The nose cap is the aerodynamic fairing or protective shell at the very front of a fuselage, rocket, or external pod. On aircraft, it often houses weather radar or avionics and is constructed from radio-transparent composite materials. On spacecraft and hypersonic vehicles, it is engineered from advanced carbon-carbon composites or ablative materials to withstand the extreme thermal loads of atmospheric friction.
Heard on the job
Maintenance found a bird strike on the radome, so we need to pull the nose cap and inspect the radar dish.
Also heard as
- radome
- nose cone