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Aviation History
1985
1985 - 0677.PDF
TECHNOLOGY X-29 "flies without flaw" EDWARDS AFB Grumman's X-29 forward- swept-wing demonstrator has completed the fourth flight in a test programme that has, to date, been "flawless". A fifth flight is planned before hand over to Nasa. The aircraft flew for the first time on December 14, then again on February 4 and 22, and March 1, with Grum man chief test pilot Chuck Sewell at the controls on each occasion. The X-29 is sched uled to fly again on April 1, beginning a four-month con cept evaluation and envelope expansion for which Sewell will be joined by four other pilots, another from Grum man, two from Nasa, and one from the US Air Force. So far the X-29 has per-formed close to predictions and has demon strated remarkable reli ability. According to Sewell the X-29 is "absolutely flaw less, outstanding". The only indication of its unusual configuration, he says, was on landing after the second flight, when he kept the nose up for aerodynamic braking. "The aircraft was still flying at 88kt," he remarks. As air tends to flow towards the root on a forward-swept wing, the tips remain unstalled down to low airspeeds. An indication of X-29 control system capability occurred at 15,000ft on the first flight, when Sewell ran into "the worst turbulence" he has seen. The T-38 chase aircraft "was all over the place". All Sewell experienced was difficulty maintaining steady airspeed, although the X-29 "felt like an unstable aeroplane" because the digital flight control system worked to counteract turbulence. Continued on page 16 Wheels and flaps retracted for the first time, the Grumman X-29 forward- swept-wing technology demonstrator stayed aloft for 70min on its February 4 second flight, with Grumman chief test pilot Chuck Sewell at the controls. The aircraft has since completed two further flights, on February 25 and March 1 FLIGHT International, 9 March 1985 15
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