at the Udvar Hazy museum in DC, thanks completely to this thread. I noticed things I'd never seen before, and took a much more profound appreciation of things like the curve and droop of the wing leading edge and the complexity of the engine intakes... and I loved seeing the difference in fuel consumption numbers between Concorde and the SR-71 also on display. My wife thinks I'm a genius because I knew why #4 engine was N1 limited below 60kt and what the little 3/4 tag to the left of the engine EGT gauges was for.
Thanks again to all the knowledgeable individuals on this thread.
It was gratifying, but I can't say she's in stellar condition. I'd give her a solid "B" grade. For one thing, it drives me nuts that all the literature and display placards all say "the Concorde." I far prefer Concorde to stand on her own. Her paint was dull and oxidized, and the exhibit sort of stands alone, without much in the way of history or surrounding material. It pained me a bit to see her outside in the Seattle weather, too. The interior is nice, being cordoned off by plexiglass that could stand a replacement sometime soon. I didn't see peeling paint.
That said, it was a spectacularly more enjoyable experience than the last time I saw Concorde F-BVFA at the Udvar Hazy museum in DC, thanks completely to this thread. I noticed things I'd never seen before, and took a much more profound appreciation of things like the curve and droop of the wing leading edge and the complexity of the engine intakes... and I loved seeing the difference in fuel consumption numbers between Concorde and the SR-71 also on display. My wife thinks I'm a genius because I knew why #4 engine was N1 limited below 60kt and what the little 3/4 tag to the left of the engine EGT gauges was for.
Thanks again to all the knowledgeable individuals on this thread.