I'm sure this question must have been asked before, but can't find a reference on PPRuNe.
I understand that an area-ruled design has advantages in the transonic and supersonic regimes. Could anyone enlighten me (ideally without university-level maths
) as to why this should be so? I think one aspect of this that confuses me is why a lateral extension of the cross-section at, say, the wing root should help the process when intuition says the airflow is following the long axis of the a/c - hope I'm making myself clear on this.