Can commercial airliners withstand the stress of travelling at supersonic/transonic speeds?
You will find it depends on the specific aircraft design. It’s not so much whether they could handle the stress of supersonic flight, but whether they would be controllable at such high speeds. There are several main reasons why almost no passenger airliners are supersonic: 1. Engine performance. In order to reach supersonic speeds you would need an engine that either a) had afterburner or b) was supercruise capable (i.e. capable of supersonic speed without afterburner). Only very few jet engines are truly supercruise capable, and they are mostly military engines. 2. Control. When you approach supersonic speed, a strange phenomenon occurs. A shock wave is created, which starts out attached to the leading edge of the wing/tailfin. As speed increases towards mach 1, these shockwaves move back along the skin of the aerofoil. There comes a point where this shock wave interrupts flow of air over the control surfaces (ailerons, rudder, elevators), and the plane is literally uncontrollable. T
Transonic is Mach .80 to 1.2. Most airliners can make it to .80, so yes, they can withstand transonic. Supersonic – no. If you fly an airliner too fast, it begins to shudder as portions of airflow get closer to supersonic. Fly fast enough, and you will get Mach tuck. The aircraft will suddenly nose down, and most likely break up from the forces. As I always joke – get Mach tuck, and you won’t be having mock duck. As you near an aircrafts MMO (basically maximum speed for that altitude), it is interesting how you can feel the vibration with your body well before an over-speed warning sounds. Once in a while, at high speeds in some aircraft, you can actually see the shock-wave near the wing. Remember all the crashes that used to happen with Learjets? They had a very small what we call “coffin corner” while flown at high altitudes. It is a window of speed that we must stay within. Fly too fast, and you get Mach tuck. Fly too slowly, and stall. Most newer airliners are not as fast as the ol
