Critical Mach number and slow down as it travels around the aircraft's structure. When the aircraft's airspeed reaches the critical Mach number, the speed of the airflow in some areas near the airframe reaches the speed of sound, even though the aircraft itself has an airspeed lower than Mach 1.0. This creates a weak shock wave. As the aircraft exceeds the critical Mach number, its drag coefficient increases suddenly, causing dramatically increased drag, and, in an aircraft not designed for transonic or supersonic speeds, changes to the airflow over the flight control surfaces lead to deterioration in control of the aircraft. In aircraft
Mach 1: A Story of Planet Ionus Mach 1: A Story of Planet Ionus Mach 1: A Story of Planet Ionus is a 1957 science fiction novel by Allen A. Adler. A paperback version was published in 1966 by Paperback Library with the alternate title Terror on Planet Ionus. While testing an experimental warship, the "Mach 1", a human pilot and his companion are kidnapped into space by aliens from the planet Ionus, which turns out to be a moon of Saturn. There, they confront an oversized monster named Karkong who is menacing the Ionians. Karkong follows them back to Earth. Chaos ensues. Damon Knight wrote of