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Flight engineer reveals what it was really like to operate supersonic jet Concorde
As the flight engineer, it was Hazelby’s job to operate the controls – to make the adjustments needed to ensure the aircraft safely punched through the sound barrier to reach speeds of over Mach 2. That first day, Hazelby looked at the floor to ceiling panel and felt “very nervous.” Flight engineer colleagues had warned him Concorde duties were all consuming – he’d barely have time to eat or drink a cup of coffee for the duration of the flight. (www.cnn.com) More...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Great article and read. If you imagine how we progressed from navigators, flight engineers, etc trying to unburden the pilots to now basically pilot just pressing buttons for computer to fly... I hope we figure out this supersonic flying again (economics of it mostly).
That is a VERY INTERESTING article, with a lot of insights crew these days never deal with. Great story. Thanks.
For passengers it was a wonderful aircraft. 3 hrs and 21 minutes from New York or Washington DC to London Heathrow. It was punctual to a "T", save for really bad weather, the service was excellent and the fact of landing in Europe with no jet lag, no lost sleep and ready for dinner in a real restaurant was a terrific relief on one's whole nervous system. BA and AF corporate specials on the pricing made it affordable to the fortunate few. Supersonic travel does have major commercial and environmental issues to overcome before the technology can be deployed again, but from the perspective of the passenger it was a "godsend".
When I worked at Richmond International Airport (RIC), the SFOU manager there was able to get a Concorde to fly in for one of the airshows. Being close to the runway when that beautiful bird did a low pass and then a landing was an experience I'll never forget!
My first time as a paying passenger on the Concorde was the summer of 1980, JFK to LHR, and was sitting next to a regular flier from Detroit who advised me to ask (since it was my first time) to sit in the cockpit after dinner was finished. I was told I could sit in the engineer's seat as long as I didn't touch any of the switches on the panel. I did that until they needed to make preparations for landing and the engineer needed his seat back. I flew later as a courier for TNT but by they put couriers in the last row and probably no longer allowed anyone in the cockpit by then.
Re: “And even people who’ve heard of a flight engineer are not really quite sure what they are or what they do,” Hazelby adds. : Watch Airport (1970). Other than messing with the stewardesses, the FE was actually quite busy on his 707.
My Dad was Structural Dynamics Engineer on Concorde at Filton during the 60's. Because he spoke good technical French he was back-n-forth to Toulouse very frequently.
Saw one take off at an Airshow East of San Diego (airport anybody? - about a mile north of Mexico). it was almost as loud as a Space Shuttle Main Engine (My bread&butter in the 80's) from 1/2 mile away.
My Dad was Structural Dynamics Engineer on Concorde at Filton during the 60's. Because he spoke good technical French he was back-n-forth to Toulouse very frequently.
Saw one take off at an Airshow East of San Diego (airport anybody? - about a mile north of Mexico). it was almost as loud as a Space Shuttle Main Engine (My bread&butter in the 80's) from 1/2 mile away.