Two of a Kind

[Simon P]

Had a most enjoyable day driving down to Brooklands in the sunshine yesterday. Ended up parking my May 1969 car next to a machine which made its first flight a month or so earlier....



For those with an interest in such things I would thoroughly recommend the Brooklands Concorde experience packages (and indeed a visit to Brooklands generally). I and a chum spent three hours in the company of two retired Concorde captains being given a thorough tour of the aircraft, including sitting in the fully restored cockpit, together with a lot of detailed talk on Concorde operations, capped off with flying the Concorde simulator with one of the captains acting as instructor/co-pilot sitting alongside. I opted to fly into Kai Tak, shooting the legendary 'checkerboard' approach into Runway 13 (not for the faint-hearted - I can see why in the end they had to move the airport!).

Brooklands also has the best innovation I've ever seen - so much so that I'm thinking of writing to my local MP suggesting that everywhere has one. As I arrived I saw that the parking area was already fairly full, but then my chum beckoned me over to a separate parking area outside the clubhouse marked 'Classics Only'. Genius! Why doesn't everywhere have one of these? You meet a nicer class of person inside; you're pretty much guaranteed a parking place; and you're free from Mummys in 4x4s who look on self-indulgently as little Hugo or Jocasta expresses their individuality by flinging open their car door into the side of your car.....

[Gfhug]

Simon, did they give you this sort of description of take off from JFK?

JFK, 31L, Kennedy 9 SID, Canarsie transition, Concorde climb

Speedbird 2, cleared take-off 31L.

Call 3-2-1 Now, start your stopwatch, pre-set to countdown from 58 seconds, and push the throttles fully forward until they hit the stops. Four RR Olympus engines spool up and four reheats kick in, together producing 156,000 lbs of thrust, but at a total fuel flow of 83,000 kgs per hour. A touch of left rudder initially to keep straight, as the #4 engine limiter is restricting that engine to 88% until 60 kts, when it will release it to full power.

The F/O calls Airspeed building, V1, and then, at 195 kts, Rotate. Gently rotate the aircraft, and lift-off occurs at around 10° and 215 kts, but keep rotating to 13.5° and then hold that attitude, and let the aircraft accelerate.

Positive Climb is called, you cross-check and ask for the Gear Up.

Passing 50 ft RA, the F/O, having first checked the aircraft attitude, airspeed and rate of climb, calls Turn. Slowly roll on 25° left bank to turn out over Jamaica bay, and as the speed accelerates through 240 kts, pitch up to 19° to maintain 250 kts and keep the left turn going to pass East of CRI. 54 seconds after the start of the take off roll, the F/O starts the noise abatement countdown with 3-2-1 Noise. At the call of Noise the E/O simultaneously cancels the re-heats and rapidly throttles back to noise abatement power, whilst you quickly pitch down again to 12° to maintain 250 kts. It is now a minute from the start of roll and already 1,000 kgs of fuel have been used.

Speedbird 2, contact departure, so long.

Turning through heading 235°M, rapidly re-apply full dry power and pitch up to 17° to maintain 250 kts, but also reduce the left bank to 7.5°, until passing 2,500 ft, when bank angle may be increased to 25°.

Approaching the 253° radial JFK, you again hear 3-2-1 Noise, and the E/O throttles back to noise-abatement power for a second time. Pitch down to 12°, and tip-toe quietly over the Rockaway Beaches, aiming to pass right over the car park by the Marine Parkway bridge, to minimise the noise impact on the residents. Keep the left turn going and intercept the 176° radial outbound from CRI, and when 5 miles DME from CRI, slowly re-apply full climb power. Call for the After Take Off Checklist and raise the aircraft attitude to maintain 250 kts, you are in the USA, within 12 miles of the coast and still below 10,000 ft.

Speedbird 2, present position direct to SHIPP, climb FL230, no speed control.

Select INS and use it to track towards SHIPP, check the gear lever is at neutral, and call for the Nose Up, and then the Visor Up. Flight deck noise level drops dramatically as the visor locks up. 12 miles away from the US coast, lower the attitude to 9°, and accelerate to Vmo, currently 400 kts. 

Speedbird 2, present position direct to LINND, climb in the block FL550-600, accelerate Mach 2.0.

Call for the Climb Checklist at M0.7, which will get the E/O pumping fuel rearwards to move the CG aft, and then go straight into the Transonic checklist. Maintain 400 kts IAS, and around 24,500 ft, at M0.93, select the re-heats back on, in pairs, and raise the nose by 3° to maintain 400 kts as they kick in. Precise flying is required in the high drag transonic region, and as the Mach meter reaches M1.0, a quick flicker on both the VSI and Altimeter confirms that the shock wave has just passed over the static ports, and the aircraft is now supersonic.

A quick glance at the elapsed time indicator shows that you’ve been hand flying for just over 9 minutes since the start of the take off roll.

Another hard day in the office!

Geoff

[Simon P]

That all sounds wonderfully familiar

Because I was taking off from and landing back at Kai Tak, time didn't permit going 'supersonic' (as they point out, a bit of pointless exercise on a simulator), but we did get her wound up to 400kts from an initial 250kt manoeuvring speed - which she managed with predictably effortless ease. The rest of the operation was exactly as described, right down the captain setting his stopwatch (force of habit, he said ), although we rolled on 30 degrees of bank rather than 25 in order to keep her inside the TMA at 250.

I actually got two stabs at the checkerboard approach having gone missed approach on my first one. Funnily enough the non-fliers had no problem hoofing her round the corner at 2.2DME, but first time round I just couldn't bring myself to bank her over that hard when that slow and so close to the ground You really do become fully absorbed in it.

Still not a bad day all-in-all: Got up. Drove an E-type. Flew a Concorde. Drove an E-type back home again

[Gfhug]

My one concern about your "Classics Only" parking area is that who decides what is a classic?
After all, you could find a Porsche driver thinking their 911 is classic, the same goes for Elan owners!

Geoff (quickly ducking head below parapet)

[Heuer]

"The Porsche 911 is a two-door, 2+2 high performance and one of the most powerful sports cars made since 1963 by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a rear-mounted six cylinder boxer engine and all round independent suspension. It has undergone continuous development, though the basic concept has remained little changed. The engines were air-cooled until 1998 with Porsche's "993" series, produced in model years 1994–1998, being the last of the air-cooled Porsche's. The 911 has been modified by private teams and by the factory itself for racing, rallying, and other forms of automotive competition. It is among the most successful competition cars. In the mid-1970s, naturally aspirated 911 Carrera RSRs won major world championship sports car races, such as Targa Florio and 24 Hours of Daytona, even against prototypes. The 911-derived 935 turbo also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979 and Porsche won World Championship for Makes titles in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979 with 911-derived models. Around 150,000 911 cars from the model years 1964 to 1989 are still on the road today."

The above meets my definition of a 'classic car' with a heritage the E-Type cannot match. Even Jaguar lost interest in the car after seven years of production

[Gfhug]

But, David, you've not defended the Elan!

Going back to Concorde, the work the pilots put into making those departures and approaches is to be admired.

[zigzagsky]

The definition of a classic in the eyes of the Brooklands staff is interesting vehicles generally registered in 1987 or earlier.

[Herzeg]

Anyone see the final flights into Heathrow of the Concorde? I have a slightly fuzzy camcorder video of them all joining up near me and flying down on the the approach. Who can say three Concordes flew past their house in formation?

Done the Brooklands tour (although only walked in the Concorde). t's a nice day out and you have Mercedes World next door if you want to see (or drive) some very nice cars.

John

[malcolm]

I had the privilege of flying in Concorde from London to New York (Company paying!)
Wonderful plane, but dissapointing in some ways. There is a big dial which we all eagerly looked at as we approached mach 1 - then went through it - and a big so what? You don't notice or hear anything on the plane.
No food as the flight is too short! Although we got a wonderful meal in the Concorde lounge before take off.
Seats quite small and narrow - but you get to NY before you notice! And I was given a great Sheaffer pen marked "Concorde" with a Concorde shaped pocket-clip and Concorde headed paper in a leather folder.

[Simon P]

Not sure why you weren't served a meal on a transatlantic crossing - that was very much part of the Concorde experience! I was lucky enough to fly to Washington and back in her in 1981 (the Old Man paying as part of his retirement present to himself! ) and the food and drink was some of the best I've ever had anywhere - let alone on an airliner. (And at the risk of offending national pride, we flew Air France outbound and BA return, and whilst BA was excellent, Air France was a definitely just that little bit better).

Also, a huge amount of engineering excellence went into making your passage through the sound barrier a disappointing non-event!

[SEJohnson95]

Fabulous picture, Simon. Since I was only 8 when Concorde was retired from service, my memories of it are not like your experiences! Seen a few close up - Duxford and the like and always marvelled at the engineering. Built the Airfix model too! I wish I had the chance to see her fly, my Dad remembers seeing her and hearing that distinctive crackle a few times.

I did get to see the Vulcan fly which I always loved seeing at Waddington or Fairford or the like. My Dad was only a few years old and lived in North Hykeham in Lincoln, a matter of miles from the end of the runway at RAF Waddington. He still remembers being awoken (and petrified) by that HOWL! It always used to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up when the Vulcan hurtled down the runway at full chat and head pretty much straight up - not easy for an aircraft of that size. There are only a handful of planes which give the same emotional response - The Lanc (which I have a personal connection to with my Grandad), the Spitfire, Hurricane and the Eurofighter - that thing is a beast and my Dad and I love seeing it out at airshows. It usually does one of the days at Silverstone too.

558 was a fabulous aircraft and it's a tragedy that she's not flying. Ditto Concorde!

[Herzeg]

Simon

I remember going to the Southend Airshow in the late 90's and the Vulcan would do a low pass then put full power and turn out to sea. It would then return with gear and bomb doors open then power out again. Noisy!

On a separate note, I took my boys to Farnborough airshow ten+ years ago. The A380 demonstrator was there.
The cloudbase was low and it limited badly the Red Arrows display. After they left, the A380 lined up. It did a full power take-off and at about 500ft lifted the gear and then did a virtually 90 degree wings upright turn. It then slightly backed off the turn and went fighter like up into the cloud. It was amazing. I wouldn't that in my Piper Warrior, never mind an A380!

John

[Hugo]

I did get to see the Vulcan fly which I always loved seeing at Waddington or Fairford or the like. My Dad was only a few years old and lived in North Hykeham in Lincoln, a matter of miles from the end of the runway at RAF Waddington. He still remembers being awoken (and petrified) by that HOWL! It always used to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up when the Vulcan hurtled down the runway at full chat and head pretty much straight up - not easy for an aircraft of that size. There are only a handful of planes which give the same emotional response - The Lanc......[....]
558 was a fabulous aircraft and it's a tragedy that she's not flying. Ditto Concorde!

The remarkable thing the Lancaster & Vulcan are only fifteen years apart, each designed by Mr Chadwick. My wife and I are real Vulcan groupies - we gave a bit of money to the Trust to help with their magnificent task of keeping 558 flying, till the jobsworths grounded her for good. That howl from the intake always reminded me of a wounded dinosaur (or at least what I imagined a wounded dinosaur would sound like!). It was sold for scrap by the RAF for £16,000. I seriously thought about buying her - park her on the back lawn perhaps?
The Dunsfold Air Show is ten miles from us. Now that the safety Nazis are in charge of everything, the displays are not allowed to fly over, or anywhere near, the crowd. So I looked up google Earth & fund a farmer's field right at the end of the runway - every year a group of about half a dozen of us on bikes used to meet at the farmer's gate & climb over to watch the display close up - stunning! (and free).

[SEJohnson95]

You're right with the noise it makes, Hugo. It thought it sounded like some kind of monster but I particularly like the "wounded dinosaur" analogy. Just because nobody needs an excuse to listen to it....