Supercritical airfoil

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 compared with traditional airfoil shapes.

It has since been mainly applied to increase the fuel efficiency of

many high subsonic aircraft. The supercritical airfoil shape is incorporated into the design of a supercritical wing.

Due to the airfoil shape used, supercritical wings experience these

problems (traditional airfoil induced excessive wave drag and a form of stability loss called Mach tuck.) less severely and at much higher speeds, thus allowing the wing to maintain high performance at speeds closer to Mach 1.

Supercritical airfoils feature four main benefits: they have a

higher drag divergence Mach number, they develop shock waves further aft than traditional airfoils, they greatly reduce shockinduced boundary layer separation, and their geometry allows for more efficient wing design (e.g., a thicker wing and/or reduced wing sweep, each of which may allow for a lighter wing).

In addition to improved transonic performance, a supercritical wing's

enlarged leading edge gives it excellent high-lift characteristics. Consequently, aircraft utilizing a supercritical wing have superior takeoff and landing performance. This makes the supercritical wing a favorite for designers of cargo transport aircraft. The supercritical airfoils were designed in the 1960s, by then NASA engineer Richard Whitcomb, and were first tested on a modified North American T-2C Buckeye. A notable example of one such heavy-lift aircraft that uses a supercritical wing is the C-17 Globemaster III. Others are Airbus A300 and Boeing 777 to theMcDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II.

Supercritical airfoil Mach Number/pressure coefficient diagram. The sudden increase in pressure coefficient at mid chord is due to the shock. (y-axis :Mach number (or pressure coefficient, negative up); x-axis: position along chord, leading edge left)

Some Pictures

Split Flap

Strake
A strake is an aerodynamic surface generally mounted on the fuselage of an aircraft to improve the flight characteristics either by controlling the airflow (acting as large vortex generators) or by simple stabilising effect. Leading edge root extensions (LERX) are also sometimes referred to as wing strakes. A leading-edge root extensions (LERX) is a small fillet, typically roughly triangular in shape, running forward from the leading edge of the wing root to a point along the fuselage.

 On a modern fighter aircraft LERX provide usable airflow over the wing at high angles of attack, so delaying the stall and consequent loss of lift. In cruising flight the effect of the LERX is minimal. However at high angles of attack, as often encountered in a dog fight or during takeoff and landing, the LERX generates a highspeed vortex that attaches to the top of the wing. The vortex action maintains a smooth airflow over the wing surface well past the normal stall point at which the airflow would otherwise break up, thus sustaining lift at very high angles.

Condensation vortex flows along an F/A-18's LERX