Whitcomb in a wind tunnel in 1954, from the NASA archives
Often hailed as the greatest of aerodynamicists, Richard T Whitcomb has died aged 88 in America.
In the early 50s he formulated the area rule for the design of supersonic aircraft, more popularly recognised in the Coke Bottle shaped fuselages that it generated, and which made supersonic flight much easier to achieve and sustain.
A winglet equipped Qantas 737-800, image courtesy Boeing
In the 60s he pioneered supercritical airfoils, and in the late 70s, refined the concept of winglets into the modern form (above) that now adorns the wing tips of many jets and reduces their fuel consumption.
A detailed obituary has appeared in the Wall Street journal.
One Comment
One interesting application of the area rule was the anti-shock bodies (trailing edge bulges) on the Convair 990, the fastest and least successful large subsonic jetliner ever built. Fascinating aircraft and cautionary tale (good link at http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5353485/The-Maserati-of-jets-Convair.html). I remember reading once that the ASBs were a two-edged sword – while they reduced transonic drag in one sense, the greater surface area increased parasitic drag, one reason the 990′s range was below specs.
Interesting that the WSJ article says that he later worked on winglets on boat keels in the 1980s – will he be the next person to be claimed to be behind Australia 2′s winged keel?
I’ve always thought the heavily area-ruled Hawker Siddley Buccaneer was one of the most beautiful military jets ever built – sort of a flying E-type Jaguar with its sensuous curves.
Remarkable man from a remarkable age of aviation – people talk about the 1930s as aviation’s golden age, but to me it was the period from c. 1945 to 1960, bookended by the Me262/B-29 and the B70/X-15/Lockheed Blackbirds.