FSLabs Concorde Released

[Ray Proudfoot 8,960]

The left IAS HOLD is linked to the autothrottles and will vary thrust to maintain IAS.

 

The right IAS HOLD only works with AT1&2 off and pitches the aircraft to hold the IAS input. The descent rate can be fine tuned by manually adjusting thrust.

 

Below Mach 1 thrust should be reduced to idle and to maintain 350kts the aircraft pitched down. Descent rates can exceed 6000fpm which is perfectly normal.

 

Concorde was designed to fly as fast as possible for as long as possible then descend quickly.

[Ted Striker 338]

6000 FPM is normal! Isn't that pitch attitude going to slosh the champagne onto the caviar in back.  

 

Ray, you are really tempting me to get this plane. My most flown aircraft is the Eaglesoft Citation X,  which is also in need of some fresh VC makeup. I don't notice it anymore so I expect it would be the same with the Concorde. The Concorde sure seems like it would be interesting to fly.

 

Is there still a problem using the Concorde with triple monitors or high resolution? I read about a potential fix awhile ago. I use  a 3840 x 1024 triple screen setup. Going back to one screen would be like putting blinders on. If that is required I know I would rarely fly the Concorde.

 

Ted

[Ray Proudfoot 8,960]

Ted,

 

No, 6000fpm only resulted in a shallow downward angle. Not a problem for pressurisation either as it was superior to any other civilian aircraft.

 

It's an aircraft like no other Ted and will seriously test your skills. It's not difficult to hand fly but most of the time the AFCS (autopilot) is engaged as like other aircraft.

 

On a light fuel load for a flight from EGCC to LPPT (Manchester - Lisbon) it climbs at up to 8000fpm when reheats are engaged. And it gets from Mach 0.95 to Mach 1.7 in a little under 9 minutes.

 

There are workarounds for those running high res displays. Resizing the FS window to 1920*1080 works well. Running at 3840*1024 will use up all VAS resulting in a OOM.

 

If 3840*1080 is more important than flying at Mach 2 then you are missing out on a lot of fun.

[pschlute 37]

Finally bought this great aircraft and I must say, despite it being an old dog in terms of visuals it is a joy to learn to fly. I have one question though..following the tutorial on the descent part, it says that at 350kts I have to engage IAS HOLD. A minute earlier it was mentioned that AT1 must be switched off at the DECEL point. Problem is I can't get IAS HOLD to engage without AT1 being active, thus resulting in airspeed drop. Is that an error in the tutorial or am I doing something wrong?

 

If you are used to a Boeing style MCP think of it like this.

 

The A/T IAS/MACH controls on the left work like the SPD mode on a Boeing, and you can select current MACH hold;current IAS hold; or IAS select with the dial window. You would use these below supersonic speeds in level flight,  or in V/S or Pitch mode when making small changes in altitude.

 

The A/P IAS/MACH controls on the right work like the Level Change mode on a Boeing with the important difference being that without any "FMC" to control climb or idle thrust, the throttles are positioned manually.

The IAS climb function would normally be used once the aircraft had accelerated to its subsonic climb speed of just below 400 IAS (although can be used at lower speeds eg.250 IAS. The datum adjust button is used to fine tune the exact speed, not the speed window. This is the best climb mode and would be used until any levelling off (London-NY) or the beginning of the transonic climb. At the start of transonic climb phase you want to switch to MAX CLIMB. The IAS/MACH climb modes are performed with the throttles fully forward, but no reheat.

 

The IAS/MACH descent modes are as you have already been told. Normal procedure is to pull back the throttles to the 18 degree position (or 24 degrees if temperature is ISA-11 or colder), when speed slows to 350 IAS lower the nose using pitch and when in stable descent at 350 IAS use IAS HOLD. At M1.6 reduce throttles (slowly!) to 34 degrees, and then below M1.0 to idle thrust.

[armchair_pilot 54]

Many thanks for the clarification guys, now I understand. Time to bring the Concorde down and finish the tutorial this evening

[Ted Striker 338]

 

 

If 3840*1080 is more important than flying at Mach 2 then you are missing out on a lot of fun.

Thanks for the response Ray. I'm sure I will get the Concorde eventually as it is such a unique aircraft and the systems modeling seem to be extensive and very well executed. The enthusiasm of the owners in this thread is very apparent also. This is my type of aircraft addon as I tend to buy complex aircraft and then spend a long time learning each thoroughly. Problem is I have a backlog of about 7 planes that I have purchased and never installed yet. Although every time this thread pops up I think, this one is really different, I should try it next.

 

Ted 

[Ray Proudfoot 8,960]

Ted,

 

If you like complexity then you won't be disappointed with Concorde. :wink:  FS Labs provide documentation second to none with a 288 page Flight Manual and a tutorial of 154 pages. I printed the tutorial and took it out into the garden last summer and read it thoroughly so by the time autumn arrived I was reasonably knowledgeable on the systems unique to that aircraft.

 

With a 737-800 I fly using Project Magenta and Concorde I don't need any other aircraft. In any case my brain's full so I couldn't learn any others!

[Ted Striker 338]

I went to the FSlabs website to look for more information on the high resolution monitor VAS work arounds and found a thread by be77solo that linked me back to earlier pages in this thread. Pages I thought I had read, but apparently not. Looks like be77solo found a way to make the Concorde work with high res monitors. I noticed that armchair_pilot, who has a higher resolution monitor than I do, was also concerned about this. He bought the Concorde and seems to be pleased with it. Maybe I will be able to have my cake and eat it too. :Big Grin:

 

So Ray, you can tell FSLabs that you earned your commission today. I just bought the Concorde-X for P3D. I need to finish the install of P3dv3.2 and my scenery before I can take this to the sky though....not to mention the 288 + 154 pages of light reading. Looking forward to it. I've wanted this bird since it came out for FS9.

 

Ted

[Ray Proudfoot 8,960]

Hi Ted,

 

Glad you found the info you needed on screen res. Whatever you do do not attempt to fly this aircraft until you have at least read the tutorial. It won't end well. :wink:

 

I'm pleased I was able to convince you it's a worthwhile purchase. You're going to save so much time with Concorde because the longest flight time is 4 hours. But that's enough to get you from London to Barbados where wealthy Brits enjoyed a break from the gloomy winter weather.

 

Another interesting flight is Helsinki - Anchorage flying right over the Pole. Concorde could do that because its INS navigation system uses TRUE headings, not MAG. You arrive several hours before you departed! :Big Grin:

 

Don't forget to ask any questions on the FS Labs forum if you need any help. :smile:

[Ted Striker 338]

What! No Ctrl-E and go? Where's the refund button!

 

No, I fully expect to have to do a lot of studying before I attempt a flight. A good part of the addiction of flight simming to me is using the more realistically modeled sim aircraft to learn how the real aircraft operated.

 

May be awhile before you see me on the forums. I've got a lot of homework to do first. But I'll be there.

 

Thanks, Ted
 

[Ray Proudfoot 8,960]

Don't worry Ted, Concorde has CTRL+E to start the engines. :wink:  That was put in for the ladies. :Big Grin:

 

But before you can start the engines you need power. And the default panel state is Cold & Dark. First job is to get some power to the aircraft.

 

Concorde had no APU so you need to connect to GND PWR. Oh yes, then you need to align the 3 INS systems so Concorde knew where it was.

 

It's a piece of cake once you've done it 5000 times. :Big Grin:

[armchair_pilot 54]

Finished the tutorial yesterday and I have to say I'm impressed and a bit lost at the same time. How can a human being manage to remember where all those switches are? Even with the checklists and panel shortcuts it's still not that easy.

Another thing on the tutorial, when you autoland on 31L, is it normal that the aircraft floats some time over the runway at 5-10 feet before touchdown? Because there is no way I could get her to stop at exit Victor as described in the tutorial, even with almost full reverse thrust.

 

@ Ted I haven't had issues yet with high resolution, mainly because I haven't done a complete flight in a single run yet. Will do some tests today to see what my remaining VAS is at when I load the aircraft at a busy payware airport. I guess when there's more than 1GB left it should be no problem. 

[Ray Proudfoot 8,960]

ap,

 

Familiarity will make things easier. I was the same as you but with repeated usage you do remember where switches are.

 

At 15ft callout disengage autothrottles and a/p. Reduce throttles to idle and very soon after the main gear touches down. Press F2 to engage idle reverse and then push the stick forward to force the nose-wheel down. When it touches engage reverse thrust and apply manual braking.

 

Inner reverse off at 100kts, outer reverse off at 70kts. Continue to apply brakes until 15kts.

[Ted Striker 338]

That was put in for the ladies. :Big Grin:

Good! I'll tell the finance director that I got this one because she can fly it also.

 

 

I haven't had issues yet with high resolution, mainly because I haven't done a complete flight in a single run yet.

This sounds good to me. The initial reports I read indicated that you couldn't even load the plane with a high resolution monitor.

 

Ted

[overspeed3 410]

Never mind the CTRL+E humor - I purchased the Concorde a month ago, and have Steam.  Many of my keys or shortcuts are not either not responsive, or there is a delay in execution. Can't even get rid of the FSX taskbar on top. Tried one solution in this thread to un-check the box in Steam "Enable Steam Overlay In-Game" as a possible solution. But the box just reverts back to "checked" when Steam is re-started. No joy.  Went to the FS Labs forum for this problem - no solution there either.  I have tried to take the Concorde up for some "test" flights, but the keyboard problem makes it difficult to fly. I am perplexed. Don't know if remapping keys in FSUIPC would help? Anybody else have this problem or possible solution?