The Area Effect

F-86 Sabre Jet
The AREA RULE was a groundbreaking concept. In the early days of jet powered flight (before the U-2 spy plane, but after the Nazi "Schmetterling" fighter), attempts to go supersonic were met with many failures. The wing design was wrong...or was it the tail stabilizers? Swept wings helped, but aircraft were still doomed at that critical point of supersonic boom. Violent shaking would occur, followed by loss of control of the aircraft. It was finally realized that the airflow at just-subsonic-speeds created such violent shockwaves over the control surfaces, that the airflow literally disappeared from them. This rendered the controls of the airfame useless. It was later discovered that the problem was NOT in JUST the wing design, but in how the fuselage was designed as a whole. The shockwave was a result of the air moving over the plane as an entire body, not just how the airflow moved over the design of the wing.
The subsequent theory, pioneered by Dr. Whitcombe (father of Lockheed's Skunk-Works Division) is known as the Area Affect. This theory was later put in practice to break the sound barrier on aircraft like the U-2 spy plane, SR-71 Blackbird, and the B-2 Stealth Bomber. The Area Affect rule dictates that in order for an aircraft to avoid the paralyzing shockwaves created by supersonic flight, the fuselage had to be altered. By creating a BULGE before and after the wing root, the wings could be more integrated into the airfame, lessening it's ability to create drag and shockwaves. So let's see where I am going with this, o.k.?
By creating a BULGE in the middle, we can be much faster....period. To that end, I have now been able (FINALLY) to justify my year round consumption of beer. Thanks to millions of taxpayer dollars, Dr. Whitcombe, wind-tunnel tests, 1950's cold-war bomber threats, Lockheed Martin Company, and dead test-pilots, I can finally say that I am faster (potentially) because I have an enormous BULGE amidships. I may actually be able to break the sound barrier on my new Titus Moto-Lite this year! Randy Rush, I am sure, is behind me on this.



Me, reincarnated as a cat



My only concern is that the Area Affect does not tell me at what point the size of the bulge becomes too great, and the belly of the aircraft literraly tears off and falls to earth. I guess I'll find out soon enough......Guiness anyone?

Cap'n Chris