While in Paris last month I took several pictures of a Concorde at Charles
Degaulle/Roissey while pulling into the gate, and then on takeoff. I wonder if
they are of the plane that no longer exists. According to Janes, Air France
operated 6 of the aircraft prior to the accident. Maybe I should sell them on
Ebay!
FWIW -- when I was an air traffic controller in Los Angeles, Air France would
occasionally fly the Concorde from Las Vegas to Hawaii. Aircraft would remain
subsonic until over the Pacific and then turn on the juice. It would climb to
about 40,000' then accelerate about 300 knots, then climb another 10,000' then
accelerate another 300 knots. It repeats this until at its cruise altitude of
either 55,000' or 60,000'. Our radar only displayed ground speed up to 999
knots
which the Concorde easily exceeded. If I remember correctly, it would file a
Mach number of 2.01.
Shawn
Gerard Chateauvieux wrote:
> I've never seen one up close, but the Concorde made three trips to the San
> Francisco Bay Area in the late 70's and mid 80's. It flew from the Oakland
> Airport twice and once to San Francisco (SFO). The last time it was here
> ('86 I believe), it flew directly over my house on it's departure. I would
> not have even known if it weren't for the incredible noise level. I had to
> go outside to see what it was. There directly overhead was the unmistakable
> shape. It sounded like the space shuttle blasting off.
>
> Gerard
>
> At 9:56 AM -0400 7/29/00, brian S wrote:
> >Actually, the controller didn't "have to tell him they were on fire." They
> >knew it. They discovered the fire at the point of no return on takeoff,
> >known as V1, or decision speed. At this speed or greater, pilots are taught
> >to take off no matter what, and try and return. If they try and "put it back
> >on the ground" at or above this speed, they most likely won't be able to
> >stop in time with the available runway left. I guess they didn't realize the
> >severity of the engine failure.
> > The Pilot wasn't going to try and to return to DeGaulle airport, he was
> >going to try and make it to LeBourget airport about 4 miles away. Much
> >easier than trying to return to point of departure. IMHO, the Pilots did an
> >OUTSTANDING job keeping it away from the hotel and other people on the
> >ground. I'm saddened by the crash, but thankful there weren't more
> >fatalities.
> >Concorde Factoid, did ya'll know that the Concorde takes off with a fuel
> >load that weighs more than the empty weight of the A/C itself? A/C weighs
> >about 150,000lbs, and holds more that 150,000lbs of fuel.And when it gets to
> >New York, it has only about 1/2 hour of fuel left? No holding for them!
> >FWIW, I LOVE Concordes, Especially the NOISE!
> >
> >Brian
> >Bugeye in progress
> >ATCS
> >
> >________________________________________________________________________
>
> --
> Please visit Four Points Travel -
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> http://www.gerardsgarage.com/fourpoints
>
> G G Gerard Chateauvieux
> E A
> R R pixelsmith@gerardsgarage.com
> A A
> R G Pixelsmith on Duty
> D E
> S http://www.gerardsgarage.com
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