Concord

[Guest ozzie]

"rise and fall of concord" channel seven thursday night 9.40pm?

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

opps pardon my lack of french

 

 

[Tomo]

opps pardon my lack of french

That'd make two of us.

 

 

[Guest milton56]

This was on TV some time ago, it's worth a look at !

 

Milton

 

 

[horsefeathers]

In the latest Flight Safety Australia, July-August, page 58, there is an article "repercussions of the concorde disater" - well worth a read, and may provide a bit of context for the TV program

 

 

[Ultralights]

I Miss the Concorde, The most beautiful aircraft ever built, and a greater technological achievement than going to the moon.

 

I was fortunate enough in my early years as an engineer to work on the Concorde when it was in yd on a few occasions, firtly and AF Concorde when a brake hydraulic line bracket failed on the Port U/C leg, and a few minor Galley repairs on a BA Concorde.

 

Sad to think we have the technology to build another Concorde, but the cancer of politics, Noise and general whingers and the extreme greenies will ensure another is never built again... just more and more bigger uglier airplanes.:DirtDOG:

 

Sad, it would have been the perfect airliner in these parts, vast expanses of ocean to get across at mach 2, and the desert, even from 65,000 ft, a sonic boom isnt loud, and amid the background noise of a city, a sonic boom would be difficult to notice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Yenn]

The real problem with Concorde is that it wasn't American. If the Yanks don't design or build anything they will not let it into the USA without all sort of problems, unless of course they can build it ubder licence and give it a US name, Think Ferguson tractor and the British vertical take off fighter. As far a the most beautiful aeroplane I disagree. It would have to be the De Haviland Comet airliner.

 

 

[winsor68]

I wonder if they could get the fuel consumption and takeoff noise to more acceptable levels with today's technology?

 

 

[planedriver]

Beautiful, it certainly was. However I agree with Yenn, The Comet was too.

 

I actually supplied the photoelectric smoke/fire detection system on the Concorde engine test-bed, which was set up at The Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough.

 

When I first entered the building, you'd hardly know that an aeroplane was even in there, as it was set up amidst huge steel girders with exhaust ducts out the back of the Olympus engines which the went up vertically 70ft before turning back horizontally, then going out through the roof to minimise the noise.

 

Whether, or not, there was any truth in it I could'nt say, but the rumor around that time was, that Russian espionage was rife, and they were aware that they had all the original wing designs, and most of the rest of it.

 

The wing turned out to have have certain design flaws in it, BAC kept quiet, tightened security, and redesigned the wing. This it is claimed to be one of the main causes of the Russian TU144 crash at the Paris Air Show in 1973.

 

I got a freeby out to Bahrain in a Trident 3 when doing some work with BA, and went back to Heathrow on Concorde.

 

Half the passengers cheered and clapped :clap:as the Mach indicator in the cabin showed we'd passed Mach 1, and well-heeled looking gent across the isle cried out "Bravo" in true British style.

 

At 65,000ft the curvature of the earth is noticeable, and the sky seemed to be a deeper blue.

 

As much as I loved the things, the ear-splitting crackle as they roared down the runway on take-off certainly gave the environmentalists something to whinge about.

 

The service to Bahrain did'nt last too long because certain countries objected to sonic booms, etc. However, I still loved seeing them on a daily basis, fly almost over the top of my house in Wimbledon, back in those early days, and would always rush outside to see it. It had such a reccogniseable sound.

 

I could never understand why they had frosted glass windows in the toilets. Who the hells going to see anything, even if you "flash" at 65,000ft?.

 

 

[flying dog]

Quick question:

 

You posted the thread on Wed 11 August saying it is on "tomorrow at 19:30 - ch7"

 

I got home and looked in the TV guide I just bought and can't see it.

 

Am I missing something?

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

i saw it advertised on seven 2 very late on tuesday night ..Just cheacked the electronic guide on the TV.. starts 21:40ish channel 7. called 'rise and fall of Concorde'

 

 

[Admin]

The first post of the thread says Thursday night which is what I saw the promo for

 

 

[flying dog]

So is it channel 7 or 72?

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

The first post of the thread says Thursday night which is what I saw the promo for

i amended my first post to correct the time error

 

 

[Spin]

Ah so I didn't read it wrong:laugh:, I got my aviation mad 10 year old all fired up looking in the guide to see when to program the HDD recorder for, only to see a promo for tonight, Thursday. Should be worth waiting for anyway.

 

 

[planedriver]

Had'nt seen it advertised at all, till I read it on here. That'll certainly be a "must see".

 

I'll guess that the forums may quieten down a bit, while it's on.

 

 

[David F]

Just a reminder that Concord was an English/French project

 

Dave

 

 

[Aussie Steve]

I must say that reading the Crash Comic article on the Concorde crash made me feel sick!

 

Those poor pilots didnt have a chance and you can feel how they must have been aware of the inevitable outcome as it all went to S### in something like 3 mins. They never stood a chance

 

 

[Spin]

You're right you have to feel for them, the only question here was when would it crash. They did however, make a series of choices that put them in that situation; working from memory, they started rolling with the aircraft over MAUW, the CoG was at or beyond the aft limit, they elected to proceed despite identifying the tyre problem before V1, they rotated at less than Vr and then they shut down an engine that was still producing thrust. All of which added up to a really bad day at the office!

 

This is something I've alluded to in previous posts, it's all very well shaving the margins "because you can handle it", but each little factor reduces the safety margin and when you get several of them stacked against you at once, it almost inevitably ends in tears.

 

 

[facthunter]

In the End.

 

Flying is very unforgiving of errors. Most bad outcomes are a series of errors that only good luck will avert. In the end you make your own luck.

 

Concorde means friendship. The plane is a nice thing to see in the air and on the ground. It was built by British and French interests, and was produced using some very ancient systems and metallurgy. Most of the components were from old designs, and the fuselage cross section is not much different to that of a Fokker F-27. No doubt getting endorsed and flying Concorde was the highlight of many a BA and Air France pilots career for sure. iIwould have blown MY mind . Don't think it could have really ever been an economic proposition, but across the Atlantic it might have been a goer but the Yanks did not give it much of a go...Nev

 

 

[Spin]

Interesting book about the the period after the aircraft was allowed to fly again; as I understand it BA were making quite a useful profit and were very keen to continue operating them, but the French had lost all appetite for the project after the disaster and would have none of it. The Brits couldn't go it alone and even Bransom couldn't bring it together. Great pity:crying:

 

 

[dunlopdangler]

I watched the program last night, then realised my mum went on the concorde on one of her overseas trips....then the reality hit...what a waste of a seat, should have been me.

 

 

[planedriver]

But then you'd have worried about the fact that it grows over a foot in length as the aircraft heats up at high speed, and the floor is covered with a series of plates, and if your saw any daylight through any of them, you'd be forced to tell someone, rather than just enjoy your flight.

 

 

[Guest Redair]

Hi all,... am I the only one who was watching the programme closely? Did anyone else notice that the piece of tyre picked up off the runway, was in fact a piece of shreded car tyre? OK, so I know it was a reconstruction, but come on.... it can't be that hard to at least get hold of an old piece of aircraft tyre.

 

Also, have to agree with Yenn... if it had been built by the Yanks, they could all have crashed, and it would still be the best aircraft ever built and they would still be making more of them.

 

But really, compared to 747's, 737's, DC10's which have never crashed or had any technical problems, Concorde was a bomb waiting to go off.... hang on what's that noise? It's the alarm clock, time to stop dreaming and wake up!!!!

 

Sorry, but the Concorde thing gets me annoyed... it was scrapped too quickly, and mostly down to politics in my opinion.

 

Redair.

 

 

[facthunter]

problems and economiics

 

The DC-10's and 737's had plenty of problems. (Cargo door and Rudder).

 

The economics of the Concorde were pretty bad. Very thirsty and quite critical with the flight planning stage, I believe.

 

Since the introduction of the 707 50 years ago, airliners have not cruised at higher speeds. Some are flown slower than they were then. The larger planes ,(like the A-380)have big advantages with speed because they are BIG . (Scale effect). and DRAG figures are better too. NOW they are building planes LIGHTER, with composites, so the RANGE will be better. It is ALL about economics. Nev