NASA Supercritical-Wing Technology

As part of the Langley aeronautical research program, a number of high-aspect-ratio supercritical wings in combination with a representative wide-body-type fuselage have been tested in the Langley 8-foot transonic pressure tunnel. The wing parameters investigated include aspect ratio, sweep, thickness-to-chord ratio, and camber. Subsequent to these initial series of tests, a particular wing configuration was selected for further study and development. Recent tests on the selected wing have involved the incorporation of a larger inboard trailing-edge extension, an inboard leading-edge extension, and flow-through nacelles. Range factors for the various supercritical-wing configurations are compared with those for a reference wide-body transport configuration.