The Aerodynamics of Superman’s Cape

The website Interesting Engineering has done a write-up on an informal study by a Reddit user (Th3Fa113nCru5ad3r) on whether or not Superman’s cape would slow him down, or aid him while in flight, and the results are surprising.

Using tests to simulate Superman flying at high speeds, between Mach .2 and .7, similar to the speeds of a jet, a student tested the impact and graphed the calculations for speed, both with and without a cape, to see the difference.

According to the article, surprisingly, a cape not only doesn’t hinder flight, it aids it.

For the full science, including the above pictured graph, head on over to the full article.

2 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Stefan-El
Stefan-El
September 11, 2019 7:59 am

This is finally a study that really makes sense.
More of that please. 🙂

Superman2878
September 11, 2019 11:05 am

Edna “E” Mode from the animated superhero movie The Incredibles probably wouldn’t be happy reading this news. She’d probably say “ No Capes!” in protest.

Ha ha ha, I’m glad she’s wrong.

A cape works for Superman.