Quote:
Originally Posted by Otto
OK, setting aside the crosswind aspect, how come no modern sailplane has a hemispherical nose? After all, back in the '30s most of them did, but now none do, so why did the designers consistently go with more pointed shapes?
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*I don't 'know' the answer to your question.
*I suspect,that since it's an aircraft,operating in 'flight' conditions,the designer may be attempting to delay the transition to turbulent boundary layer as far back on the fuselage as possible.
*With area-ruling/Whitcomb-waisting/Coke-bottling/sectional density/inverse pressure gradients......... we could locate the position of max cross-sectional area and first minimum pressure, and see if this is 'where' the nose actually ends on the fuselage.If so,then this is exactly what they intended.
*It would be a 'laminar' design,allowing a long region of favorable pressure gradient which could sustain a laminar boundary layer way back on the fuselage,and thereby significantly reduce skin friction,which is all an aircraft has basically.
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We can't do this on cars,as the air itself coming at the car is already turbulent due to viscous shearing forces present in ground proximity,something aircraft don't have to deal with.Abbott and von Doenhoff have very strong language when addressing this situation.