=============================
CONCORDE "LEGACY" PROJECT
=============================
Version: 1.0
Date: May 2019
Author: Philippe Marion
Email: marionphilippe@hotmail.com
DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES:
---------------------------
Concorde is a unique aircraft and therefore has specific requirements.
FSX has special entries in the aircraft configuration file (.air file) to cover these requirements.
I edited the "Concorde.air" file in this project to make sure all the dimensions and specific settings were correct.
I unfortunately couldn't make any changes to the model. Luckily, Mr Libardo Guzman Garcia's model is near perfect.
I just wished I had the ability to create a distinct interior model out of the main model ...
TWO MAIN CHALLENGES:
------------------------
1) The Contact Points.
2) The Fuel Management.
1) The Contact Points:
----------------------
It took me weeks to find a good compromise on the landing gear wheels contact points.
My initial intention was to make a 12 wheels contact points.
I've done 18 wheels before on a Boeing 747, but here, I was simply unable to achieve that.
I think the tilted main gear bogeys in the model prevented this from working, as for the Tail wheels.
So I had no choice other than limiting this to 6 contact points: 2 + 2 + 2, instead of 2 + 4 + 4 + 2.
The next challenge was to find the correct height while preserving the damping of the main gear on landing.
Some parameters, such as "wheel radius" and relative positions are definetely correct but others are approximate.
A lot of time spent fine-tuning the settings in the aircraft config file to achieve this ...
The result is still satisfactory, the aircraft sits well on the ground and doesn't bounce while taxiing.
However there is still a bit of wheel sink and slight jitter when the fuel tanks are almost empty.
2) The Fuel Management:
-------------------------
Oh boy! that was a bit of a struggle ...
Of course, since I had to use Andiroto's beautiful Flight Engineer panel, I had to take care of the Auto CG (ACG) feature as well.
The correct positioning of the fuel tanks (L, R, C1, C2 and C3) in the Aircraft Configuration file was paramount.
My initial setup was based on the real thing, with C2 at the front (before the wing root) and C3 at the back, in the tail.
But I soon realised that the ACG was only accounting for 2 center tanks, not 3 (because of the previous Concorde version).
Since I still wanted to use 3 center tanks in my version, I had no choice than to rethink the ACG feature.
So, after many weeks of testing, I came up with a compromise.
At this stage, I would like to point out that changing the fuel tanks positions was also changing the contact points behaviour! hmmm ...
So the compromise was, first to position C1 near the Center Of Lift (CoL) of the airframe, which is roughly at the back of the wing, between the engines.
This setup would insure that when C2 and C3 are both empty, the aircraft is still balanced around the middle of the delta wing.
I placed C3 at the front, after the wing root, and C2 behind it, in front of C1. This setup may not make sense on paper, but it works.
A lot of testing went on ...
Then I had to update all the gauges to display the CG correctly according to the new positions.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT:
------------------------
TO ALL DEVELOPERS AND AIRCRAFT DESIGNERS!
A P3D, FSX NATIVE CONVERSION ?
A version with dds textures, bump mapping, specular lighting would be fantastic. Preferably without an installer.
A FULLY WORKING VC ?
If I knew how to create an interior model (or extract it from the main model) I would have done it, but sadly I don't.
... I so wish Thomas Ruth will read this one day and feel like doing a VC for this wonderful bird. '¬)
-------------------------
I do not protect any of my work because I believe it belongs to the wonderful community of flight simmers around the world.
I invite the community to use, modify and improve these files to make this unique aircraft even more realistic for the benefit of all.
Concorde is not just an aircraft, it is a symbol of human achievement and cooperation, design art and technology, and for many of us, it is family.
Concorde always has been in a league of its own, and since the retirement of the entire fleet in 2003, the only way left to enjoy seeing it fly is through flight simulations.
I am publishing this package as Version 1.0 because I hope there will be one day an even better Version 2.0.
Maybe I won't be involved in it, but if you want me to get involved, feel free to contact me.
Contact me anyway if you wish for new material, comments or just to say hello.
Philippe Marion
marionphilippe@hotmail.com