Sunday, May 29, 2011

Concorde G-BOAD Alpha Delta Walk Around


Took a day trip with my grandson On May 28. I took him to see Fleet Weekend held every year in New York City. Everything takes place on or near the old aircraft carrier Intrepid. Actullay I wanted to see the British Airways Concorde G-BOAD that is on display. Had a real great tour got some photos and enjoyed the day.





Me And My Grandson Nathaniel On The Flight Deck British Airways Concorde















Signatures of the last Flight Crew To Fly AD.. Captain L. Scott
I originally wrote this but :
Frank Van Haste corrected it:
On 7 Feb 96, Capt. Scott and his crew set the (still standing) speed record for flight from JFK to LHR of 2:52:59. That elapsed time is written, presumably by Capt. Scott, under his signature.

Now that is pretty cool....

Photos of Alpha Delta's Gear and Fuselage


























4 comments:

Comrade Misfit said...

Seeing that proud airplane as a museum piece makes me want to cry.

Stu Richards said...

I feel the same way, actually in the back of the passenger cabin it was starting to smell. Very unfortunate. They have now stopped large tours on the aircraft allowing only 12 people at a time 3 times a day.
A very beautiful aircraft.

Frank Van Haste said...

Stu:

Great pics! Thanks so much.

A small nitpick. I had occasion to hear Captain Les Scott speak recently and I don't believe that the crew signatures you show are reflective of G-BOAD's final flight. They're more significant than that.

On 7 Feb 96, Capt. Scott and his crew set the (still standing) speed record for flight from JFK to LHR of 2:52:59. That elapsed time is written, presumably by Capt. Scott, under his signature.

My favorite part of the story...NY Approach knew what they were trying to do and gave them great service on departure. Yet, nearing the end it was looking tight respective of breaking the record. Then they learned that LHR was, unexpectedly, landing West - which would consign the effort to the bin. They told the controllers what the deal was and they turned the airport around for them! G-BOAD landed East, the record went into the books, and it will probably stand for a long time.

Regards, and thanks for the great content,

Frank

boeing retireee said...

Flight log G-BOAG JFK-LHR, June 22nd 1998.
(this airplane is now on display at Seattle's Museum of Flight)

Preflight announcement: “usual blissfully smooth crossing, cruising altitude 58,000 ft M2, 1450 mph

(all times are UK time at destination)
13:45
Engine start. Seat 16A. Small windows, DC-6 size cabin, no video, but who cares. Verbal safety briefing. Takeoff will be 244 mph VR, runway 31L; 64 sec after will be thrust reduction for noise abatement. 10-12 min after takeoff will use reheat for transonic acceleration past M1

14:08 Brake release; 15 sec to VR. Very quick smooth accel; L turn after takeoff for noise abatement; in clouds saw leading edge vortices. Noisy; muted thunder from engines

14:10 M=0.46 5,000 ft Out of clouds; climbing
14:12 0.54 6,500 420 mph ground speed;
14:13 0.68 9,000
14:15 0.70 10,000
14:30 0.76 13,500
14:20 M=1.00 26,000 ft
Serving champagne and caviar
14:22 1.02 30,000
14:30 1.64 42,500 Reheat off
14:35 1.86 46,000
14:39 1.90 47,500
14:42 M=2.00 49,000 ft
14:49 2.00 50,000
Serving lunch. PSU has two gaspers, reading light and call button. Lav has hot and cold electric faucets. Lav complex amidships [warm in aisle]; G1 is forward; G2 is aft. Estimate 37” seat pitch, 4” to 6” recline.

14:59 2.00 51,000
Lunch cart arrives
15:06 2.00 51,000
Fruit and Perrier
15:15 2.00 52,000
15:25 2.00 52,000
Lunch – antipasto salad w stuffed tuna and grilled king prawns
15:36 2.00 52,000
Window is warm
15:45 2.00 53,000
Window is warmer. 1270 miles to go; 1340 mph
16:12 2.00 54,000
took cabin photos; manmy passengers were sleeping [!]; flight attendants said they were from the short-haul side.

16:43 2.00 55,000
Returned from short flight deck visit. Quite tight; narrow warm passageway. Peaked at 55,000 ft M2.0 = MMO. Limited by TMO = 127 deg C. 200 NM west of Ireland; start down soon. Got crew to sign certificate. Cloudy all the way across. Cruise alpha = 3 deg.

16:49 1.90 56,000
Start deceleration from M2.00
16:51 1.55 56,000
Top of descent
16:53 1.31 48,500 870 mph
16:54 1.22 45,500
16:55:30 1.13 41,700
16:56:30 1.00 40,000 Subsonic; cruise M0.95 at 40,000; engines muted buzz-saw noise now.
16:58 0.95 37,000
17:00 0.95 ------
Feels like a 747 in holding; loose and lumpy. LANDFALL. It all went by much too soon!
17:06 0.95 35,500
Over land. Decelerate and descend. Some noise
17:07 0.89 32,500
Turning right
17:11 0.72 18,000
Window cool now
17:16 0.67 12,000
17:20 ------ 8,000
Holding; 6-8 minute delay over Epsom Downs; nice wing vortices from clouds.
17:25 ------ ------ South of London; can see Millennium Dome
17:26 ------ ------ No more airspeed and altitude display. London on RHS [I was on left] too bad.
17:30 ------ ------ Thump; gear down; opposite Victoria Station. Lots of noise and vibration
17:33:05 Touchdown; heavy reverse and braking [no speedbrakes]; reversers are noisy.

17:38 0 0
Shutdown at gate. “can I go again”? (the answer was no)

SUMMARY
•3:53 engine start to shutdown
•3:25 brake release to touchdown
•2:36 at Mach 1.00 or above
•2:10 cruise at Mach 2.00