XB-70 vs B-2

"Felger Carbon" wrote:


Dan, thank you for making exactly the point I thought I was making!
If you want an optimized inlet for whatever supersonic speed you're
at, the inlet must be variable. That's why so many US and Soviet
aircraft in fact have variable inlets.

With the proviso that a fixed inlet optimized for very
high speeds may never be able to get there, as efficiency might
be too low at off design speeds.

The Blackbird has some of this problems with its inlets,
where they were not particularly efficient in the trans sonic
regime, and it accelerated slowly there.
--
--Matthew Saroff

I'm not an actor, but I play one on TV.
Check http://www.pobox.com/~msaroff, including The Bad Hair Web Page

Matthew G. Saroff wrote in message . ..

The Blackbird has some of this problems with its inlets,
where they were not particularly efficient in the trans sonic
regime, and it accelerated slowly there.

You have to give credit to the North American engineers who came up
with the basic inlet shape that they used on their mach plus designs
starting with the F-107 through the A3J and XB-70. Its been one of the
most enduring shapes on supersonic aircraft since. Look at the inlet
shape of the Concorde, Soviet fighters, and the F/A-18E and you will
see the resemblance. I wonder who the slide rule slingin' unsung hero
was at NA who first thought it up.
http://www.shanaberger.com/images/F-107.jpg
http://aviaweb.calexo.org/monographi...img/ya3j-1.jpg
http://www.123.cl/canales/noticias/img/concorde.gif
http://www.armscontrol.ru/atmtc/Arms...Su27/su-37.jpg
http://www.flug-revue.rotor.com/FRTy...il/F-18EUn.JPG