VKI lecture series on Innovative Configurations and Advanced Concepts for Future Civil Aircraft

1. Summary Alternative configurations for more efficient supersonic aircraft are suggested by consideration of the sources of drag at high speeds. Results of studies described in this paper indicate that supersonic aircraft with much higher efficiencies than previously achieved are possible with reduced Mach number. The paper focuses on two promising candidate solutions: oblique wings and configurations with supersonic laminar flow. In this paper we review some of the fundamental issues for potential efficient supersonic aircraft and describe recent work by researchers at NASA, Stanford University, and industry on unconventional configurations that may provide significant improvements in high speed efficiency.