Effects of External Heat Addition on Supersonic Cruise Performance

Summary

Heat addition in the external flow around a supersonic aircraft may produce a field of increased pressure and thereby a propulsive and a lifting force. Less specifically, such effects could be produced by alternative processes involving the gradual expenditure of energy stored in an aircraft, and, according to the process, could be available at hyper-, super-, or subsonic speeds. A generalised study is made of associated effects on cruising range. Results are presented as performance “frameworks,” within which future experimental or analytic data should define regions of feasibility for particular systems.