FSX Concorde in the works...?

[Garry Russell]

You think they could have sold it rather than scrap it

Garry

[DaveB]

Bob..

That 'shell' as you put it lives in the acoustic chamber at Brooklands. On the rare moments it's up and running, you can't get near it for a certain Capt Mike Bannister and his entourage playing!! It's no longer full-motion of course and wiring it up to run on Windows has not been easy.. hence, the reason it's not running as often as the museum would like. Much of it will never run again as it's just too complex (the engineers panel springs to mind) but they're trying hard to get as much of it to run as is possible

The freeware Concorde mentioned in another thread (think it was Nigel H-J who started it) works ok-ish straight out of the box. It doesn't fly like Concorde.. or should I say, it doesn't fly like any of the payware Concordes I've tried, but it will get you across the Atlantic in less than 3.5hrs and is manageable for most armchair pilots. VA pilots need to use it with caution as loves going faster than 250kts below FL100.. in descent with the throttles cut.. but it's suitable for occasional use

ATB

DaveB

[Tomb]

too complex, thats all relative if you can drive the cockpit instruments you can drive the flight engineer instruments....but not easily if the "simulator" part got junked, that would be the bit that contains aircraft systems model, many simulators also use real aircraft black boxes because it easier and cheaper to stimulate (rather than simulate) the black box (via the junked interface from the junked computer), i would also bet the flight engineers panel had some actual aircraft black boxes driving it, depends if anybody thought to save the data pack, which you would need to bring that to life again, if thats the case, it not actually rocket science...but you would need the data pack (documentation), be willing to bet much of the overhead dont work either for similar reasons...but you would also need the black boxes.. if they existed did they get kept ? many Control Panel's are thier own black boxes, you would not know unless it was taken out and looked at, again you would need the datapack to breath life into these again

if the interface gets chucked , usually happens when its off board, it will be harder,not insurmoutable, you build a new one, piece by piece. its why the really old sims where they survive, from the 40's/50s are the most complete, they were onboard, looks like from the piccies they have the IOS which usally gets junked as well (its onboard in this case , did they keep the IOS computer ?). i would bet real money the caternary got chopped which would also render any onboard interface almost useless, that would be a very dead sim then, bit like sawing through an aircraft main spar if you want an equivilant, it would be interesting to see whats driving the control loading...(if it actually driven by any sort of actual simulation in this case, control loading can be very tricksy)

i guess no one asked the guys who worked on the thing or indeed any simulator engineer "what do we need to save", not at all unique to concorde of course.

i guess if someone presents you with a concorde cockpit and says they have a concorde you would surly think "where's the airplane, you know, wings fusalage engines etc"

in this case its "where's the simulator"

in the future though i hate to say it it will be the current generation glass cockpit sims that have the most chance of surviving intact since not only is the interface onboard, so is most of the computing power and the software than runs in the procedure trainers (lots of flat touch screens and a brace of PC's) is exactly the same as that the runs in the full motion simulator (except in this case it goes through the interface so all the knobs and intruments and controls are driven/read/etc) so is likey to survive as well

still some remarkable things are done by some of the home cockpit builders that B727 homebuilt in a tin shed is very very impressive and some very clever and innovative ideas one or two could be used to bring the engineers panel alive, depends if you want a working simulator or the current show and tell device

some ideas the big boys are taking on board big time from the home builders.

i find irony in that MS MSFX failed in thier attempt to play with the big boys since as they soon discovered it less about the software and more about the interface and the current advanced homebuilders would reconise some of the equipment and techniques used in commercial simulators....because they pioneered them...

in some ways MSFS is still ahead such as real weather/ATC/Real Traffic etc, but in aircraft system simulation still has some way to go.

i wish the guys at brookland luck but i suspect they have already discovered that the program they are using is only a small part of whats needed and will give very limited results

still making a simulator work accuratly is part of the fun, large or small, old or new and where thier is a will thier is a way

and its still fun

[DaveB]

Hi Bob..

There is a very simple answer to your very extensive response.. I honestly don't know We borrow stuff off the Concorde team from time to time and they borrow stuff off us.. that's about as far as our (read my) involvement goes. I have no knowledge of what state any of this was in before it came from Filton though I know a number of the guys around Brooklands flew in the sim when it was 'operational'.. as in full-motion. I saw it arrive at Brooklands and there wasn't a lot of it.. basically, the main flightdeck (pilots) area was intact minus the engineers panel. When I next saw it, it was as it is now and put back together looking exactly as it did but without the hydraulic jacks. Some very clever bods were recruited to get it running but how much of the original sim survives beneath the visual façade is an unknown quantity.

If you're keen to get involved in whatever shape or form.. the person to speak to is DG's team leader, Gordon Roxborough. He's responsible for not only DeltaGolf but the sim. He generally looks harassed as someone in his position would I can get his email address or you could try getting in touch via the museum who will pass any message on

ATB

DaveB

[AllanL]

Funnily enough an aero mag that I was looking at over lunch contained an article about booking the Brooklands Concorde simulator for one of two packages - between £130 and £400 IIRC.

Straying OT, I seem to recall someone here posted revised air files for the PSS Vulcan that made it a lot more dignified in blasting round the wide blue yonder.

On the topic of low level speed, last year I was in a BA A320 from Heathrow to Glasgow with one of those in cabin speed and distance displays. We were batting over the London suburbs at a fair bit less than FL100 and doing some 320 knots. I think if ATC want rid of you they don't fuss quite so much over the speed. Perhaps they were worried we would dip low over Wembley and nick the turf again.