The X-53 was a modified F/A-18 fighter used for a joint Air Force, Boeing and NASA project called the Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW), which flew between 2002 and 2005. Taking a cue from the Wright Brother's original airplane, which used wing warping to help steer, the basic idea of the AAW was to direct computer-managed control surfaces into the slipstream to effectively twist the wing into different shapes in hope of improving the aircraft's handling characteristics at various speeds, including supersonic.
NASA
The X-53 was a modified F/A-18 fighter used for a joint Air Force, Boeing and NASA project called the Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW), which flew between 2002 and 2005. Taking a cue from the Wright Brother’s original airplane, which used wing warping to help steer, the basic idea of the AAW was to direct computer-managed control surfaces into the slipstream to effectively twist the wing into different shapes in hope of improving the aircraft’s handling characteristics at various speeds, including supersonic.Read More