User Guide

The Fleet
187
8
Concorde
Concorde is on its way down from cruising at
Mach 2 (1,340 mph), twice the speed of sound,
towards a landing speed of 163 knots (301.8
kmh). As it decelerates, passengers sit in air-
conditioned comfort while Concorde is shrinking:
yes, shrinking. There is a slight scent of ozone in
the air.
This is a normal flight for an airplane that is
unique among airliners.
Temperatures upwards of 117C
° (243F°) can be
reached on Concorde’s skin from friction when
flying at supersonic speeds. This heating actually
causes the aircraft to grow by several inches. As it
decelerates towards subsonic speeds, the heat
radiating from the windows and fuselage skin
begins to subside and Concorde contracts
towards its subsonic length. By design, engine air
is bled off into the cabin air system. In normal
descent and deceleration from 60,000 ft (18,288
m) through ozone rich altitudes, the lower heat of
reduced power settings does not convert all the
ozone entering the engine compressors into
oxygen.
Concorde’s powerful Rolls-Royce Bristol/Snecma
Olympus engines are highly efficient at super-
sonic speeds but highly inefficient and noisy at
low speeds such as during takeoff and landing.
Engine noise, coupled with the potential for sonic
booms near cities, presented Concorde with an
uphill battle for approval to fly into American
airports. Transatlantic crossings were the reason
Concorde was built, and approval to land at
American airports was crucial to the airplane’s
success. Approval eventually came, but to enter
and exit New York airspace requires a compli-
cated set of maneuvers involving power changes
and specific crossover points to avoid committing
noise violations.
Concorde is a machine designed to get you to
your destination quickly regardless of the cost.
From London to New York in only 3½ hours is
considered by some travelers to be worth paying
the nearly $10,000 US for a round trip. With only
one cabin class on Concorde, you can be assured
of a bit of pampering and a decent meal.
And this is the only commercial transatlantic flight
that can make you younger. If you take off from
London at 12:01 a.m. on January 1
st
you will land
in New York at about 10:30 p.m. on December 31
st
the day (and year!) before you took off.
The Concorde has a remarkable safety record and
has made many technological advancements
available to the aviation industry worldwide.
Though there are no second generation super-
sonic airliners on the drawing boards in Europe or
elsewhere, British Airways and Air France expect
their fleets to be flying until at least 2015.
For details on flying this aircraft, see the Aircraft
Information section of Help.
,
When the Flight Simulator 2000
realism setting is at the highest
level, you will have to monitor
the center of gravity (CG) and
move fuel between tanks manu-
ally. Otherwise, movement of the
fuel to maintain the proper CG is
done automatically.