Flight Notes

Concorde is the world's only supersonic jetliner. Developed cooperatively in the late 1960s by the British and the French, it has been in revenue service for nearly three decades. Concorde is capable of flight at Mach 2, twice the speed of sound, and makes the Atlantic crossing from London to New York in 3 ½ hours.

Concorde is a very sophisticated and complex machine. Flying this aircraft requires attention to many details. Among them are fuel distribution to maintain proper center of gravity (CG), and pitch attitude on final approach and landing. (If aircraft Realism Settings are not set to the highest level, fuel distribution will be managed automatically for you in Flight Simulator.)

As with all of the Flight Simulator aircraft, the V-speeds and checklists are located on the kneeboard. To access the kneeboard while flying, press F10, or click the Aircraft menu and then click Kneeboard.

Important: All speeds given in Flight Notes are indicated airspeeds. If you’re using these speeds as reference, be sure that you have the Aircraft Realism Settings set to “Display Indicated Airspeed”. Speeds listed in the performance tables are shown as true airspeeds.

Note: Many factors affect flight planning and aircraft operation, including aircraft weight, weather, and runway surface. The recommended flight parameters listed below are intended to give approximations for flights at maximum takeoff or landing weight under ISA conditions. These instructions are no substitute for using the actual aircraft manual.

INDEX

Required runway length
Engine Startup
Taxiing
Flaps
Takeoff
Climb
Cruise
Descent
Approach
Landing
Stalls
Autopilot

Required runway length

Takeoff: 9,000 ft (2,743 m)
Landing: 9,000 ft (2,743 m)

The length required for both takeoff and landing is a result of a number of factors such as aircraft weight, altitude, headwind, use of flaps, and ambient temperature. The figures here are conservative and assume:

Weight: 408,000 lb (185,066 kg)
Altitude: sea level
Wind: no headwind
Temperature: 15C

Lower weights and temperatures will result in better performance, as will having a headwind component. Higher altitudes and temperatures will degrade performance.

Engine startup

The engines are running by default when you begin a flight. If you shut the engines down, it is possible to initiate an auto-startup sequence by pressing CTRL+E on your keyboard.

Taxiing

Taxi and takeoff are always performed with the nose and visor down in the 5-degrees down position (press F7 or drag the VIS/NS lever).
As with all aircraft, especially heavy ones, Concorde's taxi speed should be kept to a manageable level.
Idle thrust is adequate for taxiing under most conditions but you'll need a slightly higher thrust setting to get the aircraft rolling (use the joystick throttle, press F3 or drag the throttle levers).
Allow time for response after each thrust change before changing the thrust setting again.
The rudder pedals are used for directional control during taxiing (twist the joystick, use rudder pedals, or press 0 (left) or ENTER (right) on the numeric keypad).

Flaps

Concorde does not have flaps.

Takeoff is always performed with full power and afterburners (reheats) on.
Advance the throttle levers to full power (use the joystick throttle, press F4 or drag the thrust levers).

• Turn the afterburners ON (press SHIFT+F4).On takeoff, the pilot typically rotates to around 13 degrees nose up. You'll usually be at 10 degrees nose up just as the wheels leave the runway.·
• V1, approximately 165 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS), is decision speed. Above this speed it may not be possible to stop the aircraft on the runway in case of a rejected takeoff (RTO). ·
• At Vr, approximately 190 KIAS, smoothly pull the stick (or yoke) back to raise the nose to 10 degrees above the horizon. Hold this pitch attitude.At V2, approximately 210 KIAS, the aircraft has reached its takeoff safety speed. This is the minimum safe flying speed should an engine fail. Hold this speed until you get a positive rate of climb.Once you have a positive rate of climb (both vertical speed and altitude are increasing), retract the landing gear (press G or drag the landing gear lever).
  

Climb

• Accelerate towards 250 knots, the initial climbout speed. Then pitch up as necessary to maintain 250 KIAS. This pitch is typically 18 to 20 degrees nose up.
• When flying a departure that is particularly noise sensitive, such as the JFK departure, as you approach the noise-reduction point (which usually occurs 1 min 18 sec after full power) the pilot flying calls out "3-2-1-noise." At this point, rotate the nose down to maintain 250 KIAS and turn the afterburners OFF (press SHIFT+F4).
  Dependent on aircraft weight and outside air temp, the climb power setting is designed to produce a 3% climb gradient. (+ an additional 2% if turning towards Woodley when leaving Heathrow).
• Passing through 270 KIAS is the cue for moving the nose/visor up or down as appropriate. In this case (takeoff) you will be raising the nose and bringing the visor up (drag the VIS/NS lever).
• Once the nose and visor are up, accelerate to 300 KIAS or higher.You're flying roughly 5 degrees nose up at this point. Accelerate by lowering the pitch attitude to 3 degrees, which reduces drag (this results in pitching up again, which is fine.)
• Accelerate to about 400 knots by 10,000 feet (3,048 m), at which point you might be at 8 degrees nose up. Continue to climb at 400 KIAS until reaching Mach 0.7. This is where you need to get fuel moving aft.

Note: Managing fuel distribution is critical to maintaining proper CG in Concorde. Move the mouse over the instruments on the Concorde panel to see a tooltip that identifies the CG meters. You took off with about a 53.5% to 54% aft CG (53% used for takeoffs only at less than 140 tons.) Begin to pump fuel aft until reaching a 55% CG (which takes several minutes.) To pump fuel aft, click the Fuel Pump switch.

Note: If aircraft Realism Settings are not set to the highest level, fuel distribution will be managed for you in Flight Simulator.

Cruise

Subsonic cruise and acceleration:

• Level off somewhere around FL280 for subsonic cruise at Mach 0.95.
  (Flying at this slightly low altitude allows a lower pitch angle and less drag than a higher altitude for the subsonic cruise portion of the flight.)
• Start planning for the acceleration point, which is typically at the coast—important because the sonic boom is thrown forward from the airplane.
  At the acceleration point, light the afterburners (press SHIFT+F4).
• Start moving fuel aft just before reaching Mach 1. Remember, your goal in doing this is to maintain CG within the limits determined by the CG meter needles.
  Note: If aircraft Realism Settings are not set to the highest level, fuel distribution will be managed for you in Flight Simulator.

Supersonic acceleration/cruise:

• Note that as you pass through Mach 1, the vertical speed indicator does some noticeable rocking as the shock wave passes over the static ports. Continue accelerating and climbing. Mach 0.93 to 1.4 is considered the transonic region where there's lots of drag, so all this power is required to accelerate through it.
• At Mach 1.1, the secondary engine nozzles are fully open (indicated by 0% on the Percentage Area gauge).
• At Mach 1.3, the intake ramps start to function to slow down the engine intake air (no action required on your part).
• At Mach 1.4, drag really starts to decrease.The narrowest part of the allowable CG corridor is at Mach 1.5 (the fore/aft bugs on the CG indicator will be at the narrowest spread). If you're managing the fuel distribution manually, you'll want to monitor this closely at this point.
• At Mach 1.7, turn the afterburners off (press SHIFT+F4). At this speed, the engines are more efficient and drag is reduced, so the extra thrust is no longer needed to continue accelerating. Keep climbing gradually until you hit Mach 2 at around FL500.
  Adjust power to avoid overspeeding the aircraft. On an ISA day, this climb from Mach 1.7 to Mach 2 takes 15 minutes, but if the temp goes up to just ISA+10F it takes over an hour!
  Keep climbing at Mach 2 (the aircraft lightens up as it burns fuel).

You need to move the CG (by moving fuel) back to around 59% for supersonic cruise.
(Note: the main wheels are located at around 55%, so you'll move the CG forward again for landing, lest you tip back on the tail!)

Note: If aircraft Realism Settings are not set to the highest level, fuel distribution will be managed for you in Flight Simulator.Concorde's maximum altitude is FL600.

You usually get up to around FL580 before you need to start the deceleration. Towards the end of supersonic cruise you might not be able to keep the aftmost (rear) fuel tank full due to the need to replenish the wing tanks, so this can cause the CG to start slipping forward again to 57.5%. If this occurs, this can force you to begin decelerating earlier than you might otherwise want to.

Note: Can you fly Concorde at Mach 2 at sea level?
No. The speed of sound, otherwise known as Mach 1, changes with the density of the air. As you go higher, the air gets less dense, and as a result, presents much less resistance and friction to a plane trying to move through it. Even at 50 to 60 thousand feet, in very thin air, the Concorde’s skin gets nearly hot enough to boil water when doing Mach 2.Down at low altitudes near the ground, Concorde's structure simply would not be able to handle the temperatures and stresses generated by trying to force its way through the much thicker air. As a result, the plane simply will not fly at those extreme speeds without first climbing to a much higher altitude.

Descent

You must plan your flight so that you're slowing to subsonic speeds by the deceleration point. Typically 120 nm (222 km) will be covered decelerating from Mach 2 to Mach 1. It is highly recommended that you leave Concorde on autopilot and make adjustments to the VS Hold or IAS Hold to manage airspeed during descent.

Reduce power to no less than 94% N2 in level flight (press F2 or drag the thrust levers). This keeps enough air going through the engines for air conditioning and engine cooling. The speed will begin to reduce. Once the indicated airspeed has dropped to 350 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS), the descent begins (at 58,000 ft this roughly corresponds to a Mach number of 1.55).

Reduce power again to roughly 83% N2. Alternatively, you can wait until the airspeed indicator reads 350, descend, wait to see Mach 1.5 meet 350 KIAS, then pull the power back and descend at 350 KIAS. Remember that atmospheric conditions as well as your speed through the air determine the speed of sound and thus your Mach number. Even if you are holding a constant indicated airspeed, the Mach number will be decreasing as you come down in altitude. At Mach 1.3, the intake ramps stop functioning and move back up (no action required on your part, this is automatic).

At Mach 1, you can throttle back to flight idle (press F1 or drag the thrust levers) without fear of the engines pop-surging. Fuel must be pumped forward (click the Fuel Pump switch) to reach 55% CG by Mach 0.95 to 0.93. Descend in altitude until you see Mach 0.95 on the Mach meter (you might have to cruise level for a while depending on where you are), then continue the descent to Mach .93 and 350 to 370 KIAS.

If you're using the autopilot and you switch from Mach hold to KIAS hold at this point, pump the fuel forward to its landing CG of 52.5 to 53%. Complete these tasks before reaching 10,000 feet (3,048 m)—you must be down to 250 knots by that point).

Approach

At 270 knots, set 5 degrees nose/visor down (press F7 or drag the VIS/NS lever on the panel). Plan on being at 190 KIAS and 85% N2 by the time you're about 12 miles out. You’ll have to bring power up from idle to maintain speed as you slow down.

Landing

Pattern speed should be 190 KIAS abeam the threshold on downwind. You're on the back side of the drag curve by now and once you're below 250 KIAS or so, you'll need more nose up (about 10 degrees) as you slow down.

• Set the nose/visor full down (press F7 or drag the VIS/NS lever). Be sure to use trim (press 7 or 1 on the numeric keypad) to make the job easier.
• On an ILS approach, intercept the glideslope at 190 KIAS with nose/visor at full down, at roughly 85% N2.
• When the glideslope indicates about 2 dots fly-up, put the gear down (press G or drag the landing gear lever). Descend at 190 knots until 800 feet above the airport. The final speed for landing is a function of weight, ranging from 150 to 162 knots.
• At 800 ft (244 m), begin reducing speed to hit 163 KIAS at 500 ft (152 m)—this will actually require more power to keep flying than it did at 190 KIAS, which is much noisier. You fly the approach with lower noise until the very end to keep the neighbors happy. At the beginning of the approach you're roughly 7 degrees nose up, but by 500 ft you should be at about 10 degrees nose up.
• At 300 ft (91 m) you should be at the target-threshold speed of 163 KIAS, and around 86% N2. From 100 ft down (30 m), remain at 10 degrees nose up.
• At around 15 ft on the radio altimeter, close the throttles (press F1 or drag the thrust levers back).
  

Ground effect is huge in this plane, and it arrests your rate of descent. At Vref, ground effect arrests between 85 to 90% of your descent rate, and at Vtt, ground effect arrests 90 to 100% of your descent rate. Because of the shape of the wing, there is a pronounced flare required to counteract the nose-down pitch experienced as the ground effect grabs the back end of the plane. You're not flaring to reduce the descent rate like in a small plane; you're just trying to keep the nose from pitching down. (This is unlike the Boeing jets in which you flare only slightly; you more or less drive them right onto the ground.)

You're looking to maintain 10 degrees pitch up. At 12.5 degrees, the tail might touch, and at 8 degrees, you get a huge descent rate. This aircraft is VERY finicky about attitude at the final portion of the descent.

• When the main wheels touch, you move the thrust levers to idle reverse (press F2 or drag the thrust levers).
• Then, when the nose touches, you apply reverse thrust and brakes. The brakes won't work until the nosewheel touches; there is a pressure switch in the nosewheel assembly for that very reason.
• Use full reverse thrust to reduce to 100 KIAS. At 50 KIAS, set the engines back to forward idle (press F1 or drag the thrust levers).
• Brake to stop (press Period or Button 1 on the joystick) or taxi clear of the runway, and set the nose up to 5 degrees for taxi.

Stalls

Unlike conventional aircraft wings, Concorde's wings never stall. What happens is that with increasing angle of attack, the increasing drag eventually overcomes the increasing lift. At that point, there is no more climb capability and further increases in angle of attack results in more drag than lift. This will eventually result in a very high sink rate and the nose must be lowered to regain flying speed.Vzrc (V zero rate of climb) is the perfect balance of all thrust balancing drag, and all lift balancing weight. This speed is between 110 to 130 knots, depending on weight. You don't break into a stall like a conventional aircraft, but you definitely won't be going up anymore.

Autopilot

Use of the autopilot in Concorde is strongly advised, especially when the aircraft is new to you. You can use the autopilot to hold altitudes, courses, headings, and speeds, as well as tracking navigation and instrument approach signals. By setting target speeds on the autopilot and changing them as necessary, it is much easier to manage approach and landing scenarios. You can let the autothrottle feature of the autopilot make the throttle changes to hit the speeds you need to make at various points along your way. To learn more about the autopilot, see Using the Autopilot.