Wave drag
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In aeronautics, wave drag is a component of the aerodynamic drag on aircraft wings and fuselage, propeller blade tips and projectiles moving at transonic and supersonic speeds, due to the presence of
The Convair 990 had particularly obvious anti-shock bodies; modern airliners usually have more subtle shaping for area ruling.
Supercritical airfoil
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A supercritical airfoil is an airfoil designed primarily to delay the onset of wave drag in the transonic speed range.
Wave drag
…as the narrow waist fuselage design of other transonic aircraft. Several other attempts to reduce wave drag have been introduced over the years. The supercritical airfoil is a type that results in reasonable low speed lift like a normal airfoil, but has a profile considerably closer to that of the von Kármán ogive. All…
NASA TF-8A in 1973
Thomas McMurtry before his flight on the Vought F-8A Crusader Supercritical Wing Airplane
Supercritical airfoil Mach number/pressure coefficient diagram (y axis: Mach number, or pressure coefficient, negative up; x axis: position along chord, leading edge left). The sudden increase in pressure coefficient at midchord is due to the shock.