Supersonic aircraft 5 is often referred to as hypersonic. In this region the problems of drag and heating are even more acute. It is difficult to make materials which can stand the forces and temperatures generated by air resistance at these speeds, and hypersonic flight for any significant length of time has not yet been achieved. A sonic boom is the sound associated with the shock waves created whenever an object traveling through the air travels faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate significant amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to the human ear.
Anti-shock body Anti-shock body An anti-shock body (also known as Whitcomb body or Küchemann carrot) is a pod positioned on the leading edge or trailing edge of an aircraft's aerodynamic surfaces to reduce wave drag at transonic speeds (Mach 0.8–1.0). Most jet airliners have a cruising speed between Mach 0.8 and 0.85. Wave drag can be minimized, for aircraft operating in the transonic regime (Mach 0.8–1.0), by having a cross-sectional area which changes smoothly along the length of the aircraft. This is known as the area rule, and is the operating principle behind the design of anti-shock bodies. Reducing wave drag improves