http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=T7wmyx__l-s

 

Rather crazy windy it would seem, looks like he made a smart choice. How is he suppose to land safely then? Does he just try again and hope for less wind next go around or what?

Wow thanks for that. It also shows how fast that accelerated once he decided to abort!

 

Try again or find another airport.

Yeah, it looks crazy. People on the left side of the plane can see down the runway fairly easily, I'm sure that would be a bit disconcerting to most of them.

This was an Amazing Aircraft !!!

Regarding the video, I was wondering. If my books are right, Concorde was a (very?) good crosswind performer. So the actual amount of wind may, to a certain extent, not have been the problem. I could think of the lineup itself and even the height above the ground rendering that approach a go-around. He/she looks too high from that perspective.

 

But it's hard to tell from the video as I don't know what the context of the landing was. Touch and go for new pilots maybe? Either way, I always enjoy seeing her flying. Limited to videos. :(

 

Here's another nice one.

Noting the last video, I don't quite understand why there is so much water vapor from wings on this plane compared to none on others?

Noting the last video, I don't quite understand why there is so much water vapor from wings on this plane compared to none on others?

 

High humidity.

 

Hook

Noting the last video, I don't quite understand why there is so much water vapor from wings on this plane compared to none on others?

 

It was due to the delta wing the aircraft used. Very commonly seen on Concorde landings.

 

Rather crazy windy it would seem, looks like he made a smart choice. How is he suppose to land safely then? Does he just try again and hope for less wind next go around or what?

 

With a proper fuel plan they should have enough fuel for a go around plus diversion to alternate.

Noting the last video, I don't quite understand why there is so much water vapor from wings on this plane compared to none on others?

Yes, very common experience with Concorde. Keep in mind that, if the pressure goes down, the water the air can 'carry' goes down too. So when you run big structures through the air (wings) and let them develop different regions of pressure (lift creation in a limited nutshell), you will see those regions where the pressure dropped fast coming alive.

 

You can also see this on normal planes/wings or even when huge engines go to takeoff power and form low pressure regions right in front of them around the intake. As Hook says, the high humidity setup of the surrounding air stresses that (visible) effect some more. The lower the pressure gets, the less water can be carried, the more of the 'too much' water will vaporize. If you starting point only offers very dry air, the effect is reduced or doesn't really show up as being visible to the human eye.

 

We've left out the speed of the actual pressure drop. It has quite a relevance though when it comes to seeing the water actually vaporizing. The water always goes away when the pressure drops, but you usually don't see it.

 

Now with the delta wing and the very high angle of attack flown on the approach, the phenomenon may be more prominent. Concorde didn't have any high lift devices (well, it used its elevons a bit though), so the only way to get lift out of that wing at low speeds was that high angle of attack. And that's a thing a delta wing can do, although coming with a very high demand on the needed thrust.

 

So, for example, to prevent too much noise at the approach with Concorde, you had to keep her a bit faster as long as you could. Less thrust was needed for this and she came in quieter. To fly slower, more thrust was needed as the drag of the structure went up due to the angle in regard to the forward motion plus the so called induced drag being a result of the lift produced.

 

And that angle together with the long nose formed up the need for the droop nose. You need that nose for the supersonic operation but it gets in the way for anything demanding a slow flight regime.

It was due to the delta wing the aircraft used. Very commonly seen on Concorde landings.

 

It happens to all wings with high humidity.

Here's a nice one where the engines cause the fast pressure drop.

Geez, I have quite a BA focus when it comes to videos. ^_^

 

And when the pressure drops too much, other things.. don't vaporize.

I've posted that video before. I admit. Can't help, it's hilarious, in a very surreal way.

Water vapour clouds forming over a/c wings is a normal daily experience and is due to the pressure drop. Concorde, however produced vapour clouds more frequently than other a/c because its delta wing design created the necessary lift in a different way to a normal straight or swept wing in that instead of forming a pressure ridge aft of the leading edge (as in normal wing) it created a vortex instead. This is why it had such a high nose up attitude on take-off and landing. Otherwise it couldn't create the vortex.

necessary lift in a different way to a normal straight or swept wing in that instead of forming a pressure ridge aft of the leading edge (as in normal wing) it created a vortex instead. This is why it had such a high nose up attitude on take-off and landing. Otherwise it couldn't create the vortex.

 

What is this vortex you speak of that normal wings don't create?

Pretty sure that was Leeds Bradford International airport in the 80s (EGNM). First landing was aborted but 2nd was successful.