Low-speed wind-tunnel investigation of the longitudinal stability characteristics of a model equipped with a variable-speed wing, 23 May 1949

The longitudinal stability characteristics of a complete model equipped with a variable sweep wings at angles of sweepback of 45 deg, 30 deg, 15 deg, and 0 deg investigated. Various wing modifications and an extern 1 flap arrangement designed to minimize the shift in neutral point accompanying the change in sweep angle were studied. The results indicate that stability at the stall was obtained at a sweep angle of 15 deg without recourse to stall control devices. The basic neutral point movement accompanying the change in sweep angle from 45 deg to 15 deg amounted to 56 percent of the mean aerodynamic chord (at zero sweep angle) and the most effective modification investigated only reduced this change to 47 percent of the chord. It appears, therefore, that for designs in which the fuselage is the major load carrying element some relative movement between the wing and center of gravity will be required to assure satisfactory stability at all sweep angles.