The Development of the Slender Delta Concept

Some historical notes of the early stages in the development of a slender wing supersonic transport aircraft. This article recounts some of the early steps in the development of the concept of a slender wing supersonic transport aircraft during the 1960s, which ultimately led to the design of Concorde. It attempts to indicate how an advanced design problem was met successfully by a completely new approach to aerodynamic design. Since a complete history of the work would fill a large book, the approach is necessarily selective in a way intended to illustrate the development of the main aerodynamic issues.