Mach tuck significant in causing a tendency to dive, delta-winged aircraft with no foreplane or tailplane in the first case and, for example, the Lockheed P-38 in the second case. Alternatively, a particular design may have no significant tendency, for example the Fokker F28 Fellowship. As an aerofoil generating lift moves through the air, the air flowing over the top surface accelerates to a higher local speed than the air flowing over the bottom surface. When the aircraft speed reaches its critical Mach number the accelerated airflow locally reaches the speed of sound and creates a small shock wave, even though the
Drag divergence Mach number Drag divergence Mach number The drag divergence Mach number (not to be confused with critical Mach number) is the Mach number at which the aerodynamic drag on an airfoil or airframe begins to increase rapidly as the Mach number continues to increase. This increase can cause the drag coefficient to rise to more than ten times its low speed value. The value of the drag divergence Mach number is typically greater than 0.6; therefore it is a transonic effect. The drag divergence Mach number is usually close to, and always greater than, the critical Mach number. Generally, the drag coefficient