First Photograph of Shockwave on Airfoil, 1934
Aeronautics researchers in the 1930s were struggling to determine the cause of a peculiar phenomenon - as an object approached the speed of sound, drag greatly increased and lift drastically reduced. In 1934, a young Langley researcher named John Stack figured out why by photographing a high-speed wind tunnel test of an airfoil. The photo captured the culprit - a shockwave. It was the first time a shockwave had ever been photographed on an airfoil.
Size: 3326px × 4200px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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