Unique Flying Machines: Grumman X-29

Unique Flying Machines: Grumman X-29 – This month, we’re celebrating the Grumman X-29, an experimental aircraft that boasts a number of unique aircraft technologies like forward-swept wings and canard control surfaces.

It was built with carbon-fiber composites, and the wings swept forward more than 33 degrees.

The aircraft was unstable in flight, due largely to its aft center of gravity.

Stability instead was provided by the computerized flight control system, which made 40 corrections per second.

The X-29 made its first flight on December 14, 1984.