Dear pilots,
I have to restructurate the Concorde timetable, invented some days ago. I discovered that many destinations are too far for the Concorde, if it follows real flight routes. Also some airports are not capable for Concorde operations.
Some tips for Concorde flights:
1. Flight dynamics.
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Our Concorde was modelled by FSFrance, and flight dynamics was written by Pedro Oliviera. With this flight dynamics file you cannot reach the Concorde's range and speed. Try to increase engine power, and decrease fuel flow in the Aircraft.cfg file after these:
[GeneralEngineData]
fuel_flow_scalar = 1.00
[TurbineEngineData]
static_thrust = 32500.000
If you still not satisfied with the result, you can further edit these values.
2. Fuel capacity.
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Do not bother with technical specifications about MTOW (Maximum allowed TakOff Weight), just fill up your tanks fully, and always watch out for fuel flow.
3. Selecting the route.
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At cruise speed, wether it is 1.0 or 2.0 Mach, engines are running at full power. Therefore you reach further the route is longer with supersonic speed.
You may know, that you cannot fly over populated areas (land) supersonic, only over ocean. The fuel is enough for about 500nm subsonic and 2700nm supersonic flight. Try to follow air routes so you can keep these rules.
4. Runways.
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Concorde needs longer runway for operations, than a normal plane. It needs 12000 feet long runway for takeoff, as its takeoff speed is about 220 kts. You can takeoff from a 11000 feet long runway too at about 190 kts, but apply more vertical trim and let the plane gain speed before initial climb.
Select a runway for takeoff that is long enough for the Concorde. You can check runway length from charts, or in-built map, or with FSNAV. If your in-built ATC guides you to a short runway, than simply taxi to a long one, FS will not notice the difference. If you fly on-line you can ask another runway from the ATC.
For takeoff, apply afterburners, and let the engine spin-up fully, before release the brakes. When you retracted gear, and the plane started to climb you can turn off afterburners.
For landings, Concorde do not need so long runway. Its touchdown speed is around 170kts, the same as the Boeing 747.
5. Cruising.
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After flying the SID, start your route at an initial cruise level of around FL300 and initial speed of M0.90. Enter this level to your flightplan if fly off-line. When you reach over the ocean, start the supersonic jump. Adjust flight level to around FL500, and speed to M2.00, climb to about 1000-1500 fpm. Then turn on the afterburners, and let it on, until you reach M1.70, then you can turn it off.
When reaching again land (New Foundland island area is exception) descend back to initial flight level (that was around FL300), and reduce speed to about M0.90. Landing is the same with any other aircrafts
You can do a cruise level jump in off-line mode too. Here is the cheat: when you reach FL100, ATC will tell you that contact the nearest Center controller. Tune your radio, but do not contact with it. Or if you know that you will fly over 2-3 Center areas, you can do it with the last one, before the jump. You can do it only after a frequency/controller change. If you do not reply to your controllers for a long time, it will kick you from IFR mode. If you just tune your radio, but do not contact with controller, then they will guide you through the whole flight, not saying anything to you, but you can listen the frequencies. After the supersonic flight, when you decreased again to the initial flight level, you can contact the given controller, and you will not lost IFR control. This time, as the ATC did not tell you anything for a long time, it will think that your heading is incorrect and will give you 3-4 commands continuously, until it says finally: resume own navigation.
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As the Concorde requires many special circumstances, it is a unique plane to fly. Because EuroBusiness have only 1 Concorde, number of flights cannot be too much. Therefore I decided to create some flightplans for the Concorde flights, that you can use in on-line and off-line flights too.
Stay tuned for more info.
Happy supersonic fliyngs.
