"Rise and Fall of Concorde" on Ch 7 Tonight (MEL) at 8:30pm (12Aug10)

[medhead]

Kind of defeats the purpose then, and it would have likewise had the same problems travelling the other way, surely.

Not really if you consider the period of time. When I went ATW in 1978, we had 2 stops getting to London and 2 stops getting from LA to Oz on 747. Shorter flight time and same number of stops.

 

[samh004]

Not really if you consider the period of time. When I went ATW in 1978, we had 2 stops getting to London and 2 stops getting from LA to Oz on 747. Shorter flight time and same number of stops.

Oh, perhaps at the time, but then when it went to nonstop flights with the jumbos, I can’t imagine the saving in time of speeding ahead, then stopping to refuel, speeding ahead, then stopping to refuel, and speeding ahead once more would yield too much saving in time. Can anyone work it out?

Certainly wouldn’t sit well with premium travellers.

 

[markis10]

Oh, perhaps at the time, but then when it went to nonstop flights with the jumbos, I can’t imagine the saving in time of speeding ahead, then stopping to refuel, speeding ahead, then stopping to refuel, and speeding ahead once more would yield too much saving in time. Can anyone work it out?

Certainly wouldn’t sit well with premium travellers.

The one or two stops would have had to take up to 7 hours in total before the 747 caught up if you are talking SYD-LAX.

 

[medhead]

Oh, perhaps at the time, but then when it went to nonstop flights with the jumbos, I can’t imagine the saving in time of speeding ahead, then stopping to refuel, speeding ahead, then stopping to refuel, and speeding ahead once more would yield too much saving in time. Can anyone work it out?

Certainly wouldn’t sit well with premium travellers.

Of course, just saying it was good for its time

I did a quick comparison of SYD-SIN-BAH-LHR by Concorde vs SYD-SIN-LHR by 747-400. this gives flight times of 8.33 hours vs 17.38 hours.

Based on Great circle mapper distances and wikipedia for speed. So very rough. Also compared to a modern-ish aircraft for comparison in a modern context.

What was shocking was the fuel consumption of 19 passenger miles/gallon, IIRC, on wikipedia, versus 104 passenger miles for a 747.

 

[NM]

The one or two stops would have had to take up to 7 hours in total before the 747 caught up if you are talking SYD-LAX.

Though keep in mind that it was not until Qantas took delivery of the 747-SP and late the 747-400 that they could operate 747s non-stop SYD-LAX. The 747s operated with a fuel stop in HNL for many years.

 

[markis10]

Though keep in mind that it was not until Qantas took delivery of the 747-SP and late the 747-400 that they could operate 747s non-stop SYD-LAX. The 747s operated with a fuel stop in HNL for many years.

Sam's question that I was answering was in the context of Concorde verus nonstop Jumbo.

 

[UP4014]

I seem to remember reading, someone here may be able to correct me if wrong, that QF did place an order for Concorde before flight testing (unusal then, normal now) and cancelled before the oil shock.

Any know more, I just can't remember if that right, close or I'm thinking of something else.

 

[markis10]

I seem to remember reading, someone here may be able to correct me if wrong, that QF did place an order for Concorde before flight testing (unusal then, normal now) and cancelled before the oil shock.

Any know more, I just can't remember if that right, close or I'm thinking of something else.

They did order 6 in 1965.

 

[samh004]

Sam's question that I was answering was in the context of Concorde verus nonstop Jumbo.

Yes, sorry, I’m very uninformed and just wondered about time savings.

I seem to remember reading, someone here may be able to correct me if wrong, that QF did place an order for Concorde before flight testing (unusal then, normal now) and cancelled before the oil shock.

Any know more, I just can't remember if that right, close or I'm thinking of something else.

They did order 6 in 1965.

And 2 options, as per the diagram in post #37.

 

[matty744]

A different but still interesting look at the ups and downs of Concorde is the Discovery channel's "Flying Heavy Metal" series by Bruce ****inson of Iron Maiden fame who flies a 757 when on tour.

The entire series can be found here, while the start of episode 3 which covers the concorde and its competition of its day, the 747 is here