Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 July 2016
The high speed aircraft whose low speed aerodynamic problems are discussed in this part of the paper belong to the future rather than to the past or present. Küchemann has shown how jet propulsion and the use of a new set of aerodynamics appropriate to supersonic speed lead one from the classical aircraft to new shapes suitable for achieving a required flight range. These shapes include wing-body arrangements with wing sweepback angles of 55° or 60° suitable for a Mach number of about 1·2, and slender, neartriangular wings with sharp leading edges suitable for Mach numbers of around 2 or more, depending on the ratio of span to length.