Composite materials were used to control the aeroelastic divergent twisting experienced by forward-swept wings, and to reduce weight.

Two X-29As were built by Grumman after the proposal had been chosen over a competing one involving a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.

The X-29 design made use of the forward fuselage and nose landing gear from two existing F-5A Freedom Fighter airframes (63-8372 became 82-0003 and 65-10573 became 82-0049).

[5] If all of the flight computers failed mid-flight, the aircraft would have disintegrated due to aeroelastic forces before the pilot could keep it stable or even eject.

[8] The X-29 design made use of the anisotropic elastic coupling between bending and twisting of the carbon fiber composite material to address this aeroelastic effect.

Rather than using a very stiff wing, which would carry a weight penalty even with the relatively light-weight composite, the X-29 used a laminate which produced coupling between bending and torsion.

[2] The X-29 was the third forward-swept wing jet-powered aircraft design to fly; the other two were the German Junkers Ju 287 (1944) and the HFB-320 Hansa Jet (1964).

[13] The other craft is on display at the Armstrong Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base.

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1988-89[15] NASA X-Planes,[16] Donald,[3] Winchester[12]General characteristics Performance Avionics The 1989 flight simulator game F29 Retaliator was based around the X-29 and imagined a future where it had been developed into a production fighter jet and fitted with various advanced weaponry.

Related lists This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.