Engineering estimates of normal loads on slender airbreathing bodies

A method is developed to obtain quick engineering estimates for the normal load on slender airbreathing shapes. Estimates of the normal load can be obtained using a Trefftz plane analysis. This computation, although two-dimensional and subsonic, agrees fairly well with experimental data (from NASA and AGARD) for three-dimensional slender bodies in supersonic flows. The computational technique is simple and extremely fast.