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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 0245.PDF
Taxi tests being carried out in France are key to getting Concorde back in the air A reservoir containing coloured water will be fitted in the cabin, and liquid released through four pipes to points under the left wing. During the taxi runs, at speeds of up to 180kt (3 3 Okm/h) and with an aircraft mass of 11 Ot, the water will positioned on the landing gear. Each test will take a minute, the aircraft braking to a halt. Parallel tests are to be carried out by the Centre D'Essais Aeronautiques de Toulouse. EADS says that 4kg objects simulating pieces of be released from each pipe individually for* tyre will be shot at models of a Kevlar-lined around 7s, the resultingvapour flow aroundthe Concorde fuel tank, and fuel leakage rates will engines and nacelles being filmed by cameras be monitored. • Installation of fuel tank liners SLOW BUT CAREFUL MAX KINGSLEY-JONES/LONDON BRITISH AIRWAYS is reluctant to commit to a firm date for re-introduc ing commercial Concorde services, say ing only that it hopes to begin daily London-New York flights "in the late spring". The reluctance stems from the uncer tainties about the programme, says Jim O'Sullivan, technical and quality director of British Airways Engineering. "We have a series of'gates' to negotiate in the installation and flight test programmes, any one of which could affect the sched ule." He adds: "This is not a 'hell for leather' dash to get the aircraft back into service, and if anything new comes from the Paris accident investigation then we will delay the work." Concorde chief pilot Captain Mike Bannister says: "If all goes well, we hope to limit the flight testing of the modifica tions to one or perhaps two flights from Heathrow over unpopulated areas. "The flights will effectively be data collection exercises," he adds. One area to be examined is the effect that the linings might have on the vital skin-cooling function that the fuel pro vides for Concorde when supersonic. The liner's design and installation will enable fuel to lie between it and the wing skin so the cooling function will work. BA hopes that the modifications will not reduce Concorde's payload signifi cantly. It is envisaged that the aircraft's nominal 100-seat capacity could on occa sion be reduced by up to fourpassengers, depending on weather conditions. "We may remove a row of [four] seats and use the space for something else, but that is not currently the plan," says O'Sullivan. Satisfactorily completing flight test ing, and return of Concorde's certificate of airworthiness, will clear the way for crew training and route proving to take place before resuming service to New York in the late spring, says Bannister. "We will add a second daily New York service later in the year, and the seasonal Barbados service at year-end," he adds. The London-Barbados sector is at the extreme of Concorde's range, and the modifications could prevent this route from being operated if their effect on performance is too great. Charters represent around 10% of Concorde's operations, and are the low est priority for resumption. "We are still to decide what will happen with the char ter business. We will look at that further down the line," says Bannister. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 23 - 29 January 2001 35
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