Concorde SST Pilot Operating Handbook

For use with X-Plane Flight Simulator only

General Information: Concorde SST / Concorde II SST
                  Concorde SST       Concorde II SST
Length      202'4"           202'4"
Span         83'10"           86'
Height       40'              40'

Weights lb. :   Concorde SST    Concorde II SST MGXP
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	    570 knots  	Never Exceed Speed   IAS
Vat	  190-165kts	   210-185kts	 	Landing @ Runway Threshold Speed @ MLW full flap/Gear down
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 SST
All 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 Thats 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.

Concorde flight Restriction

In real Concorde is allowed to fly supersonic if it is 30-40nm away from any populated area during the entire supersonic flight. Because of the sonic booms it generates during supersonic cruise, Concordes 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 :-)

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 & 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 & 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.
- 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


Happy Supersonic X-Flight

Mohammed Gazzawi
Designer/Test Pilot MGXP
magmail@usa.net







