Rare Footage Of An X-29 Actually Flying–But It Was A Bit Hopeful

nasa.gov

A Sweet Looking Plane, But They Got A Bit Carried Away.

Don’t get us wrong here. The X-29 was a valiant effort and truly ahead of its time, but unfortunately it didn’t really work the way they planned. As with all new things, people are hopeful and always talk up a project that is promising, but hey, not everything works the way we wish it would.

The X-29 is one sweet, yet different looking plane. Conceived by NASA, it was an experimental aircraft that first went up in 1984. Two such examples were ever built and were heavily tested for over a decade.

If you’re ever wondering about the United States, you can see both of the planes at museums. One’s at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Ohio. The other, the Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.

The idea behind them was to test the usefulness of forward swept wings. When you watch the video, that’s the first thing your eyes will be drawn to of course. We won’t get into specifics here as we couldn’t even begin to explain the concept in a coherent way, but the video will. Short and to the point, you’ll find out everything you should know about this forward thinking design. Plus, you’ll see some sweet shots of this wonder flying around.