Why Was The Concorde co*ckpit So Complex? (2024)

Concorde revolutionized commercial air travel with its supersonic speeds and other unique features. Whether it was the design of the aircraft, the cabin interior, or the way the aircraft was utilized, Concorde was different from other aircraft at the time in many ways.

Corcorde's flight deck was also considered very different from that of traditional aircraft. The flight deck had an inherent complexity, not only due to its supersonic nature, which was not generally seen on other commercial aircraft. This article explores how the aircraft's flight deck was designed and why it looked more complicated than other aircraft.

A complicated flight deck

• Crew: Three
• Capacity: 92–120 passengers
• Length: 202 ft 4 in (61.66 m)
• Wingspan: 84 ft 0 in (25.6 m)
• Height: 40 ft 0 in (12.2 m)
• Empty weight: 173,504 lb (78,700 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 408,010 lb (185,070 kg)

Concorde's flight deck looked rather complicated, but it was also a complicated plane to operate. The basic flight controls would have looked familiar to most pilots, as they included all the usual flight instruments. However, there were more bits and pieces, too, presenting the flight crew with additional information unique to Concorde's role.

One of the main differences that instantly stands out is the additional bank of control panels on the right-hand side. Concorde required a minimum flight crew of three, with a flight engineer working alongside the two pilots. This was common at the time - the Boeing 707, 727, and 747 were all designed for a three-person crew. It was dropped for the 747-400, 757, and 767 but was standard at Concorde's design and early operation.

Photo: Christian Kath | Wikimedia Commons

It also had a very packed flight deck compared to other passenger jets. Due to the streamlined front end of Concorde, the aircraft had a narrower co*ckpit than most planes, with less headroom above. That meant buttons, dials, and switches had to be packed in much more tightly, adding to the sense of a crowded, confined space.

Was it more complex?

Avionics

• Digital Air Intake Control Units
• Fly-by-wire flight controls
• Analog electronic engine controls
• Triple inertial navigation units, one per flight crew
• Dual VHF omnidirectional range instruments
• Dual automatic direction finder instruments
• Dual distance measuring equipment instruments
• Dual-instrument landing systems
• Automatic flight control system with dual autopilots, autothrottles, and flight directors: full autoland capability with visibility limits of 250 m (820 ft) horizontally, 15 ft (4.6 m) decision height
• Ekco E390/564 weather radar
• Radio altimeters

Although Concorde's small dimensions effectively created the sense of a packed-in bank of instruments, there wasn't much more on this busy flight deck than you'd find on any other airliner at the time.

Photo:Daderot | Wikimedia Commons

Breaking it down, you had the same essential layout as any other aircraft. On the left were the pilot's instruments, and on the right were the first officer's. The center panel was in the middle, with the AFCS panel above. Below this was the center console (FWD and, below it, the AFT) flanked by the pilot and first officer console and controls. Roof panels added controls above the flight crew's heads, while the flight engineer's controls and instruments were on the right-hand wall.

Concorde was not alone in having separate flight engineer controls or a complex co*ckpit. In many ways, it improved the designs and layouts of earlier aircraft. However, the aircraft's special abilities meant new switches, gauges, and panel elements.

The four engines had added afterburners, which required additional control and monitoring options. Aerodynamic features, especially the moveable nose, brought more into the co*ckpit. The Mach meter added extra information, with two orange-colored 'bugs' that identified the range of Mach numbers available at the current center of gravity. There was an extra indicator that displayed the present center of gravity and a new display on the main front panel that displayed the range available at the current Mach number.

Photo:Eduard Marmet| Wikimedia Commons

Fuel management, too, was more complex with Concorde. It had multiple fuel tanks, with fuel moved around during flights and requiring monitoring and control. The bulk of the fuel was stored in the wings, but there were tanks forward and behind to enable vital control of the aircraft's center of gravity during supersonic flight.

Concorde also required complex cooling systems to avoid the fuselage overheating at higher speeds. Part of this functionality lay in the materials used, but the aircraft also had a cooling system that circulated lower-temperature jet fuel to cool leading edges. Again, more displays were added to keep track of this.

Transition to a glass co*ckpit

The big difference when we look at Concorde or similar large aircraft at the time is that they were designed using a traditional analog co*ckpit. Modern aircraft use what is known as a 'glass co*ckpit' - a display system that uses digital screens to display different information as required. This enabled pilots to effectively rotate the display to suit their needs, allowing many dials, displays, and gauges to be removed from the flight deck.

Photo:SB_photos | Shutterstock

This streamlined the appearance of the modern co*ckpit, and it would have done the same for Concorde. However, the European supersonic transport aircraft had a short reign in the skies and never received the modernizations that today's commercial aircraft enjoy.

Were you lucky enough to ever get inside the Concorde co*ckpit? We would love to hear your experiences of this, or any other Concorde experiences or memories, in the comments.