[Storebror]

Basically a well written article and nice to read, unfortunately at one or another point facts are mixed with half-truths, e.g.

Propeller aircraft can never reach the sound barrier, since the tips of propeller blades hit the sound barrier before the rest of the plane does. The propeller blades go into shock stall, and the plane can no longer accelerate.

While this is true for subsonic prop designs for sure, the author ignores the fact that other prop designs exist which, even though they eventually were abandoned, theoretically were capable of driving their A/C with supersonic speed (e.g. XF-84H, XF-88B, centripetal supersonic propellers on 1985's Colani Racer study).

Best regards - Mike