Jet Aircraft Case Study

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Summary In the transition period from propeller aircraft to jet aircraft, manufactures faced numerous problems and challenges during the design and test period. New technologies and test criteria were used. Using new kinds of wings and high lift devices were one of the solutions they came up with. Utilizing new materials made high speeds possible. The jet airplane allowed more passengers to be transferred efficiently and safely making flying in reach of the general public.
Problem
By the end of WWII in 1945 the jet engine had become a suitable alternative for the piston engine. The new engine required a complete redesign of an aircraft. The transition to high performance aircrafts created a large number of challenges that needed to be dealt with in order to succeed. Knowledge of the old piston aircraft was …show more content…

By sweeping the angle it delays the effects of compressibility and thereby increasing the critical Mach number. Critical Mach number is described as the first point on a wing where Mach 1.0 is reached. It also reduces wave drag, which is a strong drag that occurs at higher Mach speeds.
S2: By making the wing thinner wave drag could also be reduced. The thinner airfoil gets lower flow speeds as the thicker airfoil. This enables the aircraft to fly at higher speeds before the critical Mach number is achieved. This was specifically used with military jet aircrafts. Down side is that the wing can carry less fuel. However, fuel load is less important than the maximum speed achievable for these types of aircraft.
Problem #2 Now a sleek high speed wing was designed. However landings were normally done at much lower speeds. This was a problem since the new wing had great difficulty to allow this. High stall speeds made it unsafe to land and take off at low speeds and this would mean an increase in the needed length of runways. A much more safer and practical solution had to be found.

Solutions

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