NASA AD-1  - Aircraft 17 Strange and Unusual Aircraft - 17
NASA AD-1

The NASA AD-1 was both an aircraft and an associated flight test program conducted between 1979 and 1982 at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards California, which successfully demonstrated an aircraft wing that could be pivoted obliquely from zero to 60 degrees during flight. The unique oblique wing was demonstrated on a small, subsonic jet-powered research aircraft called the AD-1 (Ames Dryden -1). The aircraft was flown 79 times during the research program, which evaluated the basic pivot-wing concept and gathered information on handling qualities and aerodynamics at various speeds and degrees of pivot. Following the flight research, Jones still considered the oblique wing as a viable lift concept for large transoceanic or transcontinental transports. This particular low-speed, low-cost research vehicle, however, exhibited aeroelastic and pitch-roll-coupling effects that contributed to poor handling qualities at sweep angles above 45 degrees. The fiberglass structure limited wing stiffness that would have improved the aircraft's handling qualities, as an improved (and thus more expensive) control system would also have done.

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