Concorde 101 G-AXDN Nose lowering - behind the scenes
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- Опубліковано 27 тра 2020
- Inside the cockpit of Concorde 101 G-AXDN
Pre-flight checks done. Hydraulic pump activated. Circuit breakers selected. Power on. Concorde 101’s pilot is on the flight deck and ready to show you how to lower that famous droop nose.
This iconic aircraft is part of the British Airliner Collection and one of IWM Duxford’s most popular exhibits.
© Duxford Aviation Society 2020
Director and camera: Carol Archer
Actor: Simon Peachey
Commentary: Peter Archer
Post production: Charles Butler - Наука та технологія
I’m 31 years old now, but I can remember very vividly being about 6-7 years old and traveling to London Heathrow airport with my mother for a layover. During the layover we were sitting in the terminal and all of a sudden I heard a massive roar that shook the ventilation nearest the windows in the terminal. I can remember my mother saying “Look! The Concorde!” I glanced out the window and can remember JUST seeing it retracting it’s landing gear after take off before it disappeared into the sky.
That was the only time in my life that I’ve seen the Concorde. Never in a museum, never parked, never anywhere. Just for that brief 5 second period of time 25 years or so ago. I’ll never forget the sound of those engines. So cool.
Beautiful! Fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
They still have a Concorde there at that very airport on display. I caught a glimpse of it on when I was departing from there on my return trip to the States. It's parked a off the side from the beginning of runway 27L if you want to find it on Google Maps.
@@Keldor314 awesome, I’ll give it a google
Lucky you.
Was living in the west of Paris and every sunday I knew it was noon as the Concorde going to NY was up there .
That makes the internet so great ..you’re be able to see things, that you would never have seen.
Definitely
You got it right man
Exactly! 👍👍👍
... and sometimes things that you should never have seen.
The TV only showed what the mob wanted to see, the life of famous people and something more, the things became better with Discovery Ch and National Geographic.
Today I learned that there is one special Concorde with the droopiest nose of all.
Designer: "How many buttons do we need in the cockpit?"
Engineer: "Yes"
Tbh
and every single one of them has a function behind them.
Now, airliners have one button that does 30 things and is labeled as "Start APU". It used to be all 30 buttons.
I remember downloading one of these for FSX and my reaction first seeing the cockpit interior. But after a few minutes to familiarize myself I noticed they were all categorized and organized very well.
Let's make a role called "Flight Engineer" to help manage it all.
Interesting fact about the nose: the 17.5 degree slant used in pre-production was changed to 12 degrees not for any mechanical or aerodynamic reason, but because the pilots couldn't see where the nose was as it completely disappeared from their view!
Not good enough to believe it's still "just there" based on the idea that the plane isn't doing anything silly, eh? 🤣
@@MadScientist267 The nose gave them a reference point.
@@cjmillsnun haha fair enough
Seriously? 🤔 If that's true, it really is hilarious: "Result of the test: fail! Reason: Pilot didn't know if the plane's nose where still attached to it at all!" LOL!
fantastic. great video showing the droop snoot from a perspective i would otherwise never have seen. thanks for sharing
Glad you enjoyed it
I was lucky enough to arrive/depart and do some basic engine maintenance on a BA Concorde that was on a charter flight back in 2000 during my time as a young QANTAS aircraft engineer in Sydney, Australia.
I'll never forget the scream of those Olympus engines as she taxied up to the gate while standing about 50 feet away.
Not to mention the view of her afterburners lighting up as it took off over Botany Bay.
Unlike any airliner I'd ever seen or will see again.
What a stunning piece of engineering. Hats off to the designers and builders of this beautiful machine.
The most beautiful airplane ever made, thank you for an informative video.
Very interesting video. It is so sad not seeing these beautiful birds flying.
Once I saw a Concorde landing in Leipzig/Germany in the late 80´s (or in the early 90`s???) during the trade fair in the city.
0:58 1:20 I love those older cockpits, where you can see everything all at once, rather than just what the computer thinks you need to see right at the moment :-)
The entire flight deck must have some 50,000 switches and buttons.
@@carpballet It's... not...
@@carpballet You realize that planes still contain literally miles of wiring?
@@everettrailfan what did they write? looks like they removed the comment
And every single one of them has to be inspected and certified at regular intervals.
Well considering most of the Concorde avionics used linear computers that's kinda expected.
This was outstanding, thank you. Post more like this and you'll have a hit channel!
Great stuff, did you know that nose design was made by a New Zealander that just lived down the road in Thames from me, Frank Crowfoot he has sadly passed away but was an avid aero modeler like me, they did not know how to sort it out and a good old Kiwi sorted the Concordes nose systems.
I thought there was a resemblence to the beak of a Kiwi :-)
@@captmulch1 Lol yes the inspiration.
Used to fly over Thames when I was doing my CPL, beautiful place.
Wow, I'm a Kiwi and didn't know that. That is so cool!
@@Cyba_IT Cleaver little country and the unsung hero's.
This is fantastic! thanks for this nose lowering video with explanation in the background.
Nice to see the components are still workable.
I knew Concorde had that moveable nose but didn't know it also had that heat visor over the windscreen
me nether. this is so cool!
Yeah same here as well
It was also thermal protection for the visor. This plane was so cool...
I was at Legoland many many years ago with my family enjoying a day out when we could hear this roaring noise whilst we were in the souvenir shop, so we rushed outside to see what it was and it was Concorde I believe taking of from a London airport. I kid you not! The whole Park stopped and looked upwards to watch it fly over. I will never forget that sight of that aircraft or the sound from those engines, Rolls Royce Olympus, with after burners if my memory serves. It was truly awesome. It was only when I visited G-BOAC at Manchester Ringway did I realise how small it really is. Still awesome though..
Absolutely brilliant. Love this detail, thanks for sharing!
Excellent video! 🤟🏻
The cockpit of that thing looks more complicated than an Apollo command module.
Ain't that complicated once you've broken the code. It is like audio 64, 96 or 128 channels mixing board has many way many knobs. But it takes to decode only 1 channel strip, all the rest are the same. Or have you're asking yourself why or how to many channels your tv decodes , and all come together in a single cable or optic fiberglass. With the only difference. All act at x discretion or purpuse depending on what you want to do with it.
That was top of the line hardware at the time, now it’s just a reminder of the old days.
It is of course vastly more complicated - but this is comensurate with its mission, which is also vastly more complicated.
@@jesusescobar435 every single word you just said was wrong
Congratulations dipshit!
@@jesusescobar435 That's entirely wrong, I don't know what you have that works like that but I use a Behringer Eurodesk at my company's conference center to manage 4 mic inputs, two computers and out lines for 2 amps. So it's a really basic setup when it comes to audio tech, festival equipment etc... and honestly even on that small scale the channels are not "all the same", do you want to hear what'll happen if I were to set the gain for a wireless lavalier mic at the same level as a XLR handheld?
Or if you're talking about the equalizer bands (I'm not sure actually??), doing that could also lead to distortions unless you have some special full range/wide band speakers that take anything you throw at them. No way you'll do this if you have dedicated tweeters and subs, which are physically designed for specific ranges. That's the reason you get devices with more channels/bands in the first place...
Bloody amazing. I can't help but wonder why there are so many breakers and so much instrumentation on Concord. It seems (operative word: SEEMS) to have so much more than other aircraft of that and other eras. This is a very well done video. Thank you!
Thank you, always wondered why was necessary to lower the nose, excellent video thank you!!
I could play all day with all the switches, knobs and dials inside that cockpit.
Fantastic video!
That is awesome that some systems still work in that beauty. I'd imagine parts aren't easy to find. Also, how the heck does one remember all those switches and dials?! It's not as if they would just be doing one procedure at a time either, the pilot would do this nose procedure while doing about 20 other things and flying the plane at incredible speed. Amazing stuff.
Amazing work by the museum 👍
This is really satisfying to watch
Awesome video!!! 👏🏻👏🏻💪🏻🤩
What a tease for these guys, they get to start the concord up, but not fully. It's cool to see her come to life.
Actually sat in the captains chair when they were prepping Concorde and got to activate the nose and visor! Awesome!
No you didn't. But I did.
Saw VHS Camera Footage Of Her Flying Into Dulles. Use To Fly Over Manassas Park VA. Awesome Plane. Can't Believe It A Museum Relic. Still Looks Futuristic.
I just fell more in love with the Concorde
Nothing to add here. Truly fascinating.
That was Really Cool!
I flew it twice. One of the greatest experience in my life.
*Flew* it or flew *in* it... Major difference 🤣
Thanks ! Amazing perspective!
Absolutely amazing I’m going to see her in the flesh end of August can’t wait!
Beautiful!
At the time of invention (60s of 20 century) it was absolutely a masterpiece of engineering and at the same time the highest possible level of aerodynamics, electronics and mechanics involved into the vehicle on the planet. Even today when you think about the whole construction and know-how…. it’s absolutely breathtaking.
Great video. Now I have a question. I see the pitot tube and AOA probe are located on the nose. How will that affect on CAS and AOA indication? Are there any conversions table on the aircraft manual?
I was lucky enough to fly on Concorde - NY to Heathrow in 3 hours and 19 mins.
It was a treat for my 40th birthday and I got to get onto the flight deck mid Atlantic.
Unfortunately, there was a small mix-up and the crew thought it was my fourth birthday... I still have somewhere a Concorde colouring book and pencils!
These airplanes keeps surprising me to this day, how they were ahead of their time!
Realy true
never gets old seeing this. the voice sounds pretty familiar :D
Wow! Just beautiful!!!
Amazing!
One the great aircraft in aviation history
This went over my head!
Thank you for sharing this.
Super cool!!
Great insight thanks 👍🏻
Glad you enjoyed it!
I recall flying into CDG from San Francisco and frequently seeing a Concorde and a few times a take off. Loud! Cool!
Nice to see she still has a beating heart
Very interesting, liked!
I loved the Concord from fslabs for fsx!
thank you for this
Fascinating … thank you
Interesting video. Thanks 👍
When a kid, I used to make origami air planes and bend down its pointed nose to call it the concord. It's still a dream function with the slide-down windshield.
Never knew it had a visor over the cockpit. Wild.
this is the best part.
The most droopiest snooot ❤
what a piece of machinery. just Awesome
Thank you so very much!
Soooooo coooool! I want it back!
How many people want Concord to fly again?
👇👇
Awesome
Asombrosa y hermosa maquina El Concorde siempre vivirá en nuestros pensamientos corazones.
Great!
For once a cool YT recommendation!
00:25 Glad he brushed his fingers against that tire. What a relief.
So fun fact: its a technique often taught to touch the things you're only visually inspecting during a pre-flight walk-around. The intent is to develop a flow via muscle memory that might not be quite as ingrained as a purely visual flow would be.
Amazes me with so many buttons, switches, levers, scratchers and all, there were so few incidents with this bird...
Well everything is labeled, and the minimum crew to fly a Concorde is 3, in addition to the pilot and co-pilot, there was also a flight engineer to monitor and actuate most of the controls so the pilots could concentrate on flying the plane
I wonder with the latest jet engines if Concord can be made much quieter and fuel efficient ?
The snoot droops!
Puppy: Boop the snoot
Concorde: Droop the snoot
The snoot drooped!
How can that pitot tube work if it's not pointed straight ahead?
When the nose is a 17° can the heat shields be moved back up or just at the full up position.
Just at the full up position, there isn't much point otherwise as the heat shield is only needed for supersonic cruise.
When does the pilot and engineer ready the nose down/up? During descent and ascent?
Initial nose to 5 was done just after engine start prior to taxi and was used to take off until after the noise abatement was over, wherupon the nose and visor were raised before entering subsonic cruise (done over land as they weren't allowed to fly supersonic until over the sea) and then wasn't touched until they were on the initial approach pattern whereupon it was lowered to 5 again. Once on final approach the nose was dropped to 12.5 and the gear selected down. Once landed and clear of the runway the nose was raised to 5 for taxi to the gate and nose and visor were fully raised just before shutdown.
The reason she had the droop nose was that she had no flaps or slats and therefore was at a high angle of attack at low speeds.
Living on Long Island as a kid, seeing Concords fly overhead headed for JFK was not a rare occurrence. But you could tell by the rumble it was a concord and you'd run to the window to see if you could find it. Didn't realize it at the time that it was a privileged to be able to see them so often, or at all.
Excellent! Concorde the best airliner! 👍
Agreed!
What is the visor needed for?
The most amazing, most technically designed airplane of it's time. We need Concorde II so that people can experience supersonic flight again.
United revealed they are ordering a fleet of supersonic aircraft and I believe they plan on doing commercial flights by 2029
Did the Russian T144 have similar mechanism?
How I would love to hear that roar one more time :(
Especially the afterburners....
Agreed the take off was awesome.
Go to your local city zoo, and throw a dart at the lionesses tail you'll hear the roar you haven't heard in your life. 🙃😉😆
@@dogwalker666 and landing. Using around 80+% she was deafening even when arriving. But yeah a dusk departure with the afterburners. That was a sight to behold.
@@jesusescobar435 nah I’ll pass. Besides I wouldn’t harm any animals especially the animal I admire the most ;).
EXCELENTE.
What are the use of lowering nose?
The most important check it to lightly touch the landing gear as you walk past.
And kick the tyres
How should we do the cockpit...
As many buttons as possible.
Yes.
Miss Moses Lake!!
What was the computer operating system
Something I just noticed, it looks like all the pitot tubes are on the movable portion of the nose. Wondering how the designers accounted for the pitot tubes not being in line with the airflow to get accurate airspeed reading at lower airspeeds.
The nose would have been getting lowered as the Angle of Attack increased due to the slowing of flight speed for landing, thus keeping the pitot tubes pointed into the wind. If the pitot tubes were on the non-moving portion of the fuselage, they would have had a very nose high angle into the wind giving erroneous readings.
@@alphanovember1234 I can’t think of any other aircraft that has moving pitot tubes?
@@kickedinthecalfbyacow7549 There was one other I am aware of, the Tupolev Tu-144. Was essentially a Concorde clone with forward canards that extended when the nose drooped to help keep angle of attack not quite as high and add some pitch axis stability. Unique in its own right that way.
How is the flight deck powered? Is she using the ground power socket to give power on the flight deck?
She is most likely plugged into shore power. Batteries and APU's not being used at this stationary position.
@@glyphs3 Concorde never had an APU
So many historic airplanes still fly, as the Lockheed Constellation, or so many DC3s, it would be great to know the Concorde would take to the skies again. Understand the exorbitant costs to fly them, but, still...
It wasn’t just the running costs alone with Concorde. Components on supersonic jets, such as Concorde and the Tupolev 144, would have been subject to more wear and tear. At the higher altitudes they flew at, the air in the cabin would have expanded more as the molecules would have tried to spread further apart, stretching the airframe more. There’s only so much stretching metals, including those used in the construction of aircraft, can be subjected to before it becomes weakened so badly that it’s no longer fit for purpose. Some airlines have found this out the hard way with incidents such as Aloha Airlines Flight 243 when the commuter plane was used for too many short hops across Hawaii, except the sea air would have caused some corrosion in that example. Still, the strength of the cabin is not something to be ignored. Like I say, airlines have made the mistakes before and killed people. The engines would have needed to work harder to get the plane to supersonic speed too. Not only would this have consumed more fuel, but it would have worn parts of the engine out quicker. Imagine if you did 50 press-ups. You’d get a good workout. Now imagine if you did 500 press-ups (let’s assume you’re just an average Joe). You’d wear your arms out to the point where your muscles would be eroded away and would enter your bloodstream in particulate form, opening a Pandora’s box of issues, but that’s another story for another day. Same with the jet engines on a supersonic plane, such as Concorde’s four Rolls-Royce Olympus engines for example. The speeds they would need to operate at to generate the necessary thrust to reach supersonic speed would cause more wear and tear on the shafts, the fan blades and the compressor cans around the outside. Rupture a compressor can in a jet engine and you can expect a pretty nasty engine fire, which could really wreak havoc if left unchecked. For evidence of this, look no further than British Airtours Flight 092. Cracked compressor cans left unchecked caused an engine fire on the takeoff roll. The pilot was able to abort the takeoff, but not everyone was able to evacuate quickly enough and perished when the aircraft fuselage caught fire. Last but not least, the tyres on a supersonic passenger plane would have been nothing like the ones on the non-supersonic planes that currently fill our skies. As it stands, a regular jetliner’s tyres are good for 500 landings and are retreaded 7 times during that period before they have to be changed, according to the tyre manufacturer Good Year. Neither Concorde nor the Tupolev 144 had flaps to increase drag and lift during takeoff and, to greater extent, landing. Landings would have been harder and faster than on a 737, so the tyres would have to be a different beast entirely. Manufactured differently with different materials, inflated differently and retreaded and changed at more regular intervals. On a regular jetliner, landing is usually done with a descent rate of 750 feet per minute at an airspeed of 160 mph, which is just a shade above 140 knots. In Concorde and the Tupolev 144 this was not an option without flaps. Both planes worked their way around the problem in their different ways, such as Concorde’s wings being good for both supersonic and subsonic flight, and the Tupolev 144’s less elegant cunards, but the problem with hard and fast landings was still there. The takeaway here is that the higher demands that are placed on a machine, the more those responsible for maintenance need to stay on their toes, and this too costs money.
Without manufacturer support, a return to flight would never be viable. Concorde was withdrawn in 2003 because Airbus, the holder of the type certificate, withdrew its support. Without support from the type certificate holder, you cannot have a full Certificate of Airworthiness to my understanding, in which case you could not fly with passengers.
There simply is no way you'd ever get such a complex aircraft back into the skies after nearly 18 years of being grounded. The engines and avionics may well be all but impossible to put back into airworthy condition without total replacement. There has probably been structural deterioration of the airframes. There are no airworthy parts remaining and no manufacturer is going to come forward to make the necessary supply of specialist parts. So much will not meet modern requirements - collision avoidance avionics is one that comes to mind. There will also be crewing issues - Concorde needs a flight engineer, a licensed role that has essentially disappeared from commercial aviation, also I would think all the pilots that were type rated on Concorde have long since retired, as they tended to be senior pilots towards the end of their careers. There is also the problem that Concorde is way behind modern noise and exhaust standards.
There is a huge difference between an unpressurised piston-engined plane like the DC3 and a supersonic jet airliner like Concorde. If there is ever to be supersonic passenger transport again, it will be on new aircraft. Even with United's recent announcement, I have my doubts it will ever happen. The world demand for premium airliner travel is likely to be lower than it once was before COVID, whilst the hyper-rich will typically fly on a private aircraft.
Two incredibly informative comments, thanks for posting!
@@DavidWood2 Yep, a pipe dream sadly - never gonna happen
@@MrSupercar55 I remember reading somewhere that the Concorde needed 22 hours of maintenance for every hour of flight.
A silly question maybe, but theoretically if you put fuel in this Concorde and brought it to an airport might it fly? Or has British Airways as part of the Concord's decommissioning stripped critical components to try ensure they remain forever grounded?
All of the triplex hydraulic systems were drained, apart from the Concorde in Barbados. Yes, theoretically with a week or two of work AXDN would fire up and probably hurtle off down the runway. The risk of critical failiure would be huge though. The Concorde at Barbados, reportedly however, is largely in exactly the condition she was delivered in. I have no doubt with minimal work the aeroplane could theoretically take off and fly subsonically.
Not sure if this is entirely true,Air France still fire up their fleet of concords. Not sure to what extent they do that 🤷🏻♂️……or i might be utterly wrong!
@@sjr999r They don't. There is one still at CDG and she is on stilts. Like with BA's fleet the rest have gone to museums, with the exception of one that went to Airbus Toulouse.
This particular concord, definitely not, it hasn’t flown for 50 years
Can't believe we never saw the pilot's view with the nose down.
One of the greatest marvels of technology of this century!
If have to , would this plane flew ?
If Concorde were being designed today (2021), instead of the 1960s and early 1970s, engineers would probably have opted for high definition television cameras, both colour and infrared, instead of the complications of a moveable nose cone. The instrument panel would be electronic with multipurpose main screens in front of the pilot and co-pilot stations that would serve as displays for those cameras.
that was....cool.....