Boat Tail over Nation's Capitol

[basjoos]

The boattail was solely to reduce drag as the 747 had a very short range and had to make too many refueling stops between CA and FL when carrying the shuttle with the rocket nozzles exposed. That boattail shape is the shortest curve that will retain attached airflow and similar in shape to that found on the Questair Venture and on some helicopter bodies.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by KamperBob

More casual than hard core so I missed the tail cones. I wonder if it was to (a) reduce drag for piggy backing

It's there to reduce drag, to not blanket out the 747's tailfin and avoid buffeting of the 747's tail.

If (a) it seems steeper than ideal per template but top view would help complete the picture.

It also tapers in plan view.

[tjts1]

Flying without the tail cone caused massive buffeting on the 747 as well as loss of rudder control hence the 2 extra vertical stabilizes on the 747.


The space shuttle carrier and Enterprise flew several glide tests in the 70s without the tail cone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sCPzEZaA8I

[tru]

i should of woke up earlier to watch it leave...

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by tjts1

Flying without the tail cone caused massive buffeting on the 747 as well as loss of rudder control hence the 2 extra vertical stabilizes on the 747.


The space shuttle carrier and Enterprise flew several glide tests in the 70s without the tail cone.

Enterprise flew at least one glide test with the boat tail in place and it doubled the glide distance.

[skyking]

I bet it did!