Crazy Aircraft #28 - The AD-1 “scissor wing” airplane

by Marshall Brain

The AD-1:

See also:

Ames-Dryden-1 (AD-1)

From the article:

It was designed as a low-cost/low-speed research aircraft to test a pivot wing design. The AD-1 took off with its wing positioned at a right angle with the fuselage. Once in the air, the wing would rotate on its pivot point on the fuselage until it formed a 60 degree angle. The goal was to design a high-speed transport with low drag. The AD-1 made a total of 79 flights, but adverse handling at sharp sweep angles made the approach less attractive. …

The aircraft was 38.8 feet long and 6.75 feet high with a wing span of 32.3 feet, unswept. It was constructed of plastic reinforced with fiberglass and weighed 1,450 pounds,empty. The vehicle was powered by two small turbojet engines, each producing 220 pounds of thrust at sea level. Due to safety concerns, the aircraft was limited to speeds of 170 mph.

[See #27]

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.