Droop-nose 2169866 219182454 2008-06-13T23:25:13Z 74.176.0.254 {{Orphan|date=January 2007}} The '''Droop Nose''' is a recognisable feature of [[Concorde]] and the [[Tu-144]]. When these aircraft were in service, the pilot would drop the nose so he would have more visibility of the [[runway]] and [[taxiway]]s. When in flight, the nose would be raised. Concorde also had moving [[visor]] that would slide into and out of the nose. The Tu-144's visor was part of the nose and did not retract. The [[Fairey FD2]] experimental aircraft had used a droop nose; when one was converted into the BAC 211 as a testbed for the Concorde wing shape, the droop nose was carried over. The [[Concorde]] droop nose was designed and manufactured under sub contract by [[Marshall Aerospace]] in [[Cambridge]], UK. The nose can be drooped to one of two positions - 5 degrees (for taxiing and for take-off), and the fully-drooped 12.5 degree position (used during landing, when the nose-high attitude of Concorde requires this lower nose position so the pilots can see the approaching runway). The nose and visor are hydraulically operated, by a small lever on the co-pilot's side of the cockpit. There is also a standby droop system if the main system fails (operated from the cockpit centre console), and as a last resort if both hydraulic systems fail, a lever can be pulled in the cockpit which releases the mechanical latches, allowing the nose to fall under gravity to the 5 degree position. [[Category:Aircraft components]] {{aviation-stub}}