As part of Operation Paperclip and similar efforts, Alexander Lippisch's DM1 research glider had been completed and shipped to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Langley Research Center, along with considerable German research on swept wings and delta wings. The DM1 was the first in a planned series of four similar testbed aircraft, each one exploring faster speeds. The DM1 was built to test low-speed handling only.
At Langley, the thick-section airfoils of the DM1 were found to generate considerable drag at transonic speeds, and a series of experiments followed to try to explore these issues. Two lines of study were considered; sharp fillets were added to the wing's leading edge, and the vertical stabilizer was significantly shrunken in size, thinned, and moved rearward. This left considerable room in front of the stabilizer, where a conventional cockpit was fitted.[5] During these tests, the tendency for the wings to generate large vortices at high angles of attack was noticed,[6] but the significance of this was not exploited until many years later.
Langley passed along the delta wing information to Convair designers Adolph Burstein, the assistant chief engineer of the San Diego Division, and Ralph Shick, chief of aerodynamic research. The two were initially sceptical of the delta wing, but Shick flew to meet Lippisch at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and returned to Convair's Downey plant convinced this was the way to move forward.
concept later used for the Convair - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Convair_XF-92A.jpg/1280px-Convair_XF-92A.jpg
>As part of Operation Paperclip and similar efforts, Alexander Lippisch's DM1 research glider had been completed and shipped to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Langley Research Center, along with considerable German research on swept wings and delta wings. The DM1 was the first in a planned series of four similar testbed aircraft, each one exploring faster speeds. The DM1 was built to test low-speed handling only.
>At Langley, the thick-section airfoils of the DM1 were found to generate considerable drag at transonic speeds, and a series of experiments followed to try to explore these issues. Two lines of study were considered; sharp fillets were added to the wing's leading edge, and the vertical stabilizer was significantly shrunken in size, thinned, and moved rearward. This left considerable room in front of the stabilizer, where a conventional cockpit was fitted.[5] During these tests, the tendency for the wings to generate large vortices at high angles of attack was noticed,[6] but the significance of this was not exploited until many years later.
>Langley passed along the delta wing information to Convair designers Adolph Burstein, the assistant chief engineer of the San Diego Division, and Ralph Shick, chief of aerodynamic research. The two were initially sceptical of the delta wing, but Shick flew to meet Lippisch at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and returned to Convair's Downey plant convinced this was the way to move forward.
concept later used for the Convair - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Convair_XF-92A.jpg/1280px-Convair_XF-92A.jpg