X-29 - The Most Unstable Fighter Jet Ever Built

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Grumman’s experimental aircraft X-29, with its forward-swept wings, appeared almost as if it should be flying backward. The unusual configuration sought to test new canard control surfaces and advanced materials to improve maneuverability response at a higher angle of attack. It was flown together by NASA and the Air Force as a testbed for joint interests. While promising and positively reviewed by test pilots, the aircraft’s new technologies made it one of the most aerodynamically unstable planes in the history of aviation. An incredibly complex system was needed to continually calibrate the controls to keep the X-29 in the air. Still, the promise of the potential new technologies was so enticing that even the Russians couldn’t help themselves from trying to replicate them…

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