| has gloss | eng: A supercritical airfoil is an airfoil designed, primarily, to delay the onset of wave drag in the transonic speed range. Supercritical airfoils are characterized by their flattened upper surface, highly cambered (curved) aft section, and greater leading edge radius as compared to traditional airfoil shapes. The supercritical airfoils were designed in the 1960s, by then NASA engineer Richard Whitcomb, and were first tested on the TF-8A Crusader. While the design was initially developed as part of the supersonic transport (SST) project at NASA, it has since been mainly applied to increase the fuel efficiency of many high subsonic aircraft. Research in 1940 by DVL's K. A. Kawalki led to subsonic profiles very similar to the supercritical profiles, which was the basis for the objection in 1984 against the US-patent specification for the supercritical airfoil. The supercritical airfoil shape is incorporated into the design of a supercritical wing. |
