What is the most aerodynamic shape?
I’ve heard it is the shape of a falling raindrop but wonder why jet fighters have pointed noses. (Garrett, Surrey, Canada) A: You said the “shape of a falling raindrop”, but I bet you meant a teardrop shape. Small raindrops fall like tiny spheres, not teardrops, and a sphere is a poor aerodynamic shape for objects moving at aircraft speeds. See figure. In fact, a sphere disrupts air flow, and has about ten times the drag resistance of a teardrop-shaped airfoil. The best aerodynamic shape for subsonic aircraft flight is a teardrop, because that shape interferes least with the surrounding air stream. The Eclipse 500 (a light business jet), for example, flies at about 64% of the speed of sound (Mach 0.64), and slips through the air ocean with teardrop-shaped wings and fuselage. When an aircraft goes supersonic, however, pressure waves build up in front of the craft, and form a shock wave, which creates a bow wave (much like that formed by a speeding boat). So, aircraft designers narrow th
