High Speed Flight Vehicle Structures: An Overview

Abstract

High-speed vehicle structures have been of interest since the earliest days of aviation. Every since that fateful day at Kittyhawk, North Carolina, the quest for speed has been inseparable from the world of aviation. Some of the advances in structures technology are explored specifically for hypersonic flight vehicle structures during the first century of aviation. In particular, those advances pointing toward the next century hypersonic vehicles are examined.