On Wed, 07 Jul 2004 20:21:51 +0000, Mike Rapoport wrote:
I forget the exact numbers but the dynamic preasure on the nose of an jet
aircraft at cruise is about 9psi above ambient.

~9psi doesn't sound too bad. I'd buy that that the skin would stay
together with that number.

I'm still curious to see if any sort of shockwave-like thing from a
the transonic flow over a bullethole would do any extra damage.

Also, someone recently was telling me that a supersonic wind-tunnel (up to
Mach 3, I believe) that they use works on 50psi -- but the system
maintains 50psi over a large area and pushes the air through a *much*
smaller throat...

Anyway, anybody who has
ever seen pictures of shot-up military aircraft can see that the airflow
didn't cause the skins to tear.

Yes, but they're built with the expectation that they'll be shot at. I'd
probably put a thicker skin on an airplane that was designed for civilian
use. I've heard stories about midair collisions where the wing of a
jet fighter literally sliced the wing of another aircraft off (with
minimal damage to the wing).

But, at only 9psi above ambient pressure, I'd buy that the skin would stay
together. But I wouldn't want to actually try it without some rigorous
testing!

-Luke