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North
American Swept-Wing P-51 Mustang
An in-house North American Aviation model, in
1:24 scale, representing a proposed development
of the famous P-51 Mustang WWII fighter.
Dating from the early post-war era, the
projected aircraft incorporates a jet engine in
the mid-fuselage to supplement the normal piston
engine and has forward swept-wings to delay the
onset of compressibility effects at speeds close
to that of sound. At the time, the aerodynamic
advantage of wing-sweep was understood, but it
wasn’t clear whether wings should sweep
forward or back. In practice, the
structural problems of forward sweep would not
be overcome for another half century, and
sweepback was to become the norm. The
aircraft never flew in the proposed form. |
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