CONCORDE AIRCRAFT

Performance of Concorde aircraft



Performance of Concorde aircraft

Abstract

Concorde is a retired supersonic aircraft. This was the first supersonic aircraft that was used for commercial purposes. This paper discusses the performance of the Concorde aircraft, along with some of its functionality and engine's features.

Introduction

Concorde was a supersonic airliner used as a passenger airline, powered by turbo-jet. It was first introduced in the year 1969 and entered the airline industry for service in 1976.

The Anglo-French government treaty was the producers of this aircraft, while the manufactures were, Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation. Concorde outperformed all the supersonic aircraft in its flight hours (Mertens, J., 1998), by virtue of its speed and overall efficiency. It was a beautiful aircraft with the artistic wings, powerful engines, elegant fuselage, and sophisticated interior. The next section of the paper discusses few major features of the aircraft.

General Features of Concorde aircraft

The subsonic airlines typically had the cruising below 40,000 feet, while the maximum cruising altitude for Concorde was of 60,000 feet. This capability of the aircraft was known as super cruise capability. The equipment responsible for providing the aircraft with this feature were afterburning Roll-Royce Olympus turbojets (Flight level 350, 2012). These equipments reduced the atmospheric turbulences for the aircraft flights.

It was the first airliner which utilized the Fly-By- Wire Flight Control system. The equipment of air craft included fully electric wired system for applying brakes. Also, the Concorde was equipped with delta wings, the name is given to the wings due to the resemblance in their shape with the Greek letter delta D. These wings offered major aero-dynamic advantages for the aircraft, such as reducing the drag of the airplane by keeping the shock wave generated by the nose in front of the wing. Also, the larger surface area of the wings results in fuel storage, as these wings produces more lift (Johnston J., et.al, 2010). The Concorde aircraft incorporated double-delta (ogive) shaped wings for providing the speed optimization feature.

The flight had no jet leg, as compared to the long overnight subsonic flights (Air France, 2001). As the turbulence reduces with the altitude, as the Concorde flew at the altitudes of up to 49, 000 feet, there was little or no turbulence.

Concorde was recognizable mainly due to its drooping nose. The aircraft had this nose to provide it with a streamlined design, necessary to overcome the drag forces of air. Also, this nose improves the aerodynamic efficiency of the aircraft while in flight, as the pilot would become able to see clearly while performing critical actions such as taxi, take-off and landing. Above all, this feature improved the landing visibility.

The aircraft included certain equipment for accomplishing weight saving and optimal performance, such as Mach 2.04 'sweet spot' for fuel consumption at minimum possible level. The Concorde was mostly based on aluminum construction, which makes the aircraft low in weight. Also, the hydraulic systems were high in pressures, but with lighter components, to reduce the overall weight of the ...