University of Miami

If you live near an airport, you’re probably glad that supersonic commercial jets aren’t the norm. The problem is that what’s aerodynamic for subsonic flight isn’t necessarily aerodynamic for supersonic flight, which is why you end up with such loud sonic booms. Gecheng Zha of the University of Miami found a potential solution: create a subsonic aircraft that can rotate 90 degrees during flight to turn into a supersonic one, ensuring that it’s always as quiet and efficient as possible.

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