Supersonic aircraft with reduced supersonic bang uses injection of light gas along leading edges of wings to minimize occurrence of supersonic bang

摘要

The aircraft has a light gas such as helium vented over the wing leading edge to alter the shock waves as the aircraft becomes supersonic and thus reduce sonic effects. The supersonic aircraft has a very light gas such as hydrogen or helium ejected on the leading edges of the fuselage or the wings. This has the effect of reducing the shock waves produced when the aircraft breaks through the sound barrier, or preventing their formation completely. Specifically the gas is ejected through apertures on the fuselage (22) which are upstream of the leading edges of the wing (21). The leading edges may have a convex structure, leading to a large fuel storage capacity for a given payload.