Concorde is flown by three pilots. Remember this is a 1960s design that first saw service in the mid '70s. It is a very complex machine, probably the most complex and challenging of all airliners to fly. It is so sensitive they have to adjust the center of gravity in flight by pumping fuel fore and aft. It is the first fly-by-wire airliner though, quite ahead of its time. The panels are all "steam gauges", old fashioned dial and pointer instruments for the most part. The limiting factor on speed is the skin temperature from the friction of flying at mach 2. Mike Gammon ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Eric Conner (AOL IM: jec9) (Fax: 978 231 6366)" <nostep@attbi.com> To: <AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU> Sent: Wednesday, November 06, 2002 5:43 PM Subject: Re: Concorde engine trouble spreads panic on New York-Paris flight > Is there two or three pilots up there? > > John/SEA > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Mike Gammon" <jmgammon@sympatico.ca> > To: <AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU> > Sent: Wednesday, November 06, 2002 1:46 PM > Subject: Re: Concorde engine trouble spreads panic on New York-Paris flight > > > Panic, I doubt it. The crew are highly trained to be very focused during an > emergency. > > Most likely the Conc. is very unstable at 60,000 ft with an engine out, at > supersonic speeds, and needs to be brought down to a lower altitude and > subsonic mach number very quickly in the event of an engine failure. > > This ain't no ordinary airliner; the systems are very complex and they're > flying at the limits of the envelope, so no doubt when there's a failure of > any kind the three guys up front are very busy indeed. > > Mike Gammon > > > > > From: Gerard M Foley <gfoley@columbus.rr.com> > > Date: 2002/11/06 Wed PM 04:30:49 EST > > To: AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU > > Subject: Re: Concorde engine trouble spreads panic on New York-Paris > flight > > > > Sounds as if the flight crew felt a little too busy to make an > announcement > > before or while descending. A little panic on the flight deck too? > > > > Gerry > > http://home.columbus.rr.com/gfoley > > http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/pollock/263/egypt/egypt.html > >