Sweeping the wing had long been known as one of the answers to lower drag and compressibility problems associated with high performance airplanes operating at or near Mach One. As early as 1942, North American Aviation engineers were working on several swept wing projects, including a forward swept wing P-51 design study. But the problems associated with sweeping the wing were as great as the end results. Sweeping the wing did lower the thickness ratio, which would result in higher speeds. But sweeping the wing also created ...
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Sweeping the wing had long been known as one of the answers to lower drag and compressibility problems associated with high performance airplanes operating at or near Mach One. As early as 1942, North American Aviation engineers were working on several swept wing projects, including a forward swept wing P-51 design study. But the problems associated with sweeping the wing were as great as the end results. Sweeping the wing did lower the thickness ratio, which would result in higher speeds. But sweeping the wing also created wing tip stall and low speed stability problems. Problems that no one had been able to overcome. The North American F-86 SabreJet was the end result of a combined effort of many fine people both at North American Aviation and the United States Air Force. This book is a combined effort of two authors based on many, many interviews with personnel from North American and the US Air Force.
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