Flow and Force Characteristics of 2-percent-thick Airfoils at Transonic Speeds
A NASA technical memorandum from 1955 by the NASA Technical Reports Server records, for aeronautical engineers and researchers, wind tunnel test results on thin airfoils at transonic speeds. The photographs are rotated schlieren-style shadowgraph plates showing airflow over a thin airfoil at several Mach numbers and angles of attack, with shock waves appearing as dark curved lines against the grey background. A designer could borrow the sharp, high-contrast streaks of shock waves and the sleek wedge silhouettes as graphic motifs for speed and air movement.
