Talk:Drag-resistant aerospike

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	Portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Physics, which collaborates on articles related to physics.
Stub	This article has been rated as Stub-Class on the assessment scale.
???	This article has not yet received an importance rating within physics.
Help with this template This article has been rated but has no comments. If appropriate, please review the article and leave comments here to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article and what work it will need.

This article has been automatically assessed as Stub-Class by WikiProject Physics because it uses a stub template. If you agree with the assessment, please remove {{Physics}}'s auto=yes parameter from this talk page. If you disagree with the assessment, please change it by editing the class parameter of the {{Physics}} template, removing {{Physics}}'s auto=yes parameter from this talk page, and removing the stub template from the article.

"Similar systems are also seen on supersonic aircraft."

Name one. Guinnog 21:36, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

isent that a pieto tube?

[edit] Updated article

I've updated and expanded this article. I've never been able to find a simple physical description of how an aerospike works but I think my description makes a bit more sense than the previous one which seemed to be confusing a number of different concepts. The name of the article needs to be changed since "drag resistant" doesn't make any sense. Drag is the force arising on a body moving through the air due to the 'resistance' of the air. However, as a recently registered user, Wikipedia won't let me do that just yet.

I've removed the reference to supersonic aircraft as I'm not aware of any that make use of an aerospike. The reason they are used on missiles is due to the more stringent size constraints, such as fitting within a submarines launch tubes. This is less of an issue on aircraft where the external shape can be more optimised with regards to drag. I agree with Guinnog that the previous author is probably confusing the aerospike with the pitot probes that are part of an aircraft's air data system. These tend to be mounted on the nose of prototypes and research aircraft where good quality air data are essential. They are usually moved to a different location on the operational aircraft as a radar won't work very well with a large metal object mounted right in front of it.

RegIP 19:10, 17 August 2006 (UTC)