The Aerodynamics of Supersonic Powerplant Installations

Abstract

An exposition of the need of supersonic aircraft to have a variable geometry intake and a fully variable convergent‐divergent nozzle for optimum performance. POWERPLANTS for supersonic aircraft bear only a superficial resemblance to the propulsive units of their subsonic counterparts. A typical subsonic turbojet powerplant consists of a high compression engine with a short fixed intake, and, possibly, a variable convergent nozzle. The supersonic aircraft on the other hand requires a powerplant with a sophisticated variable geometry intake having its own automatic control system and a fully variable convergent‐divergent nozzle in order to extract the full performance throughout the speed range from the slightly lower pressure ratio engine.

Citation

(1969), "The Aerodynamics of Supersonic Powerplant Installations", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 41 No. 2, pp. 25-30. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb034478