Dec 13 1984
From The Space Library
Grumman test pilot Chuck Sewell flew for its first flight the experimental X29 forward swept-wing jet over Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. He kept the landing gear extended and held the plane to 270 miles per hour for the flight, which was intended to determine that everything worked properly, not to see how fast or high the plane could fly. The flight lasted 58 minutes and remained confined to an area around Edwards at an altitude of 15,000 feet.
The X29, which had the nose of an F5 fighter, would never fly as a fighter in its own right but was supposed to help the United States design fighter planes of the future. Not until space age materials like graphite became practical for aircraft construction could wings be built light enough and strong enough to reach into the oncoming flow of air as the plane sped along. It was hoped that the forward sweep would give the X29 and it successors advantages in maneuvering for the kill in a dogfight. (W Post, Dec/84, A-9)
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