Questions tagged [supersonic]
Use for questions relating to flight at speeds greater than sound and related effects from doing so.
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What are the aerodynamic design principles behind the “supersonic” propeller of Luigi Colani's C-309 racing plane?
One of Luigi Colani's designs that is particularly confusing to me is the second design iteration of the C-309 propeller racing airplane. Allegedly, its two propellers are designed to be supersonic ...
2
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3answers
287 views
Is it possible to use refrigeration technology to cool the skin of supersonic aircraft?
The fastest air breathing aircraft, the Blackbird SR71 flew at speeds above Mach 3. Its engines could achieve much higher speeds but were limited by the aircraft's skin which would melt due to ...
2
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1answer
206 views
Concorde thrust reversers engaged on parked aircraft, but not all engines?
Am I correct in interpreting this photo as showing one thrust reverser engaged, while the other is open? Do the thrust reversers fall into place on a fully powered down Concorde? Could this be caused ...
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Where to find NACA 65-110 Airfoil?
I'm working on a research project regarding the Bell XS-1, which used the NACA 65-110 airfoil. I haven't been able to find any data on this airfoil, and I'm wondering if anyone knows where I could?
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2answers
466 views
How can an aircraft travel faster than speed of sound without breaking the sound barrier? [duplicate]
An excerpt from the BBC article here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-51433720
"Despite travelling faster than the speed of sound the plane would not have broken the sonic barrier as it ...
2
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1answer
80 views
Why is wave drag non-zero for a flow without shockwaves?
Wave drag is often defined as the component of drag that arises due to the presence of shockwaves. Shocks result in an entropy rise and a corresponding increase in drag. However, when using Supersonic ...
5
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1answer
180 views
How does a delta wing deal with supersonic boundary separation?
The question Why most of the supersonic or fighter aircraft use all-moving control surfaces? emphasis the importance of all moving stabilator for supersonic aircraft.
Many supersonic aircrafts ...
4
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1answer
161 views
What is the physical-based/theoretical reason why supersonic area ruling works?
Supersonic area ruling is used to reduce the drag rise that occurs as aircraft pass through the transonic regime. While it has been validated experimentally, what is the theoretical/physics-based ...
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1answer
84 views
About ramjet efficiency in supersonic speed. Is there an optimal speed?
I know there is an optimal speed for ramjet.
This are the results of my research.
The reason the efficiency increases with supersonic speed to an optimal value then decreases is related to the ...
8
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1answer
92 views
Since shock waves have non-negligible viscosity, why do the normal shock relations ignore friction/viscosity?
The normal shock relations (seen below) are derived by using steady, 1D, neglect potential, no shaft work, adiabatic and zero viscosity assumption. However, since shock waves are "thin regions of high ...
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Supersonic propellers for supersonic aircraft? [duplicate]
A propeller is a spinning wing. Supersonic wings work. So, provided that the blades are made wide-chord and thin like supersonic wings are, with a supersonic airfoil, can they not power efficiently a ...
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3answers
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Do afterburners use excessive amounts of fuel?
The purpose of an afterburner is to provide additional thrust, and it is obvious that more fuel is needed for that.
But that is to be expected independent of an afterburner. That more thrust needs ...
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6answers
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Is an afterburner louder than the same jet engine without it?
I would speculate that an afterburner increases the noise because it is nearer to the exhaust. But it certainly causes so many changes in the exhaust flow that it could be less loud as well. It may ...
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1answer
5k views
Will you be able to hear a supersonic aircraft flying away from you?
I'm wondering if you could be able to hear the sound emitted by an aircraft say traveling at Mach 2 away from you.
I wondered if it might shift the emitted frequencies beyond the audible range. Would ...
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1answer
157 views
Is the “Boom” project vaporware or really going to happen? [closed]
Is this https://boomsupersonic.com viable or more vaporware?
Any solid information?
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0answers
104 views
What will happen to wing Vortices on supersonic aircraft?
Having looked at the new Aerion AS2 design I wondered whether anyone could tell me what happens to wingtip vortices at a cruise of Mach 1.4 with the strange wing shape of the AS2 design? I know that ...
2
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1answer
287 views
Why doesn't Concorde stall when passing Mach 1, where a normal airliner does?
As Jay Carr asked: What is a high speed stall?, Jan Hudec explained:
A difference from normal stall is that after supersonic flow separation the lift remains proportional to angle of attack and so ...
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2answers
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How can an F-22 Raptor reach supersonic speeds without having supersonic inlets?
The F-22 Raptor and some other jets do not have inlet spikes, yet they are able to achieve supersonic speeds. How is that possible?
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Was the Boeing 2707 design flawed?
The mach 2.7 capable Boeing 2707 has an interesting design. I'm curious if there has been any studies done that concluded that this aircraft would simply not have worked, given the way it was ...
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3answers
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Can you feel passing through the sound barrier in an F-16?
Is it possible for the pilot to feel passing through the sound barrier in an F-16?
What about other modern aircraft, will you feel anything? Do you need to go back to really dated designs before you ...
4
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1answer
126 views
How do a narrow airframe and canards keep supersonic shock waves from coalescing?
In a follow up to my previous question: How does the X-59 acheive quiet supersonic flight?
Canards and a long narrow airframe were cited as design choices to prevent shock waves from coalescing. How ...
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1answer
220 views
How does the X-59 acheive quiet supersonic flight?
By what mechanism or combination of mechanisms does the X-59 reduce the noise produced by a sonic boom? What are the design choices that lead to quiet supersonic flight? I really want to understand ...
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Acceleration of a supersonic aircraft after breaking the sound barrier
People on the physics stackexchange recommended I ask here, so I am pasting my question regarding supersonic aircraft.
I stumbled upon an interesting plot; in particular, the dependence of wave drag ...
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1answer
431 views
Could the Olympus 593 have been windmill-restarted during supersonic flight?
The Rolls-Royce/SNECMA Olympus 593 (which powered the Concorde) used a complex intake-ramp system to improve the engine's efficiency and prevent an engine shutdown or failure during supersonic flight ...
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0answers
146 views
Aerospike nose cones for supersonic jets?
Not to be confused with aerospike nozzles. This is about the big pin-like rod in front of ICBM nose cones.
This answer (from Space) about aerospike nose cones notes that one of the potential ...
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2answers
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How is the camera positioned for these plane-to-plane Schlieren images of shock waves?
These two popular press articles discuss the use of schlieren photography to image shock waves of jets during flight using a special schlieren camera on a third plane.
Gizmodo: NASA Captures First-...
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1answer
55 views
Are there any special considerations involved in designing manual flight controls for supersonic/hypersonic aircraft?
What things, if any, might need to be taken into account in the design of manual flight controls for supersonic or hypersonic aircraft that wouldn’t need to be taken into account with manual controls ...
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1answer
168 views
How does a weak shock-wave boundary-layer interaction create wave drag (other than through direct shock losses)?
I'm trying to understand the physical cause of wave drag, beyond the simple statement "the presence of shockwaves increases the drag".
As far as I understand, in the case of a weak BLSWI (so without ...
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2answers
3k views
Could anyone (non-military) in the present day “exceed mach 1 over a regulated area”?
There is a question What would happen if I exceeded mach 1 over a regulated area?
I wonder, could anyone in civil aviation (not military) actually carry out this violation? I know there are privately ...
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4answers
679 views
What would happen if I exceeded mach 1 over a regulated area?
What would happen if I exceeded mach 1 over a regulated area? Are there any penalties in place for this violation?
Would ATC actually know I’m flying supersonic or would they have to go out of ...
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1answer
361 views
Can electroaerodynamic propulsion be used to circumvent sonic booms?
MIT researchers have created and flown the first plane that doesn’t require any moving parts.
“Although it is still a long way off from commercial gas turbine
propulsion … electroaerodynamic ...
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1answer
109 views
Is high speed buffet possible at supersonic speed?
Since high speed buffet is caused by boundary layer separation due to shock wave and at supersonic flight there is no shock wave directly onto the airfoil (it is attached to the trailing edge), is ...
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1answer
199 views
Why does strong shock wave-boundary-layer interaction produce a bubble reattachment?
The picture represents a lambda type shock wave, separating the boundary layer at its foot. Separation causes a recirculation bubble to appear. I understand why separation has happened, but what is ...
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1answer
204 views
What are some of the fastest UAVs? How do the pilots ensure that their controls are being transmitted to actions?
I would clarify that the drones I refer to are UAVs that were piloted using a control station. I know many military projects include such capabilities but I want to know how pilots work on such ...
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1answer
144 views
What kind of flight termination measures are taken for supersonic aircraft?
Having recently read an article that hyper-sonic airplanes carry enough energy that just flying into some target makes them as powerful as some missiles and I wonder if the supersonic planes have ...
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1answer
280 views
What kind of damage would low-level supersonic flight inflict?
I was watching a video about "The Big Stick" aka Project Pluto, a nuclear powered SLAM. In the video (I couldn't find the exact video) it said that after deploying its weapon payload a SLAM could fly ...
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338 views
Why do suborbital planes feature H-tail and/or large wingtips?
Spaceplanes that are suborbital are mostly supersonic and feature H-tail or rather large wingtips. This looks to be similar to a H-tail configuration but I'm unsure abut how it works, which is why I ...
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1answer
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What is primary cause of shock induced separation (shock stall)?
In the video link above describing Prandtl Meyer Waves, lecturer stated (at 22:40) a very important fact on which he based his first half of the lecture. "Mach wave (mach lines) deflect the flow ...
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1answer
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How can one approximately guesstimate wave drag?
Wave drag is an especially high drag that affects supersonic vehicles above mach 1, but I've found it hard to find source materials to estimate wave drag. I'm looking at the transonic region till Mach ...
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0answers
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What happens to the neutral point of a fighter jet during supersonic flight? [duplicate]
I understand that for a fighter aircraft, it would have to be inherently unstable. To do this I believe that the neutral point needs to be aft of the cg. I was told that during supersonic flight this ...
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121 views
What would need to change for supersonic airliners to be the norm? [duplicate]
I know that supersonic airliners have never been widespread, by reason of cost, engine technology, aerodynamics. Yet can these difficulties be overcome within the next 20 years?
I know of Concorde's ...
asked Aug 9 '18 at 16:00
Greek - Area 51 Proposal
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1answer
458 views
How are the Tupolev Tu-95's blades shaped?
The Tupolev Tu-95 "Bear" seems like an awfully cool piece of innovation with its unusual contra-rotating supersonic-tipped props. From what I've been reading it sounds like it's been the only mass ...
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1answer
240 views
What might the business model be for a hypersonic jet? [closed]
According to this video, NASA and Boeing are doing research into a new generation of hypersonic passenger planes that can travel at Mach 5. The designs look really cool and I would love to see them in ...
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How did this F/A-18's execute a “low-boom maneuver”?
The Engadget article NASA will publicly test quiet supersonic technology in November says:
The administration plans to conduct a series of public tests around the coastal city of Galveston in ...
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What are the procedures for flying supersonic over international waters?
Supposing I owned a supersonic aircraft eg a MiG-21 and wanted to fly the jet out into international waters for a supersonic speed run. Are there any particular ATC procedures for doing so?
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What mechanism or design aspect prevents jet blast from escaping the front of a Ramjet or scram jet?
Enormous air pressures result in the thrust of a Scram jet or ramjet engine, more so the pressure required to drive the aircraft forward at supersonic and hypersonic speeds. Given that these engines ...
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1answer
781 views
Could Mach 1.4 be a better design point for SST?
There's been a number of recent proposals for design work on low-supersonic bizjets that would cruise at Mach 1.1-1.6, the common theme being avoiding a sonic boom.
I'm wondering if this range of ...
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4answers
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What is this transport aircraft, and why does it sometimes cary an air data boom when the Soviet Buran Space Shuttle is on top of it?
This comment in chat points to a "google search of the day" which was for Buran the Soviet version of the Space Shuttle. Looking there I saw images of a large transport aircraft with the Buran shuttle ...
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2answers
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Why did the FAA ban all supersonic flights over the United States, rather than only supersonic flight in densely-populated areas?
A major part of why the Concorde was far less of a hit than predicted, and of why the many 1980s and 1990s supersonic transport projects never got off the drawing board, was that the FAA had banned ...
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1answer
689 views
Did Concorde's sonic booms affect other air traffic?
Given that Concorde's sonic boom reached the ground, it also must have reached other nearby air traffic.
How was this dealt with? I imagine passengers would not welcome hearing a loud boom during ...
