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Originally Posted by meanjoe75fan
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(A pointy leading edge isn't all that bad, subsonic, provided you never, ever, have a crosswind. Pointed leading edges are very intolerant of wind hitting it sideways.)
3. A teardrop, of defined "fineness ratio," is the optimum shape to enclose a given volume. Usually, that isn't the primary concern: the P-51 was designed to have a frontal area just large enough to encapsulate the pilot. This made for a plane that was "too skinny," in terms of fineness area, for optimal aero, but it wouldn't make sense to make the plane "fatter" just to meet the teardrop ideal--humans aren't fluids, and you can't "make up" for a deficiency in one dimension by making a surplus in another!
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So, as I now understand it, a blunted rounded front pushes a "cushion" of air in front of it, which bends the air around the following shape reducing frictional or surface drag. A pointy nose cuts through the air easier, but results in an increase in this surface/frictional drag-while being more unstable encountering cross winds.
Thanks