Supersonic aircraft Supersonic aircraft A supersonic aircraft is an aircraft able to fly faster than the speed of sound (Mach number 1). Supersonic aircraft were developed in the second half of the twentieth century and have been used almost entirely for research and military purposes. Only two, Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144, ever entered service for civil use as airliners. Fighter jets are the most common example of supersonic aircraft. The aerodynamics of supersonic flight is called compressible flow because of the compression (physics) associated with the shock waves or "sonic boom" created by any object travelling faster than sound. Aircraft flying
Shock tube detonator Shock tube detonator A shock tube detonator is a non-electric explosive fuze or initiator in the form of small-diameter hollow plastic tubing used to transport an initiating signal to an explosive charge by means of a percussive wave traveling the length of the tube. It was invented by Per Anders Persson of Nitro Nobel AB, patented, and sold by them under the registered trademark Nonel, containing a small quantity of high explosive, but safer and more reliable than detonating cord with the same quantity of explosive. Another early product contained an enclosed combusting, non-detonating fiber. The most common product is