General Information: Concorde SST / Concorde II SST Concorde SST Concorde II SST Dimensions: Length 202' 4" 202' 4" Span 83'10" 86' 0" Height 40' 0" 40' 0" Weights (lbs) Empty 172,500 172,500 Fuel 210,974 210,900 Payload 29,000 29,000 MTOW 408,000 410,000 Maximum Take-off Weight MLW 245,000 245,000 Maximum Landing Weight Engines: Concorde SST 4 * 38,050 lb. thrust Rolls Royce/Snecma Olympus turbojet engines (including 20% Reheat, Afterburner) Concorde II SST 4 * 40,000 lb. thrust Rolls Royce Olympus SuperCruise turbojet engines (no afterburner). Please note that this is not a real engine , but my estimate during modification of Concorde to make it environmentally friendly & more efficient to suite 21st century Supersonic travel. I also included a glass cockpit & improved range/speed. Operating Performance: Concorde SST / Concorde II SST MGXP Mmo 2.02 Mach 3.20 Mach Max. Operating Speed Vmo 530 knots 560 knots Max. Operating Speed IAS Vne 535 knots 580 knots Never Exceed Speed IAS Vat 190-165kts 210-185kts Landing @ Runway Threshold Speed @ MLW V1 165kts 200kts All @ MTOW Vr 195kts with 225-230kts 13 deg pitch up to be airborne @ 217kts V2 230-240kts 240-245kts Max. Altitude 60,000' (Concorde SST) , 65,000' (Concorde II SST) * DO NOT Exceed 250kts @ or Below 10,000ft Altitude.*     The following Flight Procedures must be followed in order to fly Concorde II SSTAll procedures are for Concorde II SST modified for X-Plane Simulator. To obtain proper flight operation , please output the following data to your screen: IAS/TAS , VVI , Pitch/Roll , N1. Switch to Fuel page on the EICAS System The Flight: The Take-off & Climb At MTOW & on the count of 'Three , two , one , now' the throttles are opened to max. thrust (no Reheat in Concorde II ) . V1 is 200kts , Vr is 225-230kts rotate the aircraft to 8-11 deg pitch, then when you leave the runway V2 is 240kts, retract the gear. At 250kts you engage the Auto throttle to fix the speed & climb @ 1000-1500fpm keeping 10 deg pitch. (you can preselect the Autopilot to do so before take-off, then engage it after V2 or you can fly manually). Weight will vary with your trip, but to benefit from Concorde Supersonic Cruise , a trip should be over 1800nm, so we consider MTOW with full fuel for this POH & a trip from JFK-SFO (I will talk about Concorde flight restrictions later as this is a demo flight only). JFK to SFO = 2314nm on GPS Nav 1 When you reach 3000' select VVI for 1500 fpm to climb to 6000' with 11 deg pitch & maintaining speed/heading to your dist. if you are not flying Autopilot, otherwise follow the heading on the GPS & maintain pitch manually. At all the time you can adjust VVI to reflect change in pitch climb (adjust @100-200fpm at a time). Select VVI Autopilot as a more controllable way to fly Alts. Pitch is maintained with VVI as well. At 6000' keeping 248-250kts increase VVI to 2000fpm with 12 deg pitch. Climb to 10,500'@ the same VVI/Speed & pitch . At 10,500' disengage Autothrottle & by keeping the same VVI @2000fpm advance the throttle to start the acceleration/climb . You will now accelerate to arrive @ Mach 0.95 @ 35,000' Alt (The Max./efficient subsonic speed/alt allowed for Concorde before accelerating to Supersonic flight). At 15,000' your speed is about Mach 0.63 & 312 IAS, 391 TAS. Pitch is 5 deg & if you started the stopwatch @ take-off you should be around 10 mins into the flight. Throttle about 93% N1. Keeping the same VVI continue climb to FL210. At FL210 speed is Mach 0.86, 377 IAS/524 TAS ,pitch 1 deg & GPS DME is about 2244nm from SFO. Next stage climb to FL280 @ 1800-2000fpm to arrive @ Mach 0.90 with 2 deg pitch. The finale subsonic climb to FL350 @ 1400-1800fpm @ Mach 0.95, 303 IAS/545 TAS N1 88-94% & GPS DME 2167 to SFO. Hold with Autothrottle to maintain Mach 0.95 @ FL350. The Flight - Supersonic Acceleration We are now ready for the Supersonic Acceleration part of our flight. There will be aerodynamic changes when we transit from subsonic to supersonic cruise/climb resulting in pitch down attitude. Dial in 500 in the VVI selector, Autopilot set to VVI hold then advance the throttle to 100% N1 (Max. thrust) & watch the speed gradually increase, also keep an eye on your pitch attitude as this will be more important as we progress. The speed will increase Mach 0.97 , 0.98 , 0.99 , 1.0 , 1.01 ...1.02 That's it now truly Mach 1 , if it is your first time , Welcome to Supersonic Flight. At Mach 1 & over there is a change in aircraft aerodynamic character as the aircraft will tend to nose down with the acceleration through the supersonic shock waves. You counter the nose pitch down by increasing VVI between 500-1800fpm climb. Do not worry about -1 deg pitch that will stay for a while then will pitch up as we climb through the thin air. The following is the figure recorded during the Mach 1 transition: Elapsed time since take-off 23 min. , Aircraft total weight 383,814 lb., fuel on board 184,914 lb., Alt FL375 , IAS 306kts , TAS 577kts, GPS DME to SFO 2147nm. We are now accelerating through a cruise/climb to FL400 @ Mach 1.36 between 500-1800fpm VVI with slight negative pitch. Our next speed target is Mach 1.70 @ FL440. This level will take us out of the high drag area of supersonic speed between Mach 1 - 1.70 . After that level we throttle back as speed gain becomes more efficient. Test figures @ Mach 1.70 @ FL440 are Elapsed time 28 min. , N1 93-95% VVI 1800fpm, pitch 000, IAS 449kts , TAS 980kts & GPS DME to SFO 2086nm. Next speed target is Mach 2.01 , VVI 1800-2000fpm ,pitch 000, Alt FL470 & 93% N1 At this level you can maintain the speed & keep climbing to FL580 & cruise the rest of the trip on that speed. I will carry on the acceleration with my modified Concorde to finish the test flight. I will skip three target tests for shortening this POH Next speed target is Mach 2.50. VVI 1700-2000fpm, pitch 000, Alt FL520 , N1 93-95% , IAS 540 , TAS 1432 , Elapsed time 33 min. & GPS DME to SFO 2000nm At target speed of Mach 2.75 , VVI 400-2000fpm, pitch 1 , Alt FL590 , N1 93%, IAS 482,TAS 1519kts & GPS DME to SFO 1866nm. Mach 3.0 is reached & we have VVI 100 - 200fpm , pitch 000, Alt FL600, N1 99%, IAS 533 , TAS 1725kts , Elapsed time 46 min., GPS DME to SFO 1633nm. At this point the fuel page was showing remaining range of 5,504nm @ 3.2 hr. @ Mach 3.0 with 163,000 lb. of fuel on board. (for ref. JFK - Honl. = 4832nm on the GPS). The Cruise continued until Mach 3.20, then @ 350nm away from SFO the next stage of the flight will begin. The Flight - Supersonic Deceleration & Descent As a general rule Concorde decelerates through Mach 1.0 level @ FL410 & becomes subsonic during the descent through FL350. At the Descent point the throttles are reduced to 60 - 67% N1 keeping the alt on hold until under Mach 3, VVI -400 - -800 is dialed in the autopilot & the descent will begin. Mach 2 target with VVI -800fpm , pitch 1, Alt FL560, N1 67% , AIS 381 , TAS 1144 , Elapsed time 94 min. GPS DME to SFO 205nm. Deceleration/Descent stage continues to arrive @ Mach 1 @ FL410. You adjust VVI/N1 to arrive at the above figures. Pitch is 0 - -2 . Supersonic to Subsonic flight must be reached @ Mach 0.96 @ FL350. You can increase VVI to -2500fpm. During this stage you should review your approach & ILS charts for landing. The Flight - Approach & Landing After reviewing your approach & dialing the ILS freq., you can descend @ -2500 - -3500fpm. Once @ or under FL100 (10,000') your speed must not exceed 250kts. Approach to SFO is flown @ 195-220kts @ VVI -1500 - -600 , pitch is 5 - 8 deg. This high angle is kept to compensate the lack of flaps /slats . At Runway Threshold Vat is around 185 - 195kts @ MLW (In this test the aircraft was landed above MLW for lack of info on fuel burn). On touch down apply reverse thrust to help you reduce your speed, then when the nose wheel touches the ground you can apply the brakes gently to slow down further. Here you go, the above is an idea how Concorde is flown. Data can vary from pilot to pilot, but should be close to the above. The real Concorde flies slightly different. I cannot duplicate the flight of real Concorde in exact manner due to difference in aerodynamic design & the limitation of Flight Sims in general. Useful information calculated from that test flight: Fuel burned 90,062 lb , Total time 121.7 min. , Total distance 2340nm, Ave speed 1,154 kts/hr , Fuel flow per engine 11,099 lb/hr/engine. Please note that the longer the flight dist., the shorter the flight time as supersonic cruise is flown for longer times compared to take-off & descend/landing time, resulting in more range & better fuel burn. Concorde flight Restrictions In real Concorde is allowed to fly supersonic if it is 30-40nm away from any populated area during the entire supersonic flight, also during descent to final dest. Concorde must be subsonic 40 - 50 nm away from any populated area. Because of the sonic booms it generates during supersonic cruise, Concorde's only route is over water i.e. London-Heathrow - New York JFK, LAX-Honl , Paris-Rio etc..., but in X-plane you can fly any route you want :-) To sum up the flight rule we have: Max Subsonic cruise is Mach 0.95 - 0.96 @ FL320 - 350. Start Supersonic acceleration @ FL350 - 370 & 30-40nm away from populated area. During Supersonic acceleration max. thrust with reheat is used from Mach 0.96 - 1.70, then reheats are switched off in pairs to cruise the rest of the flight @ max dry power. During descent from cruise alt , Mach 1 is reached @ FL410 & becomes subsonic during the descent through FL350 to Mach 0.95 @ 40-50nm away from populated area. Facts about real Concorde: It is a tradition of Concorde Captains to call out 'Three , two, one , now' before advancing to max. thrust before take-off. On take-off Concorde pilots apply max. thrust plus reheat to accelerate to a V1 160kts , Vr 195kts with a 13 deg pitch to be airborne @ 217kts climbing @ 4000fpm. At 240kts the pitch is raised to nearly 20 deg to maintain 250kts. Then looking to the stopwatch the Captain calls 'Three , two, one, noise'. On the word 'noise' the flight engineer switches the after-burners off in two pairs & adjusts the throttle to a preset position. This is done to reduce engine noise in sensitive areas after take-off. With the loss of after burners & to maintain 250kts, the angle of climb is reduced to 12 deg pitch & VVI is reduced from 4000fpm to 1200fpm. Concorde accelerates to supersonic speed using after burners, they are switched on from Mach 0.95 (the start of supersonic acceleration point) & only switched off when speed is Mach 1.7. If they were kept on all the trip , then Concorde will not reach half way through. Fuel is pumped to different locations during flight to change C.G as it affects flight stability during supersonic cruise. That is the reason we have negative pitch @ start of supersonic flight due to lack of moving C.G. Reverse thrust is sometimes used in deceleration while descending as there is no speedbrakes, idle reverse thrust is used. At Mach 0.95 , Concorde is 100kts faster than any subsonic airliner MLW = Maximum Landing Weight MTO = Maximum Take-off Weight V2 = Safe Climb-out speed (The speed after Vr, Rotation speed or Lift-off speed) Vat = Landing speed at runway threshold Flap/Gear down (X-Plane @ 50'...25'...10') Vapr= Approach Speed , just add 5-10kts to Vat with flap/gear down @ MLW or less Vno = Normal Operating Speed Vmo = Maximum Operating Speed Vne = Never Exceed Speed FL350 = Flight Level 35,000' Thanks to Mohammed Gazzawi, Designer/Test Pilot MGXP