The aerodynamic design of oblique wing aircraft

Early History This paper deals wi th the potential advantages of asymmetrically-swept (oblique wing) aircraft, the difficulties encountered in their design, and some of the methods employed in the development of a supersonic research aircraft with an oblique wing. A variety of computational tools were combined with wind tunnel and water tunnel results in the a e r e dynamic design of a highly-swept, oblique wing. A rapid turnaround, performance prediction method WFS developed for initial sizing, optimal sweep scheduling, and selection of design flight conditions. Airfoils were optimized for these very high lift, transonic flow conditionsand wing camberand twist distributions were studied using several panel methods along with a three dimensional transonic optimization code. Selection of aircrart trimming strategies is complicated by strong inter-axis coupling associated with the asymmetry of oblique wings and by significant aeroelastic effects. The paper focuses on those aspects of the design and analysis methods of partirular importance to oblique wings.