black nose cones/radomes?
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black nose cones/radomes?
hi all.
just a quick question,i've often wondered thisand never got a good answer...why were so many of the older a/c nosecones painted black? like the early dc8s and even some 747-200s?
even today,i notice a number of airlines will have a small portion of the nosecone in a 'matt' looking finish when the rest of the acft is gloss.howcome?
thanks!
just a quick question,i've often wondered thisand never got a good answer...why were so many of the older a/c nosecones painted black? like the early dc8s and even some 747-200s?
even today,i notice a number of airlines will have a small portion of the nosecone in a 'matt' looking finish when the rest of the acft is gloss.howcome?
thanks!
I believe it's because of it is non-metalic and its blunt approach to air and erosion. It would look like hell after a few flights if painted white. Same for those spinning things on engines.
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CC, to ease your pain on the search engine,
Older radars, dependant upon the wave length, pulse width and pulse repetition frequency would have problems transmitting through certain materials. Usually a non-radar absorbant material would be found to cover the transmitter. This material was, generally, a black fibourous material. Trouble was that if you painted it it was highly pourous and the paint would then harden within the radome, into a radar blocking material, hence t'was not painted and covered in 'do not paint' stickers.
In the more modern age with high powered milli metric radars and advanced signal processing equipment the amount of materials that can be used to cover the transmitter has broadend (sp?) considerably, including fibre glass, which can be painted, albeit in some cases, with special paint.
Hope that helps
Older radars, dependant upon the wave length, pulse width and pulse repetition frequency would have problems transmitting through certain materials. Usually a non-radar absorbant material would be found to cover the transmitter. This material was, generally, a black fibourous material. Trouble was that if you painted it it was highly pourous and the paint would then harden within the radome, into a radar blocking material, hence t'was not painted and covered in 'do not paint' stickers.
In the more modern age with high powered milli metric radars and advanced signal processing equipment the amount of materials that can be used to cover the transmitter has broadend (sp?) considerably, including fibre glass, which can be painted, albeit in some cases, with special paint.
Hope that helps
