Re: Eliminating wave drag from wings

--- "Sean R. Lynch" <[email protected]> wrote:
> <http://www.techcentralstation.com/102403B.html>
> and
>
<http://www.smithinst.ac.uk/Projects/ESGI40-VRC/index_html>
> 
> Seems like this might shift the economics of wings
> for spacecraft a bit, 
> especially for any craft that spends a lot of its
> flight profile in the 
> atmosphere. I'm referring more to the wave drag
> elimination than getting 
> rid of the sonic boom, but getting rid of the sonic
> boom is a nice side 
> effect  :)

We can hope.  But am I reading the report right that,
for the system as proposed (reflecting the shock wave
from the wing with a Mach 4 stream underneath the
wing), it'd still let over 90% of the shock wave
through to the ground (when the airplane as a whole is
doing Mach 2)?  Also, wouldn't whatever generates the
reflecting stream generate its own shock wave (which
it itself could not reflect)?