Hi All,

 

I have a question - I'm flying a Concorde at FL550 and getting 0 wind but lots of turbulence.... This seems very wrong!!

 

Using Active Sky 2012 direct weather control... Usually would expect very high winds but not with AS2012!!

 

Any ideas?

James

Same problem here.... Flying with Concorde right now from London to New-York FL530, no winds, and a lot o turbulence and exterior tempo of -54ºC.

Ha I'm doing a leg right now - only down to Morocco - Got a 28kt wind, lots of turbulence and -58..... something wrong here! anyone have any ideas?

Was there any solution to this? Or is it just normal? .... One thing that I can find is that it only seems to download weather to 49000 feet....

As the last poster noted, winds/temps are only reported by AS2012 to FL490 and by the NOAA ADDS tool to FL440. I suspect that wind/temp reporting above those altitudes is erratic at best, and have no idea what sources might provide it since only the military flys at those altitudes and even they don't do it often. Given the nature of the upper winds (jet stream and all that) it's also very hard to extrapolate from lower winds, temps not so much since if data is lacking you can use standard lapse curves.

 

I think that what you see is simply a lack of data to work with... why not post a trouble ticket to HiFi and let them take a look?

 

DJ

Actually the government NOAA fax folder has reports for 63000 feet worldwide. These are TIF files with graphic wind/temp depictions every 5 degrees latitude/longitude. Each file covers a section of the world. However, I have found that using AS2012 set for STANDARD instead of DWC does give me almost spot on wind/weather at high altitudes even though AS2012 only will display only up to FL490 in its GUI.

 

I don't remember the URL of the gov fax files but you can access it through the NOAA website and it will be one of the options. Remember that this will be a fax directory and the files are in TIF format so you need a reader. The codes are as follows:

 

PWRC = Northern Asia

PWCE = Central Latitudes Asia

PWGE = Australia/New Zealand/Indian Ocean areas

PWJE = Polar South Pacific Ocean

PWRE = Continental Africa

PWYE = Northern Plar Pacific Ocean

PYAA = N Atlantic Surface Weather

PYPA = N Pacific Surface Weather

PWAC = N Atlantic Ocean

PWFE = Mid-Latitudes Pacific Ocean

PWSE = Mid-Latitudes Atlantic Ocean

 

The files are pressure level graphic depictions: 5000 ft, 10,000 ft, 18,000 ft, 24000 ft, 30,000 ft, 34000 ft, 39,000 ft, 45,000 ft and 63,000 ft. and issued every 6 hours. Hope this helps.

Craig,

 

Nice to know - thanks for that!

 

DJ

You can get those charts here: http://aviationweather.gov/iffdp/

Thanks, GrahamBu. I have it bookmarketed automatically and could not recall the actual URL.

 

BTW, in response to the OP, DWC mode has a real problem with simulating correct temperatures during climbs and descents. If you just like pretty scenery and use default aircraft, you probably woudn't know the difference but using the Concorde simulation, particularly if it is the Flightsimlabs model it will make a big difference. Let me explain.

 

Engine performance is directly related to the density of the atmosphere at a given level of flight (thus based on ambient temperature and pressure). The Concorde was designed to operate at the extremes of its flight envelope and the FSL team has realistically simulated this. If you are a RW pilot then you are fully aware of what I am about to explain, but for the sake of many enthusiasts who are not, I will put it out here.

 

As altitude increases the atmosphere becomes thinner (the air molecules are spread out over an increasing volume) and this lowers the kinetic energy measured as ambient temperature. The average of this effect with increasing altitude is known as the standard "lapse" rate which on earth is approximately 2 degrees Celsius per 1000 feet in the Troposphere. At some altitude the temperature stops decreasing and stabilizes. This layer of atmosphere is known as the Tropopause and it is higher near the equator and lower near the poles...higher in summer and lower in winter seasons, but averages about 35000 feet MSL. Above it is the Stratosphere. It is a layer where temperatures actually increase slightly with altitude.

 

Putting this in practical perspective: since the Concorde is designed to transport a weight of 200 MT at Mach 2.00, it needs to make use of this decreasing pressure and temperature with altitude. Fortunately FSX did model these phenomena correctly (temperature, pressure lapse). ASE and AS2012 in DWC mode, however, do not correctly simulate this lapse rate for ambient temperature. Since both programs receive weather data in layers:(surface, 3000 ft, 6000 ft, 12000 ft, etc) they only send the correct ambient (outside) temperature to FSX via simconnect when the aircraft crosses one of these discrete altitudes and then FSX will not activate it for another 1500 feet or so (in climbs and descents). As a result temperature changes will be in sudden steps instead of continuous as in real world. The problem has been noted in several threads and Damian claimed to have a solution in the last AS2012 Beta fix but it did not prove out. Fortunately, AS2012 STANDARD MODE DOES lapse the temperatures correctly and will result in correct ConcordeX climb/descent performance as well as fairly accurate high level temps at cruise. We just have to put up with the occasional frame rate hit.

 

According to Brian Calvert in his book, "Flying Concorde" (which is the definitive layman's book on Concorde systems, design, and performance) the intial climb to FL270 or FL280, Mach .95 is performed as outlined in the ConcordeX manual. The Mach climbout is procedurally correct in the ConcordeX manual but the RW Concorde was designed so that at full throttle and Max Clmb setting on the MCP the aircraft would automatically adjust its climb rate as it accelerated according to the atmospheric pressure and ambient temperatures it was experiencing throughout the climb. The Flight engineer coordinated the rearward transfer of the center of gravity to accomodate this. ConcordeX has really modeled this to perfection.

 

If following the tutorial correctly, the aircraft should be climbing at about 800 fpm with full throttle power as the Re-lights are activated, and continue this profile until just over Mach 1.02 and then Max Clmb mode should be enabled and the aircraft will automatically accelerate as it climbs. The following schedule is based on Standard Temperature/Pressure, no wind, and standard lapse rates. The aircraft will adjust it's rate of climb in accordance with variations in pressure and temperature and will still maintain the following speed/altitude schedule almost exactly. The time and distance required to reach each speed and altitude, however, will be dependent on winds and lapse rate variations.

 

Initially the aircraft will have climbed to about FL300 by the time it has accelerated to Mach 1.03.

Expect M1.20 by about FL350

Expect M1.40 by about FL385

Expect M1.60 by about FL420

Relights OFF at M1.70

Expect M1.80 by about FL455

Expect M1.90 by about FL480

and then just before FL500 the aircraft should have reached M2.00.

 

The Concorde is limited to a skin temperature of 127 C degrees, however. During winter, flights in the high latitudes will often result in higher than standard ambient temps up in the Stratosphere and this can limit airspeed to below M2.00 due to this skin temperature limit.

 

Higher OAT will result in slower climbs and acceleration. Conversely, lower OAT (summer or Tropic flights) will result in faster and higher climbs and accelerations.

 

Ambient temps and lapse rates also affect the descent distances but following the correct procedure as outlined in the tutorial the following results should be attained:

 

Initially slowdown at final cruise altitude should yield 350 KIAS at about M1.66 or so (OAT and altitude dependent), From that point the aircraft will begin its constant 350 KIAS descent to its submach target altitude.

 

Expect M1.60 at FL542

Expect M1.40 at FL500

Expect M1.30 at FL470

Expect M1.20 at FL440

Expect M1.10 at FL420

 

In order to slow to M.95 (submach cruise speed) it is necessary to set throttles to idle and use 1000 FPM V/S descent started about 2000 ft above target altitude. Use Mach hold descent once M.95 is attained.

 

You should have similar results if using the correct procedure along with STANDARD AS2012 mode. Good luck!