4 ms·

The Concorde was different from other aircraft in many ways

37 points by pr337h4m 3y ago

baudaux 3y ago
A great Great Britain - France collaboration
robert_yphsilon 3y ago
I'd recommend reading Mike Bannister's book on the Concorde if you are interested in its history and operational details: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60032319-concorde https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60032319-concorde
- wt__ 3y ago
  Yep it’s a superb book, definitely read/listen to it. (there’s a new book out by John Tye too, another Concorde pilot.) And if you’re in the UK, visit Brooklands Museum where you can go on one where they’ve replicated some the noise, movement, displays etc. in the passenger cabin. Also, only place in the world with a working Concorde flight simulator. Bannister supports the museum and occasionally gives lessons in the flight simulator.
zokier 3y ago
I think its nice illustration of simple-easy-complex-difficult dichotomy. On one hand it appears super complex. But I suspect it is also conceptually very simple; each switch, button, dial, and indicator is most likely directly coupled to some one specific functionality. In comparison in modern aircrafts, with their sleek glass cockpits, lot of the same functionality might be hidden somewhere ten levels deep in menu hell and might have all sorts of weird modality etc built-in, so they are in some regards conceptually more complex. In similar vein in Concorde the controls and indicators were probably very directly coupled to their respective elements, again being simple in that regard, whereas in modern aircraft everything is done with impossibly complex computer systems that pilots (or even engineers) would have difficult time understanding.
andersrs 3y ago
It's the perfect symbol of peak boomerist individualism and failed nationalism. Burn as much fuel as you can. Make as much noise as you can. Who cares about the atmosphere and trying to live peacefully below it. It's an absolute engineering masterpiece. Six times the fuel per mile as a 747, uh, anyway, whatever it's loud and fast that's so cool!
- wkat4242 3y ago
  It was just a sign of the times. People just didn't realise the impact as the negative effects hadn't started yet and the benefits were huge in lifting most of Europe out of poverty. Soon after the oil crisis happened though which was really the start of climate and environmental awareness.
  - bogomipz 3y ago
    The Oil Crisis was 1973-74. Commercial Concorde flights began two years later in 1976. I've never heard a connection between the Oil Crisis and the beginning the climate awareness. The crisis was considered a crisis specifically because we couldn't get enough it to burn.
    - wkat4242 3y ago
      Of course the Concorde was being designed long before that. Since the mid-60s. It was still a product of a care-free age. At least in Holland the oil crisis definitely kicked off a moment that questioned the constant availability of cheap natural resources. Suddenly what was "on tap" was no longer there. The climate part came later (but the environmental movement started around that time) but in my view it was the first chip in the belief of oil as the foundation of a long-term prosperous future.
- klondike_klive 3y ago
  I remember it going over my house as a kid and the noise was something else. I loved it, but then I was in my single-digits.
- 3y ago
garaetjjte 3y ago
Is this written by AI or what? "One of main differences that instantly stands out is the additional bank of control panels on the right-hand side" -> "This was not uncommon at the time"
TradingPlaces 3y ago
It was also a pretty cramped plane, especially compared to a 747. I could not stand up straight, and I am 5’11"

37 points by pr337h4m 3y ago

A great Great Britain - France collaboration

I'd recommend reading Mike Bannister's book on the Concorde if you are interested in its history and operational details: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60032319-concorde https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60032319-concorde

wt__ 3y ago
Yep it’s a superb book, definitely read/listen to it. (there’s a new book out by John Tye too, another Concorde pilot.) And if you’re in the UK, visit Brooklands Museum where you can go on one where they’ve replicated some the noise, movement, displays etc. in the passenger cabin. Also, only place in the world with a working Concorde flight simulator. Bannister supports the museum and occasionally gives lessons in the flight simulator.

zokier 3y ago

I think its nice illustration of simple-easy-complex-difficult dichotomy. On one hand it appears super complex. But I suspect it is also conceptually very simple; each switch, button, dial, and indicator is most likely directly coupled to some one specific functionality. In comparison in modern aircrafts, with their sleek glass cockpits, lot of the same functionality might be hidden somewhere ten levels deep in menu hell and might have all sorts of weird modality etc built-in, so they are in some regards conceptually more complex. In similar vein in Concorde the controls and indicators were probably very directly coupled to their respective elements, again being simple in that regard, whereas in modern aircraft everything is done with impossibly complex computer systems that pilots (or even engineers) would have difficult time understanding.

andersrs 3y ago

It's the perfect symbol of peak boomerist individualism and failed nationalism. Burn as much fuel as you can. Make as much noise as you can. Who cares about the atmosphere and trying to live peacefully below it. It's an absolute engineering masterpiece. Six times the fuel per mile as a 747, uh, anyway, whatever it's loud and fast that's so cool!

wkat4242 3y ago
It was just a sign of the times. People just didn't realise the impact as the negative effects hadn't started yet and the benefits were huge in lifting most of Europe out of poverty. Soon after the oil crisis happened though which was really the start of climate and environmental awareness.
- bogomipz 3y ago
  The Oil Crisis was 1973-74. Commercial Concorde flights began two years later in 1976. I've never heard a connection between the Oil Crisis and the beginning the climate awareness. The crisis was considered a crisis specifically because we couldn't get enough it to burn.
  - wkat4242 3y ago
    Of course the Concorde was being designed long before that. Since the mid-60s. It was still a product of a care-free age. At least in Holland the oil crisis definitely kicked off a moment that questioned the constant availability of cheap natural resources. Suddenly what was "on tap" was no longer there. The climate part came later (but the environmental movement started around that time) but in my view it was the first chip in the belief of oil as the foundation of a long-term prosperous future.
klondike_klive 3y ago
I remember it going over my house as a kid and the noise was something else. I loved it, but then I was in my single-digits.
3y ago

garaetjjte 3y ago

Is this written by AI or what? "One of main differences that instantly stands out is the additional bank of control panels on the right-hand side" -> "This was not uncommon at the time"

TradingPlaces 3y ago

It was also a pretty cramped plane, especially compared to a 747. I could not stand up straight, and I am 5’11"