shock-stall

— In particular, the use of swept-back wings had facilitated high-speed flight by delaying the onset of shock-stalls.

— The separation of the flow over wings precipitated by the compression shock that forms as speeds are increased into the supercritical Mach number range has imposed serious difficulties in the improvement of aircraft performance. These difficulties arise principally as a consequence of the rapid drag rise and the loss of lift that causes serious stability changes when the wing shock-stalls.