Concorde...A Challenge

[Hans_Petter 1]

Ansgar, sorry about being negative regarding the Concorde. If you make one I'll certainly try to fly it. We all have different preferences and there's no need to agree on everything. However, one thing we all agree on is that your FU3 aircraft are superb. Even though we lack the option to make flights from one continent to another we can make longer flights with the outer terrain installed. One might also return to the airport of departure after a flight along the coast or out over the ocean.Apart from creating a beautiful model (as I know you will) there are special challenges in flight dynamics and features. For instance, the Concorde uses an afterburner to boost power during take-off. Then it climbs to a cruise level far above the capability of normal fanjets and flies at several times the speed of sound.Once you cross the sound barrier there'll be terrific stability issues. The Concorde has a few things in common with space shuttles once it reaches cruise speed and altitude. The reason that the sound barrier has anything to do with flight dynamics is that it's the speed that a pressure wave will propagate in air. The deal is that a supersonic aircraft flies faster than its pressure wave and the speed of sound just coincides with this shift in dynamics, being subject to the same laws of physics. Yes, there's a lot of hefty physics to explain here and it's all way beyond me. A working analogy, however, is to compare a displacement boat with an ocean racer. The "normal" boat is cradled by the water and creates a bow wave as well as a wake. As the boat bobs and rolls the water will dampen any movement and keep it stable. The racer is sliding on top of the water and this water is hardly interacting with the vessel at all. Any minor instability and the racer will flip or roll, bounce along the rock-hard water and be ripped to pieces. By the same token, at supersonic speeds the wing is not seeing the nice Bernoulli flow pattern over and around it--the wing is surfing on "hard" air and is prone to flipping over. Advanced computers are used to provide split-second adjustments to the control surfaces, to catch any tendency to flip or roll immediately. There's no handflying a Concorde across the Atlantic. While subsonic aircraft are true to the angle of attack (stop bouncing it around and it will return to stable flight) the supersonic aircraft is inherently unstable and may veer in any direction on short notice, with no tendency to return to what it was doing. By the way, does anyone know how FU3 models the atmosphere?Needless to say, the Concorde returns to stable, subsonic flight once the speed drops.best regards,Hans Petter

[Guest Ansgar]

Dear Hans Petter,Oh I love all this nice people here,..... but don

[Christopher Low 5,352]

Ansgar,You are no doubt well aware that I would only be flying it at "Baron" speeds anyway ! :-)Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest Quaxo]

Hi Ansgar,Just a little note - I would love to see the Concorde, but the flaps won't be a problem - as the Concorde doesn't have any flaps! :-)Cristian

[Guest Ansgar]

Suuuuuuperb Cristian and Chris! Several problems are solved before I started anything about it;-)1. we need no flaps2. it

[Hans_Petter 1]

Ansgar: I've been slow to finish the Baron textures. You've just inspired me to take this a bit further tonight. What needs to be done before I upload the Big Red again are:1) Fine-tuning all if the red trim2) Repainting the interior. The pilots have been modified already.3) Get the new panel finshed (Steve's work)Cristian: You say no flaps for the Concorde. I didn't know that. However, I would be very surprised if it has no means of increasing the wing surface / slowing down for take-off or landing. Slats or spoilerons? Chris: Even the landing speed is quite high and Baron dynamics won't do, not even around the airports :-)Hans Petter

[Guest]

Isn't the scenery from the Millenium Map? The photos were taken in 1999/2000 and they must have captured the London Eye before it was pulled upright in the middle of 1999, wasn't it!?!By the way, go Ansgar go! I want to fly that Concorde!! Went to school just outside Reading in the 80's and it came over us at 18:18 each weekday with an impressive roar. You could hardly hear the other aircraft in the flighpath. It also came over at 10:30 on a Sunday morning. In the 10am service the Vicar would actually have to stop talking. I shall always be thankful to Concorde for that!Graeme

[Guest Quaxo]

Hans,As far as I know, the Concorde has no "lift-increasing" systems. It has to land with the same wing configuration it has on supersonic flight. That's why its landing speed is so high (and it needs LONG runways)... And that's why the angle of attack is so high on landing, giving that "nose-up" attitude.The only moving parts on the Concorde's wing are the 6 trailing edge elevons.For a huge amount of info about Concorde, see this site:www.concordesst.comCristian

[Christopher Low 5,352]

Hans,I wasn't seriously suggesting that Concorde could fly at "Baron approach and landing speeds" :-eek I was simply reminding everyone that my own particular copy of this plane would never even APPROACH supersonic flight :-)Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest Ansgar]

Hello Cristian!Boy thats what I name a perfect link for Concorde fan