Concorde at a fair ol' ****.

I heard Concorde break the SB way back in 1970 whilst on holiday in Scotland. LOUD!!!

Of course I could google this, but what is actually happening when that noise occurs?

As ever, good ol' Wikipedia delivers.

I heard one once while living in Saudi. I thought two cars had driven into the end of my villa. I went outside to see what was going on and everyone else on the compound was doing the same thing!

Tony

So is the boom only thusly heard when the aircraft first breaks the speed of sound, or is it a constant thing, depending on the observer?

I am feeling a bit dumb tonight.

Also I am guessing the passengers on concorde did not hear a sonic boom? (Though I guess the thing must have been noisy eh?)

It's a constant effect. If the aircraft is travelling at a constant supersonic speed at a constant altitude over flat and level ground the cone shaped shock-wave will hit the ground at the same distance behind and below the aircraft.
The damage to the ground caused by Thrust SSC was scary!



Tony

I had a very similar experience a few years ago, when sailing from Southampton to Alderney - it was flat calm outside, and I was down below making the tea (honest!) and I heard those bangs. Upon scrambling up on deck, I saw exactly the same 'footage' of Concorde presumably some minutes out of CDG. A beautiful sight!
John

We were in Kissimee Fl when the space shuttle was landing, (at night unfortunately) but heard the sonic bangs.
My daughter lived in Guernsey for a while and she heard Concorde's sonic bangs quite often.

Howard

You also might like this little clip

I watched concorde take off from Boscombe Down once, that was pretty impressive, the burners were anyhow, we were behind it and boom it was gone. Didn't need much runway haha.

Lower. I said lower!

F14

Wouldn't you just love the chance to see that for real? Airshows are all very well, but since the awful crashes in the last couple of decades they are sooo boring. The Red Arrows send me to sleep! Bring back skimming the crowd at Mach 0.95!


Tony

It's nice to see these videos - when Concorde finally retired BA produced a superb video to celebrate Concorde's 27 years of service. This video was only ever intended to be seen by staff, but you can see it here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnzj6qYYv78

It's certainly my favourite Concorde video though I for one find it hard to watch without getting a tear in the eye - it's rousing and inspiring - I particularly love Tony Benn's comments - Concorde was the product of a different era for sure.

Jonathan

Benn, Baxter, Trubshaw, Wilson and the white heat of technology. Words, thoughts and hopes from the last millennium. I admit shedding a tear as I watched the last Concords landing line astern at London airport. In those first few days after 9/11 when nothing was flying I sort of missed the reassuring sound of the early evening Concorde as it passed across south London.

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:Also I am guessing the passengers on Concorde did not hear a sonic boom? (Though I guess the thing must have been noisy eh?)

Correct. It was hellish noisy inside, especially at the rear when the afterburners were on for takeoff. As for the sonic boom, that could not be heard, but what you did get was a nudge in the back as the afterburners were re-ignited for the trans-sonic push.

As for the shortish takeoff you saw, it may have been very light. At Heathrow taking off from its preferred 09L/27R - smoother surface than 09R/27L - we used pretty much all of the 3900m when I flew, or so it seemed. Interesting to note that Concorde's "rotate" speed of c.220 knots, or around 250 mph, was the fastest I've ever been on land, way faster than other commercial jets. At that speed the runway is disappearing backwards very rapidly and there's not much left when you climb into the air.

Duncan

I still remember standing in the BA car park a few times as Concorde roared off into the early evening sunset bound for New York, afterburners aglow in the evening light. It still gives me goose bumps thinking about it. I recall it used to set the car alarms off all across the staff car park and there'd be dozens of sirens going after she departed!

I also remember on several occasions being in the Compass Centre BA operations building which is beside runway 09R/27L at Heathrow and seeing many people across the open floorplate stand up daily to see her go. They didn't do that for anything else...

Concorde, mankind's most beautiful creation IMHO.

Jonathan

Concord was indeed a thing of beauty. Many of the most beautiful man-made things are also sheer folly! In my view Concord falls into both sets!

On the other hand it was a summation of the most advanced aeronautical technology of its day, and as such may be viewed as a tremendous triumph. What is more questionable is what good really came of it. Being too rose tainted in one's view may be a sign of sentimentality.

Technology of a similar era, the EMI development of the CAT scanner may well be regarded as a greater triumph on every level.

ATB from George

I think the Concorde was beautiful too, but to call it a masterpiece of engineering is to ignore the reason it crashed. It was fantastic engineering - but not enough systems were redundant for it to be suitable for use as an airliner. That it took decades for that to be proved is beside the point - especially given the loss of life when it did show its weakness.

I'm not sure "redundant systems" could save any aircraft from having a wing burnt off! Concorde was vulnerable to damage to the fuel tanks.

Tony

Had a wander through a Concorde at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford this summer. Couldn't get over how unbelievably tiny the cabin space was. The seats were bloomin comfy though.

One reason I do not really enjoy aircraft at all is the small space and the seeming difficulty of making a quite exit through the emergency doors. If I choose the seat, then I go by the emergency doors!

I would rather a ferry. At least they usually take hours to actually sink once something has gone wrong too badly! I like to be on deck if there is a good storm. I am not sure that I could relax below decks in such conditions!

ATB from George

quote:

Concorde was vulnerable to damage to the fuel tanks.

Only apparently on an untidy French airport.

quote:

I would rather a ferry. At least they usually take hours to actually sink once something has gone wrong too badly!

Herald of Free Enterprise?

Dear Howard,

I don't count the Roll-on-roll-off style of ferry as a proper ferry!

I have been on one on two ocasions, Dover to Calais and back. I don't like a ship with a waterline only 18 inches below the entrance. stands to reason really!

ATB from George

Very sad, but fond, memories of my visit to the National Museum of Flight at East Fortune Airfield in East Lothian.

Sad to see such a graceful bird cooped up in its hanger, never to fly again.

Fond because I love flight and everything to do with it, the sheer technical brilliance and forward thinking design (of the times) cannot fail to impress the big kid, and educated adult in me!

Some pics from that day.....









May she rest in peace.

Cheers,
Ali

Not bad for technology from the 1950s and designed produced generation wise for a lot of you by your great grandparents generation

Great to see that at least it's indoors there. I think some of the others sent to various museums are sitting around at the mercy of the elements until they fall to bits.

Duncan

The only daft thing is that no doubt someone will propose wasting millions on getting it flying again, like the Vulcan, in a decade or so!

I totally agree that one or more should be well preserved as historical exhibits, for all that!

ATB from George