Eli5: What is the sound barrier?
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“Sound Barrier” is a name made up by people in the early post-WW2 era who were trying to understand why airplanes became uncontrollable at speeds near Mach 1, the speed of sound.
The actual explanation turned out to be the formation of small shock waves on the wing and tail. These, especially those on the tail, changed the balance of forces, often resulting in an unrecoverable pitch-down (called “Mach tuck”) and dive.
Design changes, in particular the all moving horizontal stabilizer, solved the problem.
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