A Day In The Life

And a team they are. The tech crews are all taken from the best that the line can offer. In BA, nowadays from 747s and 757s and across the Channel at Air France from the A300s and 747s. The quickly recognised esprit de corps of the· SST teams is clearly obvious as even the cabin crews have that certain panache.

Our flight today takes us from London to Washington. BA operate fourteen weekly services on their a1ue Riband London/ New York route and three London/Miami via Washington. The average load factor is in the seventies and as breakeven is somewhat below this then it is no surprise to learn that BA Concorde operations are expected to net the airline around $A30m this financial year. As a money-spinner Concorde has come a long way these past eleven years and has certainly had the last laugh on its many detractors of the seventies!

So it is no surprise to learn that today’s flight has achieved a very healthy 80% load factor. Capt Dixon is backed up by First Officer Brian Holland and Flight Engineer Bill Dobbs in addition to a highly trained crew of six flight attendants. For the tech crew the flight commences around 90 minutes prior to departure when they assemble at the BA flight briefing and dispatch centre in the Queen’s Building at Heathrow. It is from here that flight ops prepare the mass of met data, and ensure that each aircraft is victualled, fuelled and completely free of technical snags. An army of specialists is literally behind each aircraft movement, something that the passengers, now on their way to Heathrow, probably never think about. Our crew examine the mass of data, review the flight plan and check the Notam board for any peculiar or unusual information of relevance to them this day. Having signed on and approved the appropriate flight plans, it is time to depart for the aircraft which is now sitting at its special Concorde gate in BA’s new Terminal 4.

Before the crew even arrive the aircraft is in the process of being fuelled, cleaned and loaded with the required elements of sustenance expected by the modern supersonic traveller. It is still an hour from departure but there is much to check. Capt Dixon and FO Brian Holland run through a long list of checks and verify the drill for a number of emergency scenarios while Bill Dobbs performs a visual preflight check of the aircraft externally. The aircraft is checked out well in advance with the appropriate ground engineer and all systems look good. The aircraft itself takes on an air of expectancy, like a Formula One car prior to the warm-up lap with its pit crew anxiously attending to its many needs before battle begins. On this flight, we have taken aboard some 94 tonnes of fuel which tends to give the aircraft a slightly tail-down appearance. This represents more than a tonne of fuel for each person on board and includes 18 tonnes for possible diversion, emergency and taxi requirements.

Thirty minutes before departure the passengers are welcomed aboard. The cabin crew have also had their own preflight and are fully briefed on emergency procedures, the special requirements of different passengers are duly noted and as always the crew are ready to pay a little extra attention to those passengers at both extremes of the age spectrum. The majority of Concorde travellers though are successful business executives. Indeed BA found, even as long ago as 1976, that even if a Concorde traveller only flew one sector supersonic they would book the return subsonic sector first class with BA. Previously BA either did not get the client at all or perhaps lost him or her to a rival carrier offering a better schedule. This alone has been worth many millions of bonus dollars to the airline each year as regular Concorde passengers adopt the camaraderie of the flight crews and stay with the airline throughout.

It is now fifteen minutes before departure and the final passengers have come aboard. All baggage has been loaded (including a considerable amount of high-priority courier satchels), fuelling is complete and the aircraft is ready for pushback as required. Capt Dixon makes a final check of the manifest and the ramp co-ordinator makes his final report to the Captain prior to leaving the aircraft, the door is shut and the aerobridge withdrew – it is now time for Concorde Bravo Oscar Alpha Golf to go to work.

As more than 96% of all Concorde departures are made on time (which is excellent considering that the fleet consists of a mere seven aircraft!) our crew are very aware of not slipping behind the ‘time curve’ and creating an unnecessary delay through cockpit mismanagement. With the lengthy checks complete the crew carefully recite the emergency procedure they would perform in the event of a loss of power on takeoff, at rotation or shortly thereafter. The drill has been practised hundreds of times in the simulator and it is this clinical, almost sterile and totally professional attitude towards crew interface and flight deck procedure that clearly separates the leading airlines from the pretenders.

Brian Holland calls ATC for permission to start engines. If traffic is at a peak this permission may be delayed so that the airline won’t waste unnecessary fuel waiting its turn on the taxiway. One of the nice things about Concorde though is that generally, its departure and arrival times do not coincide with the traditional traffic peaks. Our departure today is at 1300hrs and on Saturday at that time London’s Heathrow is a fairly quiet place. Our inboard Olympus turbojets are started in turn. We won’t crank the outers till the aircraft is fully pushed back and the tug clear as these engines generate so much latent thrust at idle that there could well be damage caused to both the tow bar and the nose gear assembly. Following pushback, numbers 4 and 1 are run up and it is now that we verify our taxi clearance and prepare to exit terminal 4 for the short taxi to Runway 28L. This is a very busy time for the crew and I adopt a low profile and watch the exceptional level of airmanship that would be nice to translate to my Cessna flying! FO Brian Holland taxies the aircraft out slowly while Bill Dobbs rechecks his vast FE panel for any last-minute deficiency. The senior steward reports that his half of the operation is go and Capt Dixon, in a surprisingly relaxed voice, chats to the 80 passengers via the PA about our takeoff and departure sequence. While the majority of our passengers would be very familiar with what is occurring (BA report that the majority of Concorde passengers fly supersonic at least three times annually) there are always those who appreciate the briefing for reasons that I will soon learn.

Concorde is no normal airliner. And the taxi ably reminds one of this. There is a springiness, caused by the very long moment arm action of the arrow-like fuselage and by having the nose gear some 61ft behind the nose. In fact the pilots are some 38ft ahead of the nose gear, which makes it rather exciting taking the intersections with no sign of the macadam below us and being nearly 100ft ahead of the main gear. During this short taxi, the final 30 pre-takeoff checks are made. As we approach the runway a Northwest Orient 747 has just commenced its takeoff roll and an Air France A300 is preparing to enter the runway, we are next. This is a tense moment for any crew, a lot is happening both in and out of the cockpit and it is here, and in landing, that the crew really earn their paychecks.

Fuel is being pumped forward to balance the centre of gravity (CofG) for takeoff and brakes and reverse thrust are being tested briefly. The Airbus commences its roll and Departures clears us to enter the runway. Our departure this day will be a Standard Instrument Departure (SID) and will take us to intercept the 261 radial to Lyneham, thence to Cardiff to commence our acceleration from Mach. 95 to 1. 7 commencing at 28,000ft. By this time we will be well past the Bristol Channel and heading towards Cork in a supersonic climb. In the meantime we have been given our takeoff clearance: “Speedbird 189, cleared for takeoff, 189 rolling”.

Three, two, one, now! The two pilots’ clock timers, which will cut back to zero at the noise abatement power cutback point exactly 73 seconds from the commencement of roll, have been started. Full power is applied and the aircraft begins to accelerate. The springiness is now replaced by a feeling of latent power, of sheer thrust as Concorde noses down and the afterburners are activated automatically above 81% of N1. All systems are checked at this point and speed rapidly increases as we thunder towards a V1 of 164kts, prior to V1 we can still stop safely in the event of an engine failure though any failure past this point will have to be taken into the air with us.

Rotation is effected at 192kts and V2, our minimum safe flying speed is flagged at 220kts. Capt Dixon is easing back further on the column as we build towards our climbout speed of 250kts. Around 18 degrees climb gradient is perfect today as we approach our noise abatement cutback point. Three, two, one, noise the four afterburners are switched off and the throttles are brought back from max power. Anticipating the change in pitch, Capt Dixon gently lowers the nose to 12 degrees so as not to lose energy as we continue to climb at 1000ft per minute at a cutback altitude of 2000ft above the suburbs around Heathrow.

With the nose and visor down 5 degrees for takeoff the aerodynamic noise on the flight deck is quite high. We are now given our clearance to climb past 5000ft and begin our standard subsonic climb procedure. Now clear of the suburbs, full dry climb power is engaged and the nose visor is raised. With the visor ‘stowed the flight deck becomes very quiet as the Concorde attains its climb speed of 400kts and 3000fpm climb rate. The Northwest Orient 747 that departed several minutes before us has already been overhauled and is slipping back and below as we forge ever upwards through the scattered layers of stratocumulus.

From now on Concorde is largely in the hands of its army of computerised fight control and navigation systems. Our climb to FL28 will be in the hands of the autopilot while the three Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) are placing us perfectly for our rendezvous point with the nav beacon situated near the Bristol Channel. For the crew, it is time to briefly relax, collect their thoughts and plan ahead for the supersonic climb phase of the flight.

Our oceanic clearance to go supersonic has come through and we are now leaving the green fields of England and are out over the Bristol Channel heading for the greatest air bridge in the world. Again the four throttles are moved forward to max power and in a sequence of two at a time the afterburners are lit. A modest kick in the back is felt as the aircraft begins to accelerate forward from its ‘slow’ subsonic cruise. I mention slow in derision as we are even subsonically still cruising almost 100 faster than our wide-bodied brethren! However, this is not the domain of Concorde as fuel burn is horrific during this stage of flight. We rapidly go supersonic and there is a momentary flickering of the numerous pressure-related instruments as the sonic shock wave is dissipated. I think of all the trauma that preceded man’s first attempts to break the sound barrier and of those who died attempting to achieve what we, and eighty passengers now sipping the finest French Champagne, have just done in a period of a few nondescript seconds! Indeed Concorde feels smoother than ever now, it is in its element as we soar upwards with the Machmeter indicating we are still building our supersonic velocity while simultaneously climbing at several thousand feet per minute! This is enough to impress the most blase Boeing skipper and what is more impressive is that, like another aircraft of a similar ilk the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, this beautiful machine is well past its middle age and is a design child of another era. Indeed about the only thing digital on Alpha Golf’s crowded flight deck is a small clock! Yet this aircraft is still ahead of anything that has even been mooted. When you appreciate that this is indeed a machine of the sixties, then you begin to appreciate its technical magnific- ence even more.

Despite its age, Concorde is home to many embryonic advanced technologies that are only now finding their way onto the world’s air routes. For instance, the aircraft was the first to use Fly By Wire (FBW) electronic signalling. This is also backed up by a normal mechanical/hydraulic system as a fail-safe yet FBW is now only just being developed for the next generation of Airbus and Boeing jetliners. Carbon brakes are also just becoming standard, or at least an option, on modern airliners yet Concorde wore them when she made her first flight back in March of 1969! An active inflight fuel transfer system also enables Concorde to alter its CofG in flight, while the aircraft also flies with up to half a degree of elevon deflection giving it to some extent the variable camber wing that British Aerospace are presently designing into the next generation of Airbus wide-bodied jets.

The active inflight fuel transfer system works so effectively that as fuel is burned off, that remaining in the outboard wing tanks (the entire wing is virtually all fuel tank, remember that more than half the aircraft’s takeoff weight was fuel) is pumped inwards to reduce the loads on the wingtips and thus enable them to flex slightly and so give more lift and less drag at supersonic speeds. She may be middle-aged aged but she is still a racy lady. Flight International called her the Joan Collins of the skies, we like to think that what Mother Nature did for Morgan Fairchild then the aerodynamicists at BAC and Aerospatiale did for Concorde – she’s that sort of aircraft, a thoroughbred by design! We have now reached Mach 1. 7, passed through 43,500ft and the afterburners are switched off in pairs. They are simply not needed now as we will continue to climb on regular dry power alone while building airspeed towards 50,000ft and Mach 2. At this speed the aircraft paradoxically does not appear to be moving. Only the odd cloud far below us disappearing eastward gives this writer any sense of forward movement. A glance at the INS though tells another story. We are now at 1350mph, Mach 2 and the kilometres are disappearing at the rate of 35 a minute. In the time that it took you to read that sentence, we have travelled seven or eight kilometres! What really impresses the Concorde traveller though is the way we overhaul those wide bodies. Capt Dixon sights a 747 on our port side. Some five or six kilometres below us and literally going backwards at over 700kts- I laugh and they grin as it is all Standard Operating Procedure to them. The extreme calm and tranquillity poised on what seems to be the edge of space makes one appreciate this unique aircraft for the technological success that it is. The Concorde fleet has now flown more than 100,000 flight hours, with this carrier having logged over two-thirds of that total. Over one million people have now flown Concorde and the type has been delivering little children and old ladies to their destinations for almost eleven years now. That is some achievement and a credit to both Air France and British Airways who have turned a loss maker into a Cinderella-like princess that nowadays is not only a moneymaker but the smartest PR machine an airline could possess. When Concorde comes to town the other airliners might just as well go offline! As fuel is burned off we slowly cruise climb towards 60,000ft. Concorde in this situation has three limiting design factors. The nose surface temperature must never exceed 127°c, speed must not exceed Mach 2. 02 and the aircraft must not climb beyond 60,000ft. If either of these situations eventuate the autopilot will announce the fact and remedy the situation automatically with appropriate action. As Concorde is flown right at the limit of its flight envelope (for maximum efficiency), it is imperative that the electronics aboard the aircraft perform flawlessly.

The level of redundancy and the maturity of service are such that this has never caused a problem. Thermal heating though is the most likely source of a deliberate slowdown. Thermal heating affects different parts of the aircraft in different ways. The aft cabin generally increases to around 92°c, the wing leading edge to 105°c and the cockpit area to around 100°c. The nose takes the obvious brunt though and the special aluminium and titanium and strengthened glass (said to be the strongest ever made) are certificated for operation right up to 127°c. To reduce this temperature the aircraft is automatically slowed. Today, the ISA temperature is working to our advantage and even though the outside air temperature (OAT) is -58°c the nose has only registered 114°c.

The engines are another source of amazement. In many ways there is nothing special about the Rolls Royce Olympus. It has been around for more than thirty years and spends much of its time powering warships and land-based power stations, including one in Queensland. However, this engine is the driver of Concorde and a unique one at that.

Probably the best thing you can say about Olympus is that it is tough. So tough that on one of Concorde’s test flights an engine lost a compressor blade which was duly ingested and did not even alter engine performance. On another occasion, the large intake ramp broke away and was wholly ingested causing obvious damage but again not even altering the engine’s performance characteristics! Toughness has been mirrored in reliability, though as you can imagine the maintenance on an afterburning engine of this type is considerable compared with the big fans of today.

Another interesting facet of the engines are the variable ramps which are the heart of their supersonic capability. Generally speaking, above Mach 1. 3 the air entering the first fan stage of the Olympus must be slowed down to Mach 5, otherwise the engine will suffer compressor surge and possibly compressor stall with grave consequences. Therefore, ramps are built into the intakes that effectively slow the incoming air to Mach. 5, even while cruising at twice the speed of sound.

Concorde is a maintenance-intensive beast though. Air France reckons on 20 maintenance manhours per flight hour (about double that required for a Mirage III) while on a capacity basis both BA and AF spend about five times as much on maintenance as they do on the 747 fleets. What the 747s don’t do of course is have the potential of transporting up to 100 people paying a first class (plus surcharge) fare in half the sector time. We are now more than two-thirds along our transatlantic flight path and the distant southern coastline of Newfoundland begins to take shape on our starboard side. It is now that one can get some appreciation of our speed. As we burn off fuel Concorde gradually drifts higher and gains a few dozen knots in the process. We are now at our peak ceiling this day of some 57,200ft and the four Olympus turbines are at their most efficient, each burning a ‘mere 2 tonnes an hour compared with a mind-numbing 6 to 8 tonnes during the initial climbout and subsonic cruise portion of our journey. Cruise climb is a luxury mostly unknown to the busier subsonic jet routes nowadays.

In the early days of the jets all 707 and DC-8 traffic travelling across the ‘pond’ were able to increase their operating altitude as they progressively burnt off their heavy fuel loads. This enabled a slightly faster transit time and, of course, a reduced fuel burn overall as the engines operated more efficiently at the higher altitudes. Nowadays though, the transatlantic air corridor is so congested that each aircraft is assigned a set altitude and track that it must adhere to which in many cases means burning up to 10% more fuel than would otherwise be the case. So busy are these modern subsonic corridors that there is even talk of ICAO allowing the introduction of 500ft vertical separation in place of the traditional 1000ft to facilitate additional aircraft capacity. Up here, six kilometres atop the aluminium traffic jam we are totally free of this problem.

For the crew the supersonic cruise is a time to relax, enjoy their meal and review the descent and approach procedures for Washington. Capt Dixon sums up the major advantages of being a part of the Concorde team as having mostly daytime flights, no jet lag, working with a very highly trained and motivated specialist team and of course flying the world’s most exciting jetliner. With a fighter like performance and a fair degree of system complexity, the aircraft demands only the very best of its crews. To achieve this, Concorde crews are constantly training. Each six months they will spend a minimum of two days performing simulator checks while the initial conversion course itself takes a full six months. Crews routinely fly five round trips each month (plus charters) and many now have management and training obligations in addition to their regular flight commitments.

For this relatively brief period of the flight I leave the crew in peace and return to my seat for lunch. It is not difficult to meet interesting people aboard such an exotic airliner. My fellow traveller is an Argentinian-born American-based oil company Director who is travelling from Aberdeen in Scotland to his international headquarters in Miami. He does this trip at least six times annually and almost always takes Concorde. He estimates that the timesaving and the reduced fatigue factor is worth years on his life. Seating in the Concorde is to international business class standards. Meals are excellent and deliberately kept light and healthy in an effort to further reduce the fatigue effect of travelling. One extra bonus is that the cabin is pressurised to a very comfortable 5,000ft, something that is quite a plus and certainly feels better than the 8,000ft or so that is often nowadays the norm on the big subsonic.

When you look at the schedules you appreciate what a timesaver Concorde really is. BA operate twice daily to New York, departing Heathrow at 1030 and 1900. Both flights arrive in New York around one hour before they depart London! In other words you can catch the morning flight from London and still have a relaxed lunch with an associate in the Big Apple. Eastbound of course is not as popular as even at Mach 2 time works against you on this one; though you can still depart JFK on the 0930 and arrive in London in time for dinner. The subsonic alternative by and large is to catch an overnighter, which for many businessmen means a three-day trip away from base for just one meeting – Concorde can and does reduce this to one working day in many instances which for the captains of industry, celebrities or major sporting personalities is a whole lot more important than the mere difference between the first class subsonic and supersonic fare. As Halifax, a hundred miles distant, drifts past on our starboard side I reflect on the records that this aircraft has set – like New York to London in a stunning 2 hours 56 minutes (normal subsonic is 6 to 7 hours) and once having reached an over the ground speed of some 1490mph. Impressive indeed for a child of the sixties and even more impressive is the oft-quoted statistic that the Concorde fleet have flown more supersonic hours than all the world’s combat aircraft put together, and in perfect safety too! We are now approaching the United States at a rate of nearly two kilometres a second and the crew begin to prepare for initial descent. It is now that we have to be crucially aware of our sonic boom, indeed the Achilles heel of the SST. The boom carpet roughly extends for 30kms on either side of the aircraft and for around 80kms ahead. Therefore, we must ensure that we are well beyond landfall so as not to create a noise incident.

The crew tell me of an interesting situation that occurred some years back in the days when the SST was fighting to get into JFK and the environmentalist lobby (not unaided by an enthusiastic US airline fraternity) was fighting to keep it out. Apparently a loud series of sonic booms were heard right down the coast from Nantucket to New York. Naturally, everybody pointed the finger at a Washington-bound Concorde and the matter was. Duly investigated by the authorities in New York. Fortunately, the radar and internal navigation readouts from that particular Concorde flight proved conclusively that it would have been impossible for the booms to have come from the SST. What had occurred, and was never officially commented upon by those concerned, was that several US fighter aircraft had attempted to run an intercept on the inbound Concorde. As they were placed landside of the SST theirs were the booms heard that day. It is not known whether they did in fact achieve their intercept though if they did, we imagine the first thing they may have liked to have seen, rather than the speeding SST, would no doubt have been a tanker! New York swiftly races by on our starboard side and the crew rehearse the final steps of our descent procedure. Abeam Long Island the four Olympus 593s are brought back to 93% power. With even a moderate amount of power off the effect is significant and the sleek aircraft slows rapidly showing graphically the brute force that is required to keep us up here at this speed. We rapidly bleed off speed to Mach 1. 6 while maintaining our initial 57,200ft altitude. At 1. 6 the nose is gently lowered and the four throttles brought back further to begin the actual descent. Through the descent our airspeed further diminishes as the drag from the denser lower layers of the atmosphere take effect on our aerodynamic form. We are losing a solid 5000ft per minute and the nose-down attitude is pronounced by comparison with a normal airliner. The autopilot captures our levelling off altitude of 39,000ft and commences the levelling out manoeuvre several thousand feet above that figure to avoid us sinking below FL39. A gentle pitch-up starts and the Concorde is again in the land of the subsonics as our Machmeter reads . 95 though we are still cruising nearly 100kts faster than the swiftest of the subsonics. The calm of the stratosphere is left behind as the crew work the radio and charts busily. There is a reasonable amount of traffic about as we cross the New Jersey coastline just north of Atlantic City and we are hoping for a fuel-saving straight-in ILS approach into Washington’s Dulles airport, situated about fifty kilometres west of the national capital. Again, thanks to Concorde’s scheduling we arrive at the least busy time and despite there being little traffic in the Dulles area and only light winds we are forced to take Runway 30 which means passing south of the airport and heading round in good ol’ General Aviation fashion. The clearances continue as we descend now through FL250, 15,000ft, (US transition level is 18,000ft) and eventually down to below 10,000ft where we must constantly be on the lookout for GA traffic. In the US, almost any aircraft can transit control zones as it wishes and from a professional point of view the onus is really on the crew of the airliner to keep out of their way. The thoughts of the tragic Los Angeles collision between an AeroMexico DC-9 and a Piper Arrow the week before have us all extra alert. A Navajo passes well below us and a Cherokee is, believe it or not,

Towards a Concorde Successor

With today’s Concorde being the popular success that it is it is difficult, indeed impossible, to envisage a situation, a dozen years from now where on retirement this unique SST capability is replaced merely by a run-of-the-mill subsonic jetliner.

Certainly there will be a continuation of commercial supersonic flight when the present Concorde fleet begins to approach its fatigue limits, as conservative as they appear to be, around the end of this century. BA presently fly their Concordes around 100 hours a month each, Air France log about half this figure while four of the seven BA aircraft have already exceeded 10,000hrs and 3000 cycles. In depth structural analysis at Farnborough has suggested that. a present safe operating limit might be 7000 cycles the test airframe has already successfully exceeded 20,000 cycles without incident.

What will date the aircraft further a decade from now though will simply be the high cost of spares, support and the antiquity of much of the present aircraft’s complex systems. The urge to replace and improve will be too great to realistically see Concorde in service much after the turn of the century.

So what are the options for a Concorde successor?

There are essentially two paths to travel. The better known path of a conventional SST similar to Concorde, a true aeroplane in every sense of the word, and secondly a radical technological departure into the threshold of civilian space travel with sub-orbital aircraft such as British Aerospace’s Hotol and the US Aerospace Plane.

Hotel, as described in our new Space column on p116 of the November 1986 edition, is being designed primarily as a space payload launcher rather than as a manned commercial transport. The reason for this are simply that the primary mission (economic) requirement is to place satellites in orbit. BAe quite rightly see the application for civilian passenger transport as a long-term byproduct that even a decade from now will have many technical and emotional hurdles to overcome.

Likewise the American aerospace industry has now been tasked to produce the Aerospace Plane. This will be a winged design not dissimilar to Hotol, only bigger and reportedly faster. NASA and the various aerospace companies involved (particularly McDonnell Douglas) speak glowingly of the ability to produce an Orient Express and deliver commercial loads, including passengers from the USA to Australia, Asia, and Europe in about one-tenth the time of a present subsonic airliner. Though this sounds great in theory we personally feel that those concerned have not taken into account the high fare involved (reported to be about ten times that of a present first class subsonic ticket!) for a ticket to ride a veritable skyrocket that will place several Gs on the traveller for many minutes at a time. Anyone who has experienced sustained G, even as low as 2G, will appreciate that the average unfit sixty-year-old company president (the only person who would probably warrant such a fare) may not entirely be “at home” with the new experience!

Therefore, Aerospatiale of France are continuing with their own plans to keep abreast of what is required in a future SST by initiating an active design study into a direct successor to Concorde. As Concorde was designed in the 1960s then it is not difficult to see where major improvements can be made. Indeed, Aerospatiale have outlined three major areas of change: aerodynamics, propulsion and systems and avionics.

Aerodynamically Concorde could be readily improved by the use of a cranked arrow double delta wing not that dissimilar to that employed on the General Dynamics F-16F. This design allows the use of leading edge flaps and a full array of various trailing edge lift assistance devices in addition to a very high lift-to-drag ratio at low speed. This latter point alone would eliminate much of the noise problem presently associated with Concorde as the aircraft would not need to operate in the circuit at such relatively high airspeeds. Additionally, field performance would be improved and the climbout could be achieved without using max power. Concorde Mk2 would also be much lighter using the new generation of composite materials not available during the sixties. Advanced super plastics, compounds of composites and advanced alloys and aluminium lithium would all serve to reduce airframe weight considerably.

The second area is in propulsion and though the RR Olympus 593s are remarkable engines their design dates back to the very early days of commercial gas turbines. They are dinosaurs in comparison to what could be achieved today, let alone what could be attained a decade from now in the form of an advanced variable cycle engine. Such a powerplant is already under development by Snecma and essentially consists of an engine that takes the form of an economical and relatively quiet turbofan at takeoff and subsonic cruise while reverting to a pure turbojet at altitude and supersonic cruise.

This type of engine would be significantly lighter than the present Olympus, be physically smaller, have probably one-third the moving parts and most importantly burn at least a third less fuel for each kilogram of thrust produced. Also of note is that any Concorde successor will have to dispense with afterburner, the excessive fuel consumption and unacceptable noise footprint produced via afterburner is simply unacceptable in the world of ICAO Stage 3 regulations in which Concorde Mk2 will have to fly.

The overall lighter structural weight, vastly more fuel-efficient engines and improved aerodynamics would also allow Concorde Mk2 a max payload range of 5000nm, something that would open up a whole new world of supersonic high-yield sectors. Through flying higher the effects of sonic boom on land masses would also be minimised though exactly by how much has yet to be officially determined.

The third area is in systems. Concorde pioneered many advanced design concepts that are only now timidly being tried on new-generation production airliners – fly-by-wire, carbon brakes, a rudimentary form of relaxed stability via fuel transfer, etc and the widespread use of computers. While these concepts were brave, and totally successful, they are old-fashioned and costly to maintain by modern standards. In fact, for nearly four metres behind the flight deck, Concorde is simply a maze of electronics, wires and black boxes. For the four Olympus intake ramps alone (refer story) there are sixteen computers dedicated solely to their control. Today all this would be handled by one ultra-reliable unit of attached case proportions. The Concorde’s successor would save upwards of fifteen tonnes alone in substituting the new for the old, let alone what will be available a decade from now in the rapid-fire world of electronics. A fully digital, EFIS two-crew cockpit with modern FBW alone would save nearly a tonne while reducing crew costs by a third in the longer term.

So which will it be as a Concorde Successor? Hotel, Aerospace Plane or a more down to earth and economically realistic Mach 2. 2 SST? Only time will tell though we know which one our money will be on!

flying circuits on Dulles’s secondary runway, other traffic is nearby and an active watch is maintained on these phantoms of the sky. We now have Dulles in sight and Capt Dixon begins to set the aircraft up for its circuit entry. One minute later we are abeam the runway and in what is a typical downwind GA circuit pattern, just like being back in my Cessna at Fairbairn, only we are idling along at some 250kts at 5000ft! The aircraft is now configured for landing. The long-legged undercarriage is lowered, four in the green and the nose and visor moves forward and down to its 12-degree landing position. Concorde now begins to take on that famous predatory look, like a giant Neanderthal bird of prey about to ruin an adversary’s day. The nose is pitched up slightly to wash off speed as we plan to enter finals with 190kts on the ASI.

It is here where small differences count. For instance, Concorde could be flown on the approach at 160kts though it is actually quieter and more fuel efficient to fly the aircraft at between 190kts and up to 220kts where possible. The reason for this is that the big delta planform requires nothing less than sheer brute thrust as speed falls below the minimum drag speed of 220 knots. Certainly, any Mirage driver will smile knowingly at this as it is not unusual for such delta-winged aircraft to be in full dry power while completing their turning short final in an effort to arrest descent and maintain a safe go-around airspeed seconds before touchdown. Still at 5,000ft we will wash off both height and speed in the two 90-degree turns which will take us in turn from downwind to base and thence onto finals. This is a full VFR approach in excellent weather, Cavok all the way and the adrenaline is pumping and I begin to see why the Concorde crews love this indecently beautiful machine, as far as planes go it’s a Ten.

With the visor fully down there is an excellent view over the nose as we line up for the final approach on RW30. Our airspeed is now deteriorating from 190kts to 175kts then down to typically 160kts at the threshold. Ground effect from the massive wing takes place at around 100ft and the Concorde begins to settle with throttles fully closed at 15ft. This is precise flying and I quick- ly imagine what it must be like in a crosswind with driving rain- better them than I! Bill Dobbs, the FE, reads off the radar altimetry heights 30, 20, 15, throttles retarded-we are down. The point of time where the main gear, almost one hundred feet astern of us meets with terra firma, seems distant and now it is time to get the nose gear down prior to applying reverse thrust. This takes several seconds more as the control column is pushed fully forward to maximum deflection. We seem to be travelling down the long runway at one helluva pace and in actual fact we are, though the thrust reversers and carbon brakes are now washing off energy at an incredible rate. Speedbird 189 taxis off the end of Dulles RW30 and the two inboards are shut down in preparation for the long taxi to our bay. It is timely to remember that those wide bodies that departed the Old Country when we did wouldn’t even be halfway across the pond by now! Another supersonic transatlantic sector has been completed, just one of more than three dozen that have been performed that week and just one of more than two thousand that will be performed this year. Lindbergh, Lt Cdr Read and Alcock and Brown no doubt would have been impressed to have seen where civil aviation has come in such a relatively short period.

For me my flight is now over. About two-thirds of our passengers leave BA189 at Washington while a handful remain for the quick 1hr 20min supersonic dash, which the crew describe as sport down to sunny Florida. It has been a truly fantastic experience to have been witness to the professionalism of the crew of what is one of the world’s fastest aircraft and one that won’t be quickly forgotten.

Why Fly Concorde? Some of Concorde’s Regular Patrons Give Their Reasons

Jackle Stewart flies Concorde about 35 times a year for business meetings and racing assignments. 1 recognised Concorde’s value for my lifestyle right from the start, on a pre-inaugural fight. I often go to New York on the morning flight, work a full day and come back subsonic. I find it less tiring than going for three days and don’t have to cope with the time change. I would categorically state that there’s a physical difference after flying Concorde. My body feels better, whether this is rela ted to the fewer hours spent in the fusel age, or the lower cabin pressure.

“Concorde enables me to undertake commitments which would be impossible otherwise. For instance, recently I was at Monte Carlo commentating on the qualifications for the Grand Prix one day and, by using Concorde and several helicopter flights, in Indianapolis for the 600 the next.

Chris Lewinton, Vice-President of Allegheny International, uses Concorde about twice a month, attending Parent company board meetings, and occasionally trouble-shooting.

“I’ve been using it since the second flight in 1976. It’s added ten years to my life. When I was 30 I could handle night flights and not be in pieces the following day. Not any more. Twenty years ago First Class was special but I find many airlines are missing a trick there now. Concorde is still special. It’s both friendlier and more exclusive. Definitely there’s a little bit of magic. ” Frank Barlow, Chief Executive of Financial Times, goes to New York several times a year, often for a week at a time.

“Concorde creates time. I often go to New York first thing Monday morning work there all week and leave at Friday lunchtime with a full weekend ahead. The actual flight is so smooth it’s like being driven into the city by a chauffeur. I can’t fault it. I’m quite a small man so room is not a problem. I like small meals too. I enjoy First Class air travel, but it’s very protracted in comparison tend to drink and eat too much. With Concorde you get on, sip a glass of champagne, and have a light imaginative meal and, bang, you’ve arrived. The plane itself is a tremendous achievement of British technology. ” Hugh Tibbetts, President of TJ Lipton Inc. “Tuse it when time is of the essence-when I have to be back in New York Monday evening, for example, or when it’s impossible to make connections otherwise. Cost has to be a factor. It subsonic and supersonic costs were equal, I’d fly Concorde always. Flying west, Concorde offers a particularly strong plus, with the whole day laid ahead of you, but either way the flight is less fatiguing, whether it’s due to lower cabin pressure or to one’s perception of the atmosphere, which is very pleasant. You do often end up chatting There’s obviously going to be an above average chance of having someone of interest next to you. And you can risk open- ing up a conversation for three hours when you might not on a seven-hour flight. So you could say there’s an enhanced possibility of two strangers meeting and passing in the night. And Concorde itself provides an opening, conversational gambit. It’s such a beautiful ship. No one sees it without giving a small gasp. ” Bob James, Chairman of McCann Erick son Worldwide, travels 60 percent of his time.

“Concorde offers a unique service: I can stay and complete my business in London, say, on a Wednesday night and still be in my New York office Thursday morning. Eighty per cent of the time I use it to go west and this means physically I never miss a beat. Jet lag is surprisingly lessened. The plane is a delight, the check-in is fast and efficient. I just wish they could expand their destinations. ”