Supersonic transport

Claim 1

An aircraft having supersonic flight capabilities comprising: a fuselage having a fineness ratio suitable for supersonic flight; a wing connected to each side of said fuselage and projecting outwardly therefrom, each said wing including: (a) a main wing panel having a relatively thick swept leading edge and a relatively thin trailing edge, said main wing panel having notched leading edge means for receiving a movable wing apex segment in its stowed position; the wing apex segment forming a forward extension of the swept leading edge of said main wing panel in the stowed position for efficient supersonic cruise, said wing apex segment being separable from said wing and both pivotal and rotatable to a deployed position such that said wing apex segment acts as an independent aerodynamic surface providing a lift component to said aircraft forward of said main wing panel, said wing apex segment being further segmented into members to obtain desired sectional configurations; the wing apex segment providing a substantially linear variation in aircraft pitching moment with respect to aircraft angle of attack by suppressing the formation of wing apex vertices when the wing apex is in a deployed position; at least one engine nacelle affixed beneath each said wing and terminating substantially at the trailing edge thereof; an engine contained in each said nacelle for producing thrust; and jet exit nozzles hingedly attached to substantially the rearmost extremity of each said nacelle so constructed and arranged as to direct thrust; means for selectively positioning said jet exit nozzles such that their angle of declination increases the positive lift component of the thrust vector during reductions in flight speed from supersonic to subsonic; and means for selectively positioning said wing apex segments and segmented members so that their angle of incidence produces a variable forward lift component providing artificial longitudinal stability to said aircraft in its initial trim condition.