In subsonic, piston-engine-powered aircraft, the air mass handled by the engines is small enough that location of the carburetor air in¬take is not critical with respect to either aircraft or engines. How¬ever, for supersonic aircraft powered by air breathing engines, the area of the free stream tube captured by the engine air intake is com¬parable to the frontal area of the aircraft, and location of the inlet affects both aerodynamics of the aircraft and performance of the engine.
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