Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by jasin 2167 days ago
In simplistic terms, at supersonic speeds the air particles do not have sufficient time to "get out of the way" of the body moving in the air. This causes the air particles to be compressed into a dense "shock wave", which can cause separation of the air flow from the surface of the airfoil, leading to a stall. The properties of a wing that handles supersonic airflow well are often at odds with a subsonic wing.