The wave drag of highly-swept wings: a comparison of linear theory and slender body theory

Abstract

This note comments on the comparison between the answer obtained by linear theory for the wave drag of slender-wings (as interpreted by the limit and that value for the drag obtained by Slender-Body Theory. It is shown that for fully tapered wings the agreement is exact, and that there is reason to suppose that the same is true for all wing planforms, unless the trailing-edge is unswept, or the wing section has a finite trailing-edge thickness. Some remarks are included concerning the drag of slender delta wings.