Tag: NASA

Learjet 31: Learjet’s Most Versatile Jet Ever!

20Feb

By Gareth SeagullNo Comments

Executive

Learjet 31: Learjet’s Most Versatile Jet Ever!

Today, Learjet is known for having produced some of the best business jets to have ever flown. Among these jets is definitely the Learjet 31, which as served in a number of capacities since its introduction in 1990. Between 1987 and 2003, Learjet produced a grand total of 246 Learjet 31s. Although a few have been stored, the overwhelming majority of the jets are still in service, with some coming being almost 30 years old! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Development Learjet have been producing business jets since the birth of the industry. Here, they released their Learjet 23, which was subsequently used to design the Learjet 24, Learjet 25 and the Learjet 28/29. Around the mid-1980's, the Learjet 29, Learjet's then-flagship jet, was beginn...

Grumman X-29: The World’s Most Unconventional Aircraft Design

18Dec

By Gareth SeagullNo Comments

Aircraft Digest

Grumman X-29: The World’s Most Unconventional Aircraft Design

In recent decades, the concept of swing wings has become widely adopted. However, most of the time, they aren't forward swing wings, like the Grumman X-29! Despite Grumman and the USAF spending millions of dollars developing the jet, much of its technology has since been proven to be useless. So what exactly did the US get out of the program? And why did it fail? As a result of the aircraft's technology and primary objective, the X-29 has arguably the weirdest aircraft design in history! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Pre-X-29 The concept of forward-swept wings is not a new one. Rough sketches of forward swept aircraft date back to the time of the Wright Brothers! However, these designs proved to be ultimately futile. During WWII, the ...