SPEEDBIRDS.COM FEATURE 'Flying Concorde'

Well, the simulator, at least!

On the morning of 10th March 2004 I was priveleged to be invited to fly the famous Concorde simulator at Filton. During my visit I would be able to see first hand the hardware that drives this magnificent but rarely-mentioned machine, check out the computer that is responsible for driving the experience, and actually 'fly' her on a short round trip for myself.

My day started at Main Site Reception, where I was met by my hosts Trevor Mason and Derek Britton. I was shown to an inauspicious looking red brick building close to the Media Centre, where I was taken through a short corridor and into a small reception room.

Facts

Derek Britton, who effectively manages the sim for BA full-time at the Filton site, whetted my appetite with some interesting facts about the sim. She first entered service in 1975, and was built by Redifon/Singer Link-Miles at a cost of around £3 million. She underwent a graphics engine makeover in 1987, at a further cost of £3 million, and bringing her in line with all the very best sims around the World.

On entering the cavernous room holding the sim, my first thoughts were about the sheer size of her. Standing about fifteen feet high, jacked up on her rams like a huge camera on a tripod. She had a box shaped cabin, with a bulbous front that apparently housed the intricate projection screen. The screen itself affords a full 180 degree view, and of course has to move with the sim to be able to emulate the real thing.

Sim from the outside. The dome shape is the huge 180 deg screen.

Copy

I asked whether she is a good copy of the 'real' Concorde, and Derek's reply astounded me, for not only is she an accurate copy of Concorde, but further than this she is actually a copy of G-BOAC! In other words, she has been designed as an exact copy of the cabin of BOAC - right down to an aircon leak!

As I rounded her, snapping away with my EOS 10 equipped with a 28mm USM lens, Derek Britton furnished me with more facts: Her most famous pilot was probably The Right Honourable Tony Benn MP! Mr Benn being her most vociferous supporter in the 1960s, to the relief and delight of a Bristol public.

It was time to board. Derek showed me to my seat, the right hand seat. I was amazed at how tight it was. I eased myself into place and sort of fell into the seat, before Derek pulled a lever and I drew up towards the yoke. We belted up and I sat there, peering out of the front to an evening sky over the runway in front of me. I was struck with the reality of the scenery. The blue evening sky faded to red-orange on the horizon, and a few early evening bright stars had made their mark.

My tutor showed me what to do. I was shown the rudder pedals at my feet which doubled for wheel brakes on landing. The yoke was a simple affair forming a 'Y' shape which felt easy in my relaxed hands. On the console to my left lay the throttles - four of them which were to be actuated together in unison. Below them the reheat switches. These were to be deployed during takeoff to give us boost and lift.

Routine

I was shown the four red shutoff switches overhead. If I was flying the real thing these would be lit with a rather loud alarm accompanying them if an engine fire had been detected. Derek informed me that during routine training with the Concorde fleet's pilots, an engine fire would often occur at or shortly before V1 (the point of no return on takeoff), no doubt giving the pilot's heart rate a boost! I was promised no such problems, much to my relief!

My heart was nonetheless racing as he counted down to zero, and I pushed the throttles forward in one long gentle movement. We began to move, slowly at first, as the engines reached their high-pitch song. Within seconds we were approaching the takeoff speed of 210 knots, the hangars and outbuildings of LHR 27 Left (London Heathrow, westbound) flashing past my window at a breathtaking rate.

Climb

With one gentle tug on the yoke we were up! With that all familiar lurch in the pit of my stomach, the ground was falling away from me below, and we disengaged the reheats. We didn't want to upset the good people of West London after all! I was instructed to make a gentle starboard (right) turn. As I did so, I needed to pull back on the yoke a little in order to maintain our climb attitude of 16 degrees. We decided to keep the visor and nose down at 5 degrees so as to afford a better view of London below me, the lights of rush hour traffic still clearly visible. We did however disengage the undercarriage.

Derek Britton and me

I was excited by the appearance of Canary Wharf ahead of me, as well as the famous NatWest Tower, sitting in the heart of the 'City' - London's financial centre, and the light reflecting off father Thames out of my window below. As we evened out our climb at 2,500 feet, we had time to chat some more. I was extremely excited, and my teeth were chattering as adrenaline rushed through my veins.

Derek brought me back to earth however, pointing to the black void in front of me and explaining that we were just about to traverse the English Channel! I made another starboard 180 degree turn, and pointed the nose towards the distinct lights of LHR drawing me in from some twenty miles away.

Landing

We started our descent by reducing the angle and our speed slightly, and the runway lights drew ever closer. Derek explained to me that, during low cloud or foggy conditions, two small arrows on the dial in front of me would act to guide me safely to our landing place. We engaged the undercarriage once more, and the lights drew us in. He explained a row of red lights straddling the runway in a horizontal plane. Apparently the lights being red told us that we were approaching at the correct angle. Too high and the lights would be white. Trevor joked that if they were green we should panic, because they would only be green if viewed through the grass either side of the runway!

As we drew ever closer, I started to make out the shape of other aircraft, waiting at their gates or taxiing for takeoff. As we passed over the front end of the runway, I eased off the throttle and with that we were down. I pushed forwards on the yoke which was met with about 100 lbs of resistance, and applied the foot brakes hard. Derek applied reverse thrust and the engines roared for a last time as we slowed to a stop, using the reverse G forces to assist my force on the yoke.

With that we were down and stationary. No drama, not even a bumpy landing. In fact it was a textbook landing, even if I say so myself. I sat there for a while, hoping to savour some of what I had just experienced. I sat there for a while, staring curiously at the car headlights as they passed in front of us on the western perimiter road. My tutor reminded me that other aircraft were waiting for me to exit the runway, and with that we were back where I had started some twenty minutes earlier.

We repeated the exercise but this time the pilot was Trevor, so I sat back and relaxed as I watched the experienced pilot take the same trip as I, but without instructions from Derek.

Foggy

When Trevor had safely landed BOAC, we sat back and chatted some more. Derek demonstrated some rather instant weather changes; Foggy, to darkness. Daylight and back to dusk. We departed from the cockpit with a smile on my face as wide as Concorde's wingspan!

Back at the Control Centre, Derek showed me how somebody could simulate Air Traffic Control, before we went next door to the 'PC' that controls her. When I say PC I am misleading you sightly, for rows of Computer cabinets confronted me. Of course these days much of it would doubtless fit into a box the size of a football, however the graphics are sufficiently complex to require a somewhat larger home.

Computer room

Projectors

Derek used the higher vantage point of the Computer room window to show me the three projectors that form the 180 degree image. Not your usual box of tricks here. Three huge boxes stood on top of the sim and jointly formed the complex images that make up the runway and London, JFK or any one of hundreds of other scenery files available.

Projectors on top of the sim

I had time to thank my hosts for what had turned out to be a truly wonderful experience. My stomach was telling me that I had been immersed in the whole experience for the whole morning! Now I was back on terra firma, and it was time I was off to the mundane world of cold and wet Bristol in March!

I would like to express my profound thanks to Derek Britton, Trevor Mason and everybody at Airbus, BA and BAe Systems for making my flight possible.

Martin Slade.