NASA AD-1 Oblique Wing Research Aircraft
Photo: NASA/, public domain (cropped)
A stop on Hiller Aviation Museum: Unofficial Guide, a free self-guided tour.
The NASA AD-1 looks as if its wing was attached crooked by mistake. It was built to test an oblique wing, a single wing that pivots around its center, so that one tip sweeps forward and the other back.
At low speeds the wing sits straight across the fuselage for good lift. At higher speeds it can pivot up to 60 degrees, reducing drag in a way similar to a swept wing, but with a simpler mechanism than the swing wings used on some military jets.
The small jet flew 79 research flights between 1979 and 1982 at NASA's Dryden research center in California. The tests showed the idea worked, but the aircraft could have unusual handling at larger angles, and the concept was never put into production.
The AD-1 is one of the most distinctive experimental aircraft ever flown.
More on Wikipedia: NASA AD-1
Stops on this tour
- Boeing 747-100 Cockpit and Forward Fuselage
- Hiller Flying Platform
- Boeing Condor High-Altitude Reconnaissance UAV
- NASA AD-1 Oblique Wing Research Aircraft
- Wright Flyer Replica and Early Flight Exhibit
- Black Diamond - 1910 California Pioneer Aircraft
- Grumman HU-16 Albatross Amphibious Aircraft
- Boeing 737-200 Cockpit
- Flight Sim Zone
- Women in Aviation Gallery
- Aircraft Engine Collection
- Lockheed YO-3 Quiet Star
- San Francisco Airport Control Tower Beacon
- Drone Plex and Future of Flight Exhibit
- Michael King Smith Research Library and Museum Store