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retracted and the nose to be lowered to 5° below the standard horizontal position for taxiing and take-off. Following take-off and after clearing the airport, the nose and visor were raised. Prior to landing, the visor was again retracted and the nose lowered to 12.5° below horizontal for maximal visibility. Upon landing, the nose was raised to the 5° position to avoid the possibility of damage. There was also a standby droop system if the main system failed, operated from the cockpit central console, and as a last resort if both hydraulic systems failed, a lever could be pulled in the cockpit to release the mechanical latches, allowing the nose to fall under gravity to the 12.5° position.
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130:, to generate a high level of aerodynamic efficiency. It was recognised that such a lengthy nose would negatively impact the pilot's forward vision during landing, take-off and ground movements; thus, to retain the aerodynamically optimised nose cone while also providing adequate downwards visibility, the drooped nose was devised. Accordingly, the nose section of the Delta 2, including the cockpit, could be drooped by 10° using a
146:, raising it to 1,132 mph (1,811 km/h) or Mach 1.73. Thus, the Delta 2 became the first aircraft to exceed 1,000 miles per hour (1,600 km/h). Around this time, Fairey sought to produce a straightforward fighter derivative of the Delta 2 that retained many of its features, with efforts largely centering around
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Concorde's droop nose was accompanied by a moving transparent visor that retracted into the nose prior to being lowered. When the nose was raised to horizontal, the visor would rise in front of the cockpit windscreen for aerodynamic streamlining. A controller in the cockpit allowed the visor to be
223:, also featured a droop nose. Its configuration was not identical to that of Concorde however as the visor of the Tu-144 was fixed to the nose. The Tu-144 exhibited a noticeable tendency for the nose to pitch downward, which was cancelled out via the addition of retractable
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The Delta 2 soundly demonstrated its favourable high-speed performance qualities during flight testing; rapidly proving to be faster than any other
British-built aircraft in existence of that time. On 10 March 1956, the Fairey Delta 2 broke the
173:, much of the airframe apart from the wing remained unaltered, the droop nose being one of the features that was carried over. The BAC 221 was used for varied flight testing from 1964 until 1973, after which it was placed on public display.
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was furnished with a droop nose, nicknamed "The Droop Snoot" which was developed and manufactured at BAC Hurn, Dorset, UK which also developed and manufactured additional components including the cockpit visors under contract by
44:
is a feature fitted to a small number of aircraft types so the nose of the aircraft can be lowered during takeoff and landing to improve the pilot's view of the ground below. This feature is used with a very-low
150:. On 1 April 1957, Fairey were informed by officials within the Ministry of Supply that their proposals were the favourite to meet Operational Requirement F.155. However, on 4 April 1957,
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that would deploy when the nose was lowered; the landing speed of the Tu-144s was around 315–333 km/h (196–207 mph; 170–180 kn), which remained higher than that of
Concorde.
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by a team led by Norman Harry OBE. Needing to endure temperatures in excess of 100 °C (210 °F) at supersonic flight, the nose window and visor glass were developed by
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or ogival delta wing design. It was decided to convert one of the two Delta 2 aircraft into a testbed for the ogival wing shape. Re-designated as the
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158:, announced the effective termination of nearly all fighter aircraft development for the RAF, instantly removing the F.155 requirement.
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for optimal aerodynamic efficiency and not obstructing the pilot's view during taxi, take-off, and landing operations.
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118:, a British experimental high-speed aircraft. Nicknamed "Droop Snoot", the Delta 2 featured a relatively long
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A front-on view of the
Tupolev Tu-144 on the ground. Note the deployed retractable
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speeds but is lowered only during low-speed operation such as takeoff and landing.
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high-speed experimental aircraft, which had a droop nose that included its cockpit
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The Delta 2 became a key development platform for what would later be known as
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The Soviet Union also developed a prototype Mach 3 strategic bomber, the
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464:"Ground-Effect Characteristics of the Tu-144 Supersonic Transport Airplane"
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Droop noses have typically been installed on supersonic airliners such as
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actuated mechanism. A similar arrangement was subsequently adopted on
68:; and high-speed experimental aircraft, such as the record-breaking
219:, a contemporary counterpart to Concorde that was developed by the
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165:, an early supersonic airliner, which harnessed a cutting-edge
283:. Vol. 40, no. 13. Time. 26 March 1956. p. 123.
188:. The droop nose enabled the airliner to switch between being
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The first supersonic delta to receive a drooped nose was the
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Sukhoi T-4 "Sotka" at the
Russian Air Force Museum (Monino)
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Foremost tip of an aircraft that improves runway visibility
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was provided for the pilots to obtain forward visibility.
441:. Flight International. 12 August 1971. pp. 257–258.
234:, that functioned as the Soviet counterpart to America's
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prototype just prior to landing; note the droop nose
454:. Flightglobal.com, 1968. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
452:"Triplex in Concorde: The story behind the film"
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511:"BAC.211: Slender-delta Research Aircraft"
524:. Macdonald and Jane's Publishers, 1975.
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53:. It is installed in aircraft capable of
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122:nose, which smoothly flowed into its
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415:"British Aircraft Corporation 221"
389:Henry Matthews and Peter Davison;
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517:, 23 July 1964, pp. 133–138.
391:The Speed Saga: FD-2 and BAC.221
419:Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Museum
421:, Retrieved: 13 December 2016.
312:, Retrieved: 13 December 2016.
1:
477:. Retrieved: 25 January 2011.
236:North American XB-70 Valkyrie
148:Operational Requirement F.155
368:, London, Grub Street, 1963.
277:"'Droop Snoot' at 1,132 MPH"
102:British Airways Concorde in
340:"50 years ago: 16 Mar 1956"
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18:
470:14 October 2006 at the
182:Marshall's of Cambridge
310:Royal Air Force Museum
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211:and lowered droop nose
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110:; note the raised nose
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144:world airspeed record
101:
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515:Flight International
344:Flight International
19:For other uses, see
547:Aircraft components
366:Faster Than the Sun
156:Minister of Defence
116:Fairey Delta 2
70:Fairey Delta 2
492:2017-04-05 at the
475:NASA Dryden Center
405:1964, pp. 133–134.
213:
112:
104:Singapore Airlines
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522:Project Cancelled
380:Wood 1975, p. 85.
355:Wood 1975, p. 79.
330:Wood 1975, p. 77.
321:Wood 1975, p. 76.
293:Wood 1975, p. 75.
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252:Nose cone design
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126:cross-section
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439:"Droop nose"
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306:"Fairey FD2"
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47:aspect ratio
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190:streamlined
124:cylindrical
258:References
232:Sukhoi T-4
192:to reduce
106:livery at
74:Sukhoi T-4
55:supersonic
51:delta wing
42:droop nose
21:Droop nose
263:Citations
240:periscope
541:Category
490:Archived
468:Archived
246:See also
177:Concorde
163:Concorde
136:Concorde
128:fuselage
92:Concorde
72:and the
64:and the
62:Concorde
225:canards
209:canards
186:Triplex
120:tapered
83:History
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403:Flight
154:, the
526:ISBN
281:Life
215:The
194:drag
167:ogee
40:The
32:The
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