Originally Posted by
sheikhthecamel
Question from a non-pilot but (ex) aerodynamicist: Wouldn't such a hole affect the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft; asymmetrical drag, increased fuel burn, noise, buffeting etc? Clearly not perceptible to the pilots in this case, but I expect that a rigorous examination of the data would show some deviation from "normal" flights?
not that much in that area. There is a fair amount of separated flow near that location. There would be localized vibration and noise increase. If the flow impinged the tailplane then there could be some low-frequency vibration. As often as not the crews get a surprise after landing as to how much damage has occurred. Damage around the nose is more noticeable, or on the wing LE... this plane below lost 3 out of 6 leading edges... flew like a brick.
B747's at hot/high heavy airports used to routinely blow body gear tyres at rotate, they would mainly shred the pack fairings, and we would find out by the ATC reports. The old reef runway at Hickalulu also used to have lots of 747 tyre pieces around the runway, and bits of fairings. stopping using retreads at least on the body gear reduced lots of annoyance. At least 744s would tell you that a tyre had failed, the classic left it to the imagination.