727 passes Mach one

[2EASYPilot]

Please correct me...but I believe Hoot actually returned to flight status and retired.

 

[con-pilot]

It should also be noted that the Captain was Harvey 'Hoot' Gibson not to be confused with the astronaut Robert 'Hoot' Gibson who recently retired from SWA.

Quite correct, I was remiss in not pointing that out.

Thank you.

 

[BenWA]

(greater curve in the wing, Bernuli at work here)

Not to nitpick, but correction: Coanda at work here, not Bernoulli.

 

[Huggyu2]

As a side note, a friend of mine was the co-pilot of the KC-135 that went supersonic ~1983.
I can sure see a 727 going supersonic long before I could imagine the -135 doing it.

 

[AerroMatt]

Here ya go....supersonic DC-8 press release.

http://www.dc-8jet.com/0-dc8-sst-flight.htm

It was a pre-delivery Canadian Pacific DC-8

According to this press release, it appears that the aircraft experienced both rudder and aileron flutter during the time they were supersonic. Amazing that this bird experienced no structural damage, let alone no separation of control surfaces.

When I consider the Airbus that lost its vertical stabilizer over NYC 5 years ago and compare that to this report, all I can say is, "They sure don't build em like they used to."

Those test pilots who did this stunt had to have had cajones of solid rock.

 

[retired guy]

Not to nitpick, but correction: Coanda at work here, not Bernoulli.

Burnulli`s principal....An increase in speed of a fluid(or gas) over a curved surface results in a decrease in pressure over the same surface.
Coanda`s principal...observed that a stream of energy emerging from a nozzle tends to follow a nearby curved surface.
Sounds like they are both at work here.