Explore: Mach Number Fins

Grid fins (or lattice fins) are a type of flight control surface used on rockets and bombs, sometimes in place of more conventional control surfaces,

550 Magic 1. The Magic has four fixed fins, four movable fins directly behind the fixed fins, and four notched fins on the tail. As the canards move to

large ventral fins. Another Vought aircraft, the Mach 2 cruise missile SSM-N-9 Regulus II would also use a Ferri scoop inlet and ventral fin. The inlet used

unmanned research scramjet experimental aircraft for hypersonic flight at Mach 5 (3,300 mph; 5,300 km/h) and an altitude of 70,000 feet (21,000 m). The

a fat, short teardrop shape with three fins for control — the center fin vertical and the left and right fins canted slightly outward. It made its first

dramatic increase in drag as the vehicle increases speed to the critical Mach number. It is the sudden and dramatic rise of wave drag that leads to the concept

relative to the wing. The chine lift increases with the square of the Mach number, helping counterbalance the rearward shift in the lift of the main wing

1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It is capable of a top speed above Mach 2. The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufactured by English Electric

1967. It was modified with an additional third vertical fin - centered between the tip fins - to improve control characteristics. The "M" refers to "manned"

meeting the performance requirements. The control fins were also redesigned so that all four fins were now identical. In October 2003 the first trial