You lucky bugger. I really really want to get on concorde, but can't justify the price. Not sure what it would cost on airmiles, but probably a lot more than the 8000 I've got at the moment!

We're off to Maine/New England in September, so I'm trying to get a friend of a friend of a BA stewardess to get some preferential tickets for around £1200 each, but I'm not sure this'll work out.

 

160K BA Miles per person x 3 people.

Still got 100K miles left plus more now I have buzzed down to Jo'burg

 

Chris:

Sounds like an excellent time was had by all ;D

I'm only slightly jealous :-X

 

Jeeeesssssssuuuuusssss

You've got 260,000 airmiles?

A quick calculation indicates I'd need to spend £1,625,000 at Tesco's to get to that, so I've got a way to go!

Boo. :-[

 

Pete - your maths is wrong

It was 160K x 3 + 100K

= 580,000 BA miles

It's now about 100K or so, need to check

 

Oh right, just 580,000 miles then?

That's not so bad, I feel much better now! :

Guess I'll just have to wait for Easyjet to buy a couple of concordes!

 

Great story - I'm REALLY jealous!!

I soooo wanna fly Concord. The only concord story I have was when we sailed across to France: 6 of us on a 38footer, water all around (and nothing else), but all of a sudden.....BOOM, BOOM!! What the fcuk was that.....? It was Concord - aparently there are two booms: one for the front on the wing and one as the back of the wing breaks the sound barrier. Aparently!?

Sounds like you all had a great time, fantastic! STILL jealous!

 

What an experience. I am jealous.

But, I can vouch for BA's generosity on Special occasions. On our honeymoon flight to China, my wife and I were treated to champagne with our meals even though we were in cattle class and we got a bottle of champagne to take with us when we got off.

 

sounds great Chris - very jealous - quite amazing how many engine problems they suffer, but a superb plane. JAC - quite right about the double boom. caused by the shock wave at the nose and tail of the plane. Usually heard to distinguish that its a double boom, as Concorde is quite small, compared to the definite double boom caused by something the size of the space shuttle...

rgds

 

sounds great Chris - very jealous - quite amazing how many engine problems they suffer, but a superb plane. JAC - quite right about the double boom. caused by the shock wave at the nose and tail of the plane. Usually heard to distinguish that its a double boom, as Concorde is quite small, compared to the definite double boom caused by something the size of the space shuttle...

rgds

 

Great story......have to say I'd have dropped a brick if an engine was shut down on my flight.

 

Good Point Stu:

If only one of the engines was still working and the aircraft only has 2 engines, would this not mean that the plane would just fly round in circles?? (physics was never one of my strongest subject as i wanted to shag my 23yr old blonde Physics teacher). Wish i had payed more attention now. If possible, i only try and fly on aircraft with 4 engines on long haul flights, that way they would have to lose 3 of them before things really started to get messy.

 

concorde has got 4 engines...

 

As to the 2 engine thing - i see your point but the extra thrust on one side if only one engine was operational could be counterbalanced by rudder correction ?? - We need Roger to answer this one - he flies the things

 

Has it?

I only thought it had 2. There must be 2 engines in each of the underwing pods then. So did only one of the engines in the twin pod thingy fail then, so 3 engines were still producing power? That would explain why there was no panic.

 

Apparently, twin engined aircraft can fly on just one engine - can't take off though, but can fly and land OK.
Also, Concord should be able to fly on just 2 engines, but again can't take off (hence the Paris accident - 2 engines - and a few other things - were lost during takeoff.

(that's what my boss, who's a pilot, says anyway).

 

Yep, Concorde has 4 engines and just the one failed.

Le Capitaine went around reassuring individually the passengers and said that "too much air went into one of the engines and it shuts down automatically and that they could not get it re-started" - at least that's what he told us.

He also said that Concorde uses a lot more fuel sub-sonically than when at Mach 2 - so they had to re-calc all the fuel etc. Strange, I thought it would be the other way round - still, he should know.

Didn't affect any of the landing, at least not for us.

 

Don't want to worry you or anything Paul, but just because a plane has four engines it doesn't mean they use them all the time!

For instance take the BAe 146. four engine whisper jet. For take off and landing (at City airport at least), the plane uses only two out of the four engines available. The other two have their turbines running but don't effectively add to the thrust of the plane.

In addition I have heard that on long haul flight, 747's frequently fly (e.g. have effective thrust) on less than four engines.

As coupe-sport points out, any difference in the thrust can be 'trimmed' out using the rudder

M

P.S. I am willing to be proved wrong

 

Right thats it them. Taking the boat from now on. Flew on a Bae 146 last week to Dublin and was very happy that the little fella had four engines, but now it appears he cheated and did not use them all .

Not sure that you're 747 theory is correct, as during my last flight on the Big Bird to Malaysia, the speed was maintained through almost the whole 12hr flight at just over 600Mph and as the quoted max for a 747 is around 550Mph we must have had a tail wind and been at max power all the way, so all 4 engines must have been working? I could be wrong, as i dont know any pilots, but have know a few stewardesses intimatley

 

You're all right! Concorde has four lovely Rolls-Royce (Bristol) Olympus engines and it is quite capable of flying subsonic on two (and believe me, they are lovely!). As someone else pointed out certain situations require trimming back engine output to assist in noise reduction, braking, or reduce fuel consumption. Certain others like the Boeing 777 (twinjet) can fly round all dy quite happily on one...

 

Hello Clokey,

I have been a pilot for 41 years and someone is pulling your.... on aviation facts.

BAE 146's going to City: I have not heard that they require 2 engines at idle to land there. The engines fitted on those aircraft are among the quietest. If your statement was true, would they attempt a takeoff on 2 engines?

Boeing 747's: they do not idle or shutdown an engine unless there is a mechanical need to do so. However, unlike 2 engined aircraft, they have the option in the event of an engine problem, fuel permitting of course, to continue to destination. ALL heavy jet aircraft consume more fuel per mile with one engine out than with all engine operating.

 

I am reminded of an absolutely classic joke, whereby an Irishman and Welshman are sitting next to each other on an Aer Lingus 747 flying from Dublin to New York....

Suddenly there is a period of turbulence, followed by the voice of the Captain over the intercom - "Sorry about the rough conditions, passengers" he says - "But I'm afraid that we've lost one of our engines. We have cut our cruising speed and can continue our journey but will be arriving at the Big Apple approximately 2 hours late"....

The passengers sigh and moan, but eventually settle back down, resigned to the inevitable delay.

Suddenly, the situation repeats itself. Once again, the Captain is heard over the intercom - "Ladies and gentlemen - this is most irregular, but I'm afraid we have lost another engine" he says. "We can continue our journey as it is just as far to turn back, but our delay will be greater. Our expected arrival in New York has been put back a further 3 hours.

Much moaning and complaining is heard in the passenger cabins, but with reassurance from the crew, the passengers eventually calm down and watch the movie.

However, their calm is short-lived. There is a loud "BANG" followed by another period of turbulence. Finally, with the plane back under control, the Captain speaks once again - "I'm sorry folks," he says, "but that was our 3rd engine failure. I've never had this happen before. Of course we must continue, however hamstrung we are, but there will be an even greater delay of an extra 2 hours!"

There is much gasping and wailing amongst the passengers. The Irishman turns to the Welshman next to him and says "Christ, I hope we don't lose the last engine!"

"I'm in agreement with you, boyo" pipes up the Welshman.

"Yes" says Paddy, "If the last one goes we'll be up here all bloody night!!"

 

I am reminded of an absolutely classic joke, whereby an Irishman and Welshman are sitting next to each other on an Aer Lingus 747 flying from Dublin to New York....

Suddenly there is a period of turbulence, followed by the voice of the Captain over the intercom - "Sorry about the rough conditions, passengers" he says - "But I'm afraid that we've lost one of our engines. We have cut our cruising speed and can continue our journey but will be arriving at the Big Apple approximately 2 hours late"....

The passengers sigh and moan, but eventually settle back down, resigned to the inevitable delay.

Suddenly, the situation repeats itself. Once again, the Captain is heard over the intercom - "Ladies and gentlemen - this is most irregular, but I'm afraid we have lost another engine" he says. "We can continue our journey as it is just as far to turn back, but our delay will be greater. Our expected arrival in New York has been put back a further 3 hours.

Much moaning and complaining is heard in the passenger cabins, but with reassurance from the crew, the passengers eventually calm down and watch the movie.

However, their calm is short-lived. There is a loud "BANG" followed by another period of turbulence. Finally, with the plane back under control, the Captain speaks once again - "I'm sorry folks," he says, "but that was our 3rd engine failure. I've never had this happen before. Of course we must continue, however hamstrung we are, but there will be an even greater delay of an extra 2 hours!"

There is much gasping and wailing amongst the passengers. The Irishman turns to the Welshman next to him and says "Christ, I hope we don't lose the last engine!"

"I'm in agreement with you, boyo" pipes up the Welshman.

"Yes" says Paddy, "If the last one goes we'll be up here all bloody night!!"

 

Tim - thanks for the reminder of your reminder!

 

Way 2 go m8.

It's on my list.