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Concorde Flight Deck Seating
There are five seats within the flight deck compartment of Concorde; four of these are mounted on rails on the fight deck compartment floor. Three of these seats, the Captains, first officer and flight engineer seats are electrically operated. The forth seat (Known as the jump seat) which accommodates the first supernumerary crew member is wholly manual in operation. The fifth seat, which is not mounted on rails and is also manual in operation, has a fixed position at the rear of the other seats, the purpose of this seat is to accommodate a second supernumerary crew member. The disposition of these seat floor rails has been designed to provide maximum mobility for the operating flight crew.
An inertia reel safety harness is fitted to each of the seats, with the exception of the second supernumerary seat. This harness is clasped to a single anchorage point on the floor and three seat anchorage points.
Flight Deck Seat Layout
1. Captain’s Seat: 2, First Officer’s Seat: 4, Flight Engineer’s Seat:
3, First Supernumerary’s Seat: 5, Second Supernumerary’s Seat
The Captain’s & First Officers Seats
The captain’s seat can be tracked rearward; this allows the captain access to the seat and to be able to monitor the systems management panel at the flight engineers station if necessary.
The First Officers seat can also be tracked rearward and outboard, this provides the first officer access between the centre console and the seat.
Both seats are electrically powered for tracking and height adjustment operation, with manual reversion if required. In addition both seat pans and seat backs are adjustable for tilt, and the arm-rests are also adjustable
The Flight Engineers Seat
The flight engineers seat can be turned outbound to face the systems management panels or forward for take-off and landing. The floor rails allows the flight engineer to track forward to within easy reach of the centre console, it is powered operated for both forward and rearward moment and height adjustment, there is also a manual reversion if required.
The flight engineer is automatically prevented from selecting crash-lock pin disengagement unless the seat is positioned within a band of 2 inches to the right-hand side of the aircraft centre line. When not in use the seat can be stowed by tracking it transversely across the trolley into the knee recess in the flight engineers station.
To prevent a collision between the flight engineer’s and the captains seats when the former is motored forward or the latter rearward, an inter-seat strut is positioned on the inboard rail at the rear of the captain’s seat. The front end of the strut is attached to the base structure of the captain’s seat, the rear end has a projecting striker pad which operates a limit switch on the flight engineer’s seat, and this disarms the relevant circuits of both seats.
The First Supernumerary Seat (The Jump Seat)
The First supernumerary crew member’s seat is manually operated and is mounted on rails behind the captain’s seat. The seat can be moved forward or rearward and be adjusted in height; the seat can also be partly rotated on its base. When not in use the seat pan is stowed by lifting and folding it against the seat back where it is held in position by the safety harness. The latch-plate is operated to disengage the detachable strut and the seat is moved to the left-hand corner of the flight deck compartment.
Lowering the seat from the stowed position operation
When lowering the seat pan from the stowed position you will need to carry out the following procedure -
Depress the seat pan lock control
Ensure that the seat pan moves into a fully lowered position
Release the seat pan lock control
Confirm that the seat pan is locked down
You must not sit on the seat until the correct lock engagement is confirmed; otherwise damage to the locking mechanism will occur
To prevent injury to the occupant of the first supernumerary seat (Known as the jump seat) when the captain’s seat is motored rearward, a detachable strut is fitted to the first supernumerary seat. Contact between these two seats is prevented by the front end of the strut tripping a micro switch on the captain’s seat, which breaks the tracking circuit of that seat.
The Second Supernumerary Seat
The second supernumerary crew member’s seat is stowed flat against the left-hand equipment rack in the flight deck compartment, it’s held in position by a claw arm catch, when not in use. When the catch is released the seat may be swung down from its position, the legs then lock into receptacles in the floor of the flight deck compartment and the back raised into position. Operation of a lever mounted on the forward leg of the seat, frees the legs from the floor, it also releases the back so that it may be placed in position for stowing.
