Aircraft speed of sound

Introduction :
Air crafts with propellers in the initial stages were not able to perform well when they approached the speed of sound. This problem resulted into deep research into jet engines conducted mainly by Frank White of England and Hans van Ohain of Germany. They carried out this research in their respective countries.

Breaking Sound Barriers

Various sources claimed to have broken the sound barriers. Claims were made that air crafts ran smoothly at the speed of sound without any turbulence but there were many disputes against these claims. These claims were made as early as 1945. Man has attempted to break the sound barriers since the time the first plane was invented by the Wright Brothers. Bell X-1 was the first flight to travel faster than the speed of sound and this happened on 14^th October, 1947 under Captain Charles Yeager.

Speed of Sound

The exact speed of sound is not known but it is considered that it varies according to the height above sea level or what we call as altitude. It is 761 mph at sea level and at 20000 feet above it is 660 mph.

Modern Aircrafts and their speed

Today there are several air crafts like fighter jets that travel at speeds faster than the speed of sound regularly. When the aircraft reaches close to the speed of sound what happens is quite interesting in respect of the movement of air around the wings of the plane. It is called the Prandtl-Glauert singularity and it is quite photogenic.

Conclusion to aircraft speed of sound

In two decades ranging from 1947 to 1967 there were appreciable efforts by man to reach the speed of sound and there are crafts that are unmanned and cross the speed of sound easily and that is quite a remarkable achievement. There will be further developments and we all have to wait and watch how fast air crafts will become.