Abstract
The interest of wings with variable sweepback springs directly from pure commonsense and appeals to no profound knowledge of aerodynamics for its justification.To realise the advantage of variable geometry, it is enough to know that only a wing of small relative thickness is capable of good performance at supersonic speeds and that by increasing the sweepback from 20° to 70° the thickness of a wing is divided by about 2.In the advanced position, the wing offers its full span to the airstream and with high-lift devices in action (leading-edge slats and trailing-edge flaps combined), the aeroplane can develop the considerable lift necessary for take-off and landing as well as for break-through and for slow approach. Wings still advanced but slats, flaps and undercarriage retracted, the aeroplane is in excellent maximum fineness condition for protracted cruising at subsonic speed or for a long wait. As soon as transonic (Mach No of more than 0-8) or supersonic speeds are in question, the wings are progressively folded back.
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