Grumman X-29
| Grumman X-29 | |
|---|---|
 X-29 during a test flight |
|
| Type: | Experimental airplane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
December 14, 1984 |
| Commissioning: |
Flight tests ended in 1991 |
| Production time: |
Was never mass-produced |
| Number of pieces: |
2 |
The Grumman X-29 is an experimental aircraft in which the idea of negative swept wings was realized. Parts of the fuselage were taken from the F-5 Tiger (or the single-engine F-20 derived from the F-5 ). Parts of the F-16 and F-18 were also included for cost reasons . The aircraft itself was equipped with a special braking parachute to end critical flight conditions in an emergency . Movable slats (comparable to those of the Eurofighter Typhoon , so-called " canards ", for example) were mounted on the air inlets of the engine, and behind them the negatively swept wings, ie. H. the wings were angled forward.
The advantage of the negative sweep of the wings is better maneuverability, higher possible angles of attack due to greater lift and a low demolition speed. The problem of high torsional forces is countered by using composite materials .
As the Russian counterpart to the X-29, Sukhoi began developing and testing the Su-47 .
history
The first X -29 A (No. 82-0003) completed its maiden flight with test pilot Charles "Chuck" A. Sewell on December 14, 1984. On December 13, 1985, this model was used for the first supersonic flight of an aircraft with forward-swept wings ; the first model completed a total of 242 flights. The tests with the so-called "Forward Swept Wing Demonstrator" were successful and a second prototype was built. With this, an angle of attack of 66 ° was achieved for the first time in 1990 (the control electronics of the predecessor only allowed 24 °). Apart from the design, this was made possible by a computer system that corrected the aircraft's control surfaces up to 40 times per second. However, the US Department of Defense was no longer interested in a continuation of the test series, so that the X-29 program was discontinued in 1992 after a total of 437 flights.
The X-29 became known through the toy and cartoon series " Ring Raiders " launched in the 1980s . Here one of the protagonists had been equipped with a utopian armed and brightly colored version of this type.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| Crew: | 1 |
| Length: | 14.66 m |
| Span: | 8.25 m |
| Height: | 4.27 m |
| Wing area: | 17.54 m² |
| Empty weight: | 6,169 kg |
| Takeoff weight: | 7,983 kg |
| Payload: | 1,810 kg |
| Drive: | a General Electric F404- GE400 turbofan engine with 71.2 kN thrust |
| Top speed: | 1,800 km / h |
| Maximum altitude: | 16,800 m |
| Range: | 560 km |
See also
literature
- Frederick A. Johnsen: Sweeping Forward: Developing & Flight Testing the Grumman X-29A Forward Swept Wing Research Aircraft . NASA , Washington, DC 2013, ISBN 978-1-62683-008-0 ( online ).
Web links
- X-29 Aircraft with Forward Swept Wings on military.com (video)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Description on history.nasa.gov p. 37. (PDF; 1.2 MB) Retrieved on January 14, 2013 .