Intake - Aircraft Intakes

Aircraft Intakes

With the development of jet engines and the subsequent ability of aircraft to travel at supersonic speeds, it was necessary to design inlets for optimal air flow at any speed, which allowed the compressor stage to operate at its optimum flow speed of just-subsonic, regardless of the velocity of the ambient air at the mouth of the intake. These designs are highly complex due to the requirement to manage flow and shock front formation through the subsonic, transonic, and supersonic flight regimes. In aircraft design the air-intake is part of the fuselage or lies within a nacelle.