Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES
A group of Northrop Grumman designers have been awarded a US patent for an innovative supersonic transport design incorporating active and passive laminar flow control, and an unusual reverse delta wing.
Northrop Grumman, which says the design is not part of any programme, was contracted to produce the alternative canard configuration by NASA as part of the agency's High Speed Research programme.
The reverse delta design allows additional lift to be created at low speeds, reducing power requirements and therefore noise, during the environmentally critical take-off and landing phases.
For optimum supersonic cruise efficiency, a laminar flow control system is buried in the wing. Spanwise wing extensions increase wing area with a natural laminar boundary layer surface, while the four engines are unusually stacked above each other either side of the wing.
Source: Flight International
