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
Ford Mustang Mach 1 Ford Mustang Mach 1 The Ford Mustang Mach 1 is a performance-oriented option package of the Ford Mustang, originally introduced by Ford in August 1968 as a package for the 1969 model year. The Mach 1 title adorned performance oriented Mustang offerings until the original retirement of the moniker in 1978. As part of a Ford heritage program, the Mach 1 package returned in 2003 as a high performance version of the New Edge platform. Visual connections to the 1969 model were integrated into the design to pay homage to the original. This generation of the Mach 1 was discontinued