Quote:
Originally Posted by 3-Wheeler
Mike, I'm still amazed that the Questair Venture can still keep the air attached at 350 mph with that sharp of an angle. Even the Bonneville Salt Flats land speed record motorcycles are much longer in shape, and they also get up to about 350 mph or so. In fact, if I recall correctly, the old Piper Cub airplanes have a longer tail than the Questar, and my Dad's cruised at about 65 knots.
Jim.
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The tail cone on the back of the space shuttle has about the same angles as the Questair Venture tail cone. There are also some WWII aircraft drop tanks and JATO units that terminate in similar angles. If the Venture didn't have attached air flow, it couldn't go as fast as it does on its engine power output. As I mentioned earlier, there are factors in addition to attached airflow that aircraft designers are considering when determining the length of an aircraft's tail. The Venture's designers decided to go for the shortest tailcone with a larger than usual vertical stabilizer.