FS Labs Concorde 32-bit - the long goodbye.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,942]

I've had the 32-bit Concorde for FSX and later P3D v3 on various computers for over 10 years. In all that time it has given me immense satisfaction - more than any other aircraft I have owned.

But after years of development the 64-bit version is now very close. The last announcement from FSL suggested a Q1 2023 release.

That leaves just over a month before I might be installing. I have to say "might" since we still have no confirmation of a release date. So I continue to fly the 32-bit version with all its drawbacks. But it's such a great flight model and a true reference aircraft I still gain a huge amount of pleasure flying it.

Today's flight is Lisbon, Portugal to Grantley Adams, Barbados. I departed at 12:24Z and will be arriving around 15:40Z. 3,111 nm in under 4 hours.

Here's a couple of screenshots. First is the FE panel showing the state as tanks 9 and 10 are empty and I'm about to pump from the two wing tip tanks into 5 and 7. All the switches work and I'm handling it manually. A Virtual FE option is available which I used for several years.

The second shot from outside shows the ramps lowered to reduce the speed of air entering the engines. Computer controlled and without them supersonic flight would have been impossible.

Resolution is not optimum as I have to run at 1920*1080 on a 4K monitor. The days of doing that are hopefully numbered. Thanks for over 10 years of great service.

[jcomm 5,910]

Hmmmm, I was around but I didn't hear the Roar of your Olympouses passing by?

🙂

Thx for sharing, and, yes, that release should make e install at least a 1 month LM license, because I ave also been missing the FSLabs 319 and 320 ...

[polosim 841]

Farewell!!!!

A beautiful creation, no doubt.

Good news are better is yet to come.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,942]

6 minutes ago, cagarini said:

Hmmmm, I was around but I didn't hear the Roar of your Olympouses passing by?

😁 BUSEN departure off 02 means a big right turn heading south and then another right turn to head out into the Atlantic. With 89T of fuel it took around 16 minutes to go supersonic.

Once you're over ocean P3D is fine. Nothing beneath you except clouds and slow Airbuses and Boeings.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,942]

I failed to mention the rotate speed. 186kts today with 84 pax and 89T of fuel.

[Dazkent 113]

She sure looks a beauty and with all those dials I wouldn't know where to start!

 

 

[Ray Proudfoot 8,942]

9 minutes ago, Dazkent said:

She sure looks a beauty and with all those dials I wouldn't know where to start!

There's no doubt it's a challenging aircraft to fly and has a completely different flight profile to Boeing and Airbus. I spent one summer reading a printed LHR-JFK tutorial flight and I learned a lot from that.

Bear in mind too that many actions can be assigned to a virtual flight engineer easing your workload considerably such as fuel management. In many ways it's a simpler aircraft to fly than the modern jet with all its computer controls.

And the speed... it takes your breath away. With a 8kt headwind at FL530 my ground speed is 1114kts / 1281mph.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,942]

Just landed. 3h 22m from throttles forward to wheels down. It's very satisfying having to work out the decel point to ensure you're subsonic 55nm from land. Don't want anyone to be complaining about the sonic boom.😁

[Afterburner 374]

When I started reading your first post here, I thought that you were going to announce your last flight with 32-bit Concorde-X and that you would remove this plane with P3Dv3 from your computer after landing.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,942]

@Afterburner, that’s why I included “the long goodbye” in the title. We both know anticipated release dates are very flexible. Andrew’s post appeared to be more of a hopeful than expected release period despite it covering 3 months.

The lack of any further screenshots and news is disappointing. But that goes with the territory I’m afraid. I’m sure it will be a great aircraft but Father Time stands still for no man. (or woman). ☹️

[chapstick 2,757]

I still can't believe FSL broadcasted a Q1 release window. They're setting themselves up to really disappoint folks. 🤦‍♂️

[DavidP 1,410]

44 minutes ago, Chapstick said:

They're setting themselves up to really disappoint folks. 

I think most people who have been simming for any length of time would know to take that with a massive grain of salt.

[Nuno Pinto 1,395]

They're still working on P3D addons? Reminds me of Eaglesoft and their x86 releases... It's been months since i visited their forums, i thought they would be working on some MSFS stuff, but apparently no.

Edited February 20, 2023 by Nuno Pinto

[Ray Proudfoot 8,942]

33 minutes ago, Nuno Pinto said:

They're still working on P3D addons?

The work on the 64-bit P3D version started before MSFS was announced. It’s been that long. You don’t throw away all that work.

A MSFS version is in the pipeline - release date unknown.

[Wise87 1,280]

2 hours ago, Chapstick said:

I still can't believe FSL broadcasted a Q1 release window. They're setting themselves up to really disappoint folks. 🤦‍♂️

I can't wait to see how this topic goes if FSLabs doesn't release in Q1, 2023. Excpet for the First Look posting there hasn't been much else. At lease with the Airbus release we had more photos, videos, etc prior to the release to get the customers excited.