Editing Concorde (section)

===Droop nose===
{{Main|Droop nose (aeronautics)}}

Concorde's drooping nose, developed by [[Marshall Aerospace|Marshall's of Cambridge]],<ref name="Concorde nose">{{cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1971/1971%20-%201503.html |title=Droop nose |work=Flight International |date=12 August 1971 |pages=257–258 |access-date=20 November 2011 |archive-date=4 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204172010/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1971/1971%20-%201503.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> enabled the aircraft to switch from being streamlined to reduce drag and achieve optimal aerodynamic efficiency during flight, to not obstructing the pilot's view during taxi, take-off, and landing operations. Due to the high angle of attack, the long pointed nose obstructed the view and necessitated the ability to droop. The droop nose was accompanied by a moving visor that retracted into the nose prior to being lowered. When the nose was raised to horizontal, the visor would rise in front of the cockpit windscreen for aerodynamic streamlining.<ref name="Concorde nose" />

[[File:Concorde landing Farnborough Fitzgerald.jpg|thumb|left|alt=a BAC-liveried aircraft a few feet above a runway, with wheels down |Concorde landing at [[Farnborough Aerodrome|Farnborough]] in September 1974, with dropping nose lowered]]
A controller in the cockpit allowed the visor to be retracted and the nose to be lowered to 5° below the standard horizontal position for taxiing and take-off. Following take-off and after clearing the airport, the nose and visor were raised. Prior to landing, the visor was again retracted and the nose lowered to 12.5° below horizontal for maximal visibility. Upon landing the nose was raised to the 5° position to avoid the possibility of damage due to collision with ground vehicles, and then raised fully before engine shutdown to prevent pooling of internal condensation within the [[radome]] seeping down into the aircraft's [[Pitot tube|pitot]]/[[Air data computer|ADC]] system probes.<ref name="Concorde nose" />

The US [[Federal Aviation Administration]] had objected to the restrictive visibility of the visor used on the first two prototype Concordes, which had been designed before a suitable high-temperature window glass had become available, and thus requiring alteration before the FAA would permit Concorde to serve US airports. This led to the redesigned visor used in the production and the four pre-production aircraft (101, 102, 201, and 202).{{sfn|Owen|2001|p=84}} The nose window and visor glass, needed to endure temperatures in excess of {{convert|100|°C|°F|abbr=on|sigfig=2}} at supersonic flight, were developed by [[Triplex Safety Glass|Triplex]].<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%202105.html "Triplex in Concorde: The story behind the film"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204172615/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%202105.html |date=4 February 2012}}. Flightglobal.com, 1968. Retrieved 7 June 2011.</ref>
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