Supersonic aircraft

An aircraft designed or capable of flying faster than sound in the surrounding air. Its flight involves compressibility effects and typically produces shock waves.

Mach number: The ratio of an object's speed to the local speed of sound. It expresses supersonic aircraft speed relative to changing atmospheric conditions.
Bell X-1: An experimental rocket-powered aircraft that first flew faster than sound in level flight in 1947. Its flights established controlled piloted supersonic flight.
Supersonic transport: The carriage of passengers or cargo in aircraft flying faster than sound. It is the civil-aviation use represented by Concorde and later designs.
Subsonic aircraft: An aircraft designed to fly below the speed of sound in the surrounding air. Most airliners trade speed for efficiency and avoid sustained supersonic flow.
Jet age: The era in which jet-powered aircraft became central to civil aviation and military air power. Supersonic aircraft emerged from the broader transformation brought by jet propulsion.
Sonic boom: A sound associated with shock waves generated by an object moving faster than sound. Aircraft shock waves combine into the characteristic boom heard on the ground.
North American X-15: A rocket-powered research aircraft that reached hypersonic speeds and explored the boundary of space. It extended aircraft research far beyond ordinary supersonic flight.
Interceptor aircraft: A fighter aircraft designed to reach and destroy hostile aircraft quickly. Rapid acceleration and high speed made supersonic performance valuable for interception.
Transonic flight: Flight near the speed of sound, where subsonic and supersonic airflow coexist around an aircraft. The difficult drag rise before Mach 1 shapes the transition to supersonic flight.
Aviation noise: Sound pollution produced by aircraft operations, including engines and aerodynamic effects. Sonic booms made noise a defining public and regulatory issue for supersonic flight.

Linked from 3 pages