Eli5: Is there a variation in physics/speed when a plane breaks the sound barrier and what does it feel/sound like in the cockpit?

Question

Are there any variations or notable sensations when you break the sound barrier in a plane?

In: 49

Answer 1

There’s a *very* big difference in how aerodynamics work going faster than the speed of sound compared to slower, and it’s a fairly sudden difference from like mach 0.9 to 1.1. The tricky part is, when air moves over the wings and other parts of an airplane, it speeds up over certain patches, potentially enough to get it from subsonic to supersonic. How much it speeds up and how big the patches are is one of the things that’s different from subsonic to supersonic. So if an airplane is going very close to the speed of sound, it’s complicated to figure out which rules govern how the air will behave. It’s actually easier math to figure out how an airplane will behave fully above the speed of sound, say mach 1.5, than right near the speed of sound (transonic).