Unique Air Intake for Supersonic Aircraft Created in Russia

Russian engineers have developed a wing-mounted air intake that increases the efficiency and gas-dynamic stability of the power plant of supersonic civil aircraft. The invention has already been registered in the FIPS patent database.

The new design is located above the wing and is equipped with a teardrop-shaped inlet adapted to the shape of the fuselage and a dihedral braking surface with a smooth interface between the planes.

This reduces the influence of the thick boundary layer that builds up on the surface of the aircraft during supersonic flight and avoids separated flows inside the air intake, the project authors say.

A special feature of the development is the boundary layer control system, which includes transverse slots, a cavity under the panel, and windows for air extraction into the external flow. The upper part of the air intake shell is trimmed to optimize operation at cruising speed, which prevents turbulence and increases the stability of air supply to the engine.

This scheme ensures low flow non-uniformity at the engine inlet and maintains total pressure performance at the level of classical supersonic schemes with underwing or under-fuselage air intakes.

Model tests in wind tunnels have confirmed the high efficiency and gas-dynamic stability of the power plant.

Earlier, Andrey Kozlov, General Director of the Central Institute of Aviation Motor Engineering named after P. I. Baranov (CIAM), predicted that the first supersonic aircraft in Russia may appear no earlier than the 2040s.

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