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Why do fighter planes have this big pointy thing in the front of the fuselage

41.3k TheCommentaryGuy  3.4 years ago
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    26.7k Bryan5

    Pitot-Tube Used To Measure Plane Velocity By Measuring Flow/Air Velocity

    3.4 years ago
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    30.3k ChiChiWerx

    That particular picture is a test pitot boom, that one isn’t the production version that the F-35 normally uses. Pitot booms or probes come in many shapes and sizes, here’s one carried on a 737, for comparison. The pitot probes look like little tubes and often you’ll see what looks like a small, swiveling wing in the same area, which would be the angle of attack indicator.

    +1 3.4 years ago
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    4,287 Formula350

    Here I was, thinking you were asking about the Nose Cone and I'm like... *facepalm*
    Then I read what KoR said and was like... "Aaah, that pointy thing!"
    Then I realized, that I thought it was to help reduce the bow shock when breaking the sound barrier, and was like *facepalm at myself* :( lol
    .
    ...TIL... :D

    3.4 years ago
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    @KnightOfRen thanks

    3.4 years ago
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    44.3k rexzion

    kor is right for once

    +1 3.4 years ago
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    41.8k Ren

    "A pitot tube, also known as pitot probe, is a flow measurement device used to measure fluid flow velocity. The pitot tube was invented by the French engineer Henri Pitot in the early 18th century and was modified to its modern form in the mid-19th century by French scientist Henry Darcy."
    -Wikipedia

    +2 3.4 years ago