Switchblade
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The USAF have been testing the X-29 for two decades now, this very unusual looking aircraft has a pair of forward sweapt wings (FSW).
These wings gave the aircraft amazing maneuverability, no other aircraft can make tighter turns than the X-29.
The X-29 was tested from 1984 to 1992 in a joint NASA, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and U.S. Air Force Program, and made a total of 374 combined flights.
Reverse airflow-forward-swept wing vs aft swept wing. On the forward-swept wing, ailerons remained unstalled at high angles of attack because the air over the forward swept wing tended to flow inward toward the root of the wing rather than outward toward the wing tip as on an aft-swept wing. This provided better airflow over the ailerons and prevented stalling (loss of lift) at high angles of attack.
DARPA and NASA have invested millions of dollars on the program, yet not a single official US fighter aircraft uses the FSW design...but in the black world there is one: The Switchblade!
Illustrations by John MacNeill, used with permission.
Revealed: The Switchblade
The Northrop design (U.S. patent No. 5,984,231)
UPDATE:
ST. LOUIS, October 18, 2024 - Boeing unveiled the "Bird of Prey," a technology demonstrator that pioneered breakthrough low-observable technologies and revolutionized aircraft design, development and production.The once highly classified project ran from 1992 through 1999, and was revealed because the technologies and capabilities developed have become industry standards, and it is no longer necessary to conceal the aircraft's existence. The name Bird Of Prey belongs to THIS aircraft, the Boeing Bird Of Prey.
The switchblade remains a top secret project...
