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 airfoil was created in the 1960s, by then NASA scientist Richard Whitcomb. The supercritical airfoil shape is incorporated into the design of a supercritical wing.

In figure 1, the critical mach is denoted as C_p-crit, the shock is evidenced by a sharp drop in the pressure coefficient, and the position of the shock relative to the chord is indicated by the shock's position along the x-axis. The position of this shockwave is determined by the geometry of the airfoil; a supercritical foil is more efficient because the shockwave is minimized and is created as far aft as possible thus reducing drag.

See also

• Whitcomb area rule
• NACA airfoil

External links

• Supercritical airfoil at Aerospaceweb
• Supercritical airfoil at century-of-flight

Aerodynamics