Did You Know?....Concorde....

ToraToraTora | 09:15 Thu 13th Jan 2022 | ChatterBank

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I have been fortunate enough to have flown on Concorde, I had Champagne and Lobster at 56,000 feet but did you know at Mach 2 Concorde stretches 6-10 inches? There is a stretch gauge on the floor of the flight deck and experienced pilots can tell how fast they are going just by that. Oh and yes I have been up with the pilots. Magnificent aircraft, I was so sad when it was taken out of service, sad that my kids will never be able to fly on it. A great achievement from the time when we could conspire with our French cousins to make something wonderful.

Good Morning Early Birds

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//From what I understand, from Concord's cruising altitude of 60,000ft, passengers were above the weather - hence no turbulence// Yes that's correct, LadyGC. Above the Tropopause (which is about 30,000ft at the Poles and around 50,000 feet at the Equator) there is little wind or turbulence. Virtually all the "weather" takes place in the Troposphere...

11:27 Thu 13th Jan 2022

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LadyCG

That's very, very interesting, NJ, thank you.

paddywak

I've often thought that if the Yanks hadn't been jelous and could have built it there wold be dozenzs of them still flying about.

bhg481

paddy - Yes, they failed miserably in their attempt to design an SST, so limited Concorde's access to the US in a jealous strop.

Zacs-Master

might be coming back:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-57361193

ToraToraTora

Question Author

another interesting point is that without Concorde we may never have had the 747. Boing were working on a supersonic Air liner but were getting nowhere and when the Anglo/French attempt flew and gained popularity they switched production to their reserve project, the 747.

ToraToraTora

Question Author

judge 11:27, yes I can attest that at Mach 2, 56000 feet there is very little to tell you that you are even moving, amazingly smooth. Not only is it above the weather it's above most other aviation so if you look out of the window you have no reference points to even tell you you are moving!

ToraToraTora

Question Author

...oh and a couple more things, flying west faster than the earth rotates, Concorde pilots see the sun rise in the west .... and they actually arrive before they left!

New Judge

Don't even think about crossing the International Date Line in a Concorde. You wouldn't know whether it was yesterday or tomorrow!

Peter Pedant

only worked on it on the ground ( Patchway works)
and who was MP for that bit of Bristol?
one Anthony wedgwood benn as he then was
Minitech (*) - ministry of technology

(*) named like mnipax, minilove, minitruth in 1984 - thos were the days of the Brave New World !

maggiebee

I envy you TTT, was always one of my dreams to fly in Concorde. By the time I could afford it, it was taken out of service. Great piece of engineering.

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