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Name: Manek K.
Status: Student
Age: 20s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2001
Question:
I have read that a droop snoot nose is employed in a Concorde airplane so that the airflow around the nose is smooth as it operates at 2.2M. Now, many fighters also fly at such a high speed, in some cases even more. What is the reason that there nose is not at all like that for a Concorde? What was the reason that Tu-144 failed in the beginning even though its features were comparable to Concorde.

Also at the time of take off and landing does not the droop snoot nose pose any problems to the pilots (of course there are visual aids available..but what if there is a problem in the very beginning)


Replies:
Manek -

My understanding of the droop nose has nothing to do with high speed flight, but rather with low speed characteristics. To fly the delta wing at low speed requires a very high angle of attack and a high nose position. The nose droops at this time to provide the pilots with necessary forward vision that would be blocked by the nose otherwise.

There are a couple of good books on the Concorde that might confirm this. You might try Amazon.com to see if they have such.

Larry Krengel
Aviation instructor


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