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Asanaircraftmovesthroughtheair,theairmoleculesneartheaircraftaredisturbedandmovearoundtheaircraft.Exactly
howtheairreactstotheaircraftdependsupontheratioofthespeedoftheaircrafttothespeedofsoundthroughtheair.
Becauseoftheimportanceofthisspeedratio,aerodynamicistshavedesignateditwithaspecialparametercalledtheMach
numberinhonorofErnstMach,alate19thcenturyphysicistwhostudiedgasdynamics.
Foraircraftspeedswhicharegreaterthanthespeedofsound,theaircraftissaidtobesupersonic.Typicalspeedsfor
supersonicaircraftaregreaterthan750mphbutlessthan1500mph,andtheMachnumberMisgreaterthanone,1<M<
3.Insupersonicflight,weencountercompressibilityeffectsandthelocalairdensityvariesbecauseofshockwaves,
expansions,andflowchoking.
ThefirstpoweredaircrafttoexplorethisregimewastheBellX1A,in1947.Itandsubsequentexperimentalaircraftproved
thathumanscouldflysupersonically.Theaerodynamicsoftheseearlyaircraftisusedonmodernsupersonicfighteraircraft.
Therehavebeenseveraleffortstodevelopcosteffectivesupersonicairliners.TheRussianTU144andtheAngloFrench
Concordewentintoserviceintheearly1970'sbutwerefinancialfailures.Becauseofthehighdragassociatedwith
supersonicflight,fighteraircraftusehighthrustgasturbinepropulsionsystems.OntheslideweshowanF14whichis
poweredbytwoafterburningturbofanengines.Thewingsofsupersonicfightersaresweptinplanformtoreducedrag.TheF
14isuniquebecausetheamountofsweepcanbevariedbythepilotlowsweepforgoodlowspeedperformance,high
sweepforsupersonicflight.ForMachnumberslessthan2.5,thefrictionalheatingoftheairframebytheairislowenough
thatlightweightaluminumisusedforthestructure.