With RC, how do I fly a Concorde flight correctly? That is, how am I able to file an initial altitude of around FL240? Then climb to FL490 and simply drift upwards from there with out altitude assignments, and finally descend to ~FL350 at a certain point and continue normally?Ryan GamurotLucky to live Hawai'ihttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/supporter.jpg

Hi Ryan,Good timing! I flew a couple of Concorde hops over the weekend.<I've tried both methods of filing FL280 (the optimum sub-sonic FL) and later requesting FL570 and filing FL570 at the outset. In my opinion the best one depends on your flight plan and how soon you are able to exceed Mach 1.For example, for a KJFK-EGLL flight I would file FL570 as the departure soon has you over the Atlantic. For EGLL-KJFK I would file FL280 and then request FL570 once at the Accel point in the Bristol Channel.During cruise/climb just maintain a climb rate of 200fpm or greater and you'll be fine. With a slower climb rate RC won't detect you're climbing and you'll get told off.The final point about being at FL350 at a certain point is the trickiest. I assume this is to ensure you're below Mach 1 30-40 miles before landfall? In this case I would request a lower altitude at the point where you want to start your descent assuming RC hasn't already started you down. If it has then continue to request lower so you can reach FL350 when necessary.You will have to manually calculate your ToD point. Use 350kts and 3,000fpm as a descent rate for determining your descent profile. Generally the descent starts around 210 miles from the destination when at FL570.We did start to include a descent profile into v4 but it never made it to the final product. I imagine it will be picked up in v5 in due course.Hope that helps.

Hi Ray,Thanks for the response. So I guess there isn't a way to let Concorde drift? Maybe in V5, anything above FL450 could just have freedom of altitude since nothing else should be up there. (Except spy planes and ET, but I don't believe they're modelled.) Or perhaps have some sort of option specifically for Concorde flights.Ryan GamurotLucky to live Hawai'ihttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/supporter.jpg

Hi Ryan,By drift I assume you mean change altitude to maintain Mach 2? If so then no, you can't drift because once you stop climbing or start descending without permission RC will chastise you. Fair point about the altitude though. There shouldn't be any other civilian traffic up there.Whether exceptions can be made for a single aircraft is debatable but I'll mention it to JD once the bulk of work is done on v5 and perhaps we can include something.I made sure the BA Concorde had its own callsign :-) I hope you're not flying any other livery ;-)Cheers,

I think we're on the same page but just to make sure, what I mean by drift is allowing Concorde to climb gradually on it's own as it burns up fuel and lightens up. This is when Concorde reaches ~FL490 and then the autopilot is programmed to hold speed and ATTITUDE instead of altitude. With the aircraft holding it's attitude and speed, instead of lowering the nose to hold altitude, the nose maintains it's pitch and causes the aircraft to slowly "drift" upwards as it becomes lighter.Ryan GamurotLucky to live Hawai'ihttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/supporter.jpg

Hi Ryan,<>Yes, we're pretty much on the same page but with a slight difference of opinion on the cruise/climb phase of the flight. I don't know whether you have the ITVV Concorde DVD but in it the pilot explains how this phase of the flight works. Essentially once Concorde has reached Mach 2 around FL500 the autopilot is programmed to maintain Mach 2 with a (normally) continuous upward drift but if due to temperature levels that becomes impossible then it will either level out or even descend slightly to maintain Mach 2. We're talking small changes but the primary objective is to maintain Mach 2 whereever possible. A change in the aircraft's attitude will almost certainly mean a change in altitude. I don't see how you can have one without the other.There is one further caveat. If the TMO on the nose exceeds 127C then it needs to "slow down or go down". The upper air temperatures over the North Atlantic are often higher than near the topics strangely enough and Concorde rarely achieved FL590 on the transatlantic hops.Cheers,

I'm trying to get the ITVV DVD but my last pay check is a little late. Thanks for all that info. I usually fly between Honolulu and the West Coast anyway. I know it isn't a real route but it's close to home. It's strange that the temperature is warmer over the Atlantic though verses the tropics.Ryan GamurotLucky to live Hawai'ihttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/supporter.jpg

Hi Ryan,For someone who hasn't seen the ITVV DVD you'e remarkably well informed. Watching it taught me so much about Concorde and how it is flown.At a recent flight sim show here in England the captain on that DVD was on one of the stands as a guest. Although I didn't manage to chat long to him it was a real privilege to meet him. He's retired now and doesn't forsee Concorde ever getting back into the skies. A real pity.If you're flying from Hawaii to the USA west coast you should be able to get to Mach 2 within 15 minutes of take-off. It really is a quick bird! The lower temperatures in the tropics are all to do with the troposphere.Cheers,

>For someone who hasn't seen the ITVV DVD you'e remarkably well>informed. Watching it taught me so much about Concorde and how>it is flown.Thanks. Not bad for a 19 year old, huh? I've read a few books on the aircraft and have been flying different types of Concordes since FS2000.>At a recent flight sim show here in England the captain on>that DVD was on one of the stands as a guest. Although I>didn't manage to chat long to him it was a real privilege to>meet him. He's retired now and doesn't forsee Concorde ever>getting back into the skies. A real pity.I really think the best thing to do is make a brand new fleet. Boeing did that with the 747. Concorde is similar in that it was something that worked but could use updating and some modifications. The aircraft's aerodynamic design works and we all know what needs to be fixed. All they need to do is update the avionics and navigation equipment. Then design newer engines that are far more fuel efficient and more powerful which really shouldn't be that hard with today's knowledge and technology. Also, with the complaints about the weight of the nose equipment, I'm sure we have something lighter that can do the job.As for the other safety modifications, they pretty much have a chance to start all over with new technology. I'm very sure if they decide to do this, Concorde would be even better than before. Who knows, it might even be a little faster too.Ryan GamurotLucky to live Hawai'ihttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/supporter.jpg

Ryan and Ray,I'm no Concorde expert (last time I flew one was back in FS98), but perhaps requesting deviation for turbulance would solve the problem. Unlike deviations for wx which is waypoint dependant, deviations for turbulance can be selected as soon as you're with centre, and it'll stay on until landing.So you could file for FL280, then request FL570, then request deviations for turbulance, and do your drift upwards thing as required.Subs

You know what, that's an excellent idea. I never thought of that before and believe it should work. Good thinking.Ryan GamurotLucky to live Hawai'ihttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/supporter.jpg

Hi Ryan,The biggest problem with Concorde and which modern technology still cannot resolve is the sonic boom. That prevents any supersonic flights over populated areas. Until that is resolved supersonic travel is impossible. And if you don't think it's very loud listen to this

. It takes your breath away - literally! :-hah Sadly there's no chance of another supersonic passenger aircraft in our lifetime. It would be great to see her airborne again if only at air shows.Cheers,

Hi Subs,Would the request for deviation for turbulence allow a descent as well as a climb? IOW you have complete freedom over altitude?If so then it's a great workaround. Well done.

Yes, it would work for descent as well. Req for Turb is actually just turning the altitude watchdog off (or at least the end result is as such), so in the vertical profile you can be where you're not supposed to be and not get yelled at.For the Concorde boys, this would also allow you to climb/descend at less than the allowable V/S detected by RC. Eg you can shallow climb at 5ft/min and RC would not care, because the watchdog is off anyway.Subs

Hi Subs,So we could use the same switch for Concorde as well as turbulence deviations. JD, I hope you're reading this :-) Something to consider for the future please although for Concorde the switch would need to be set to off once the descent phase starts.Cheers,