Editing Swept wing (section)

{{short description|Plane wing that angles backwards or forwards}}
[[File:Sukhoi Su-47 in formation, 2005.jpg|thumb|The [[Sukhoi Su-47]] being followed by two [[Sukhoi Su-27|Su-27]]s. The Su-47 uses a [[Forward-swept wing|forward wing sweep]], while the Su-27s sport a more conventional backward-swept design.]]
A '''swept wing''' is a [[wing]] angled either backward or occasionally [[Forward-swept wing|forward]] from its root rather than perpendicular to the fuselage.

Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investigated in Germany as early as 1935 by [[Albert Betz]] and [[Adolph Busemann]], finding application just before the end of the [[Second World War]]. It has the effect of delaying the shock waves and accompanying [[aerodynamic drag]] rise caused by fluid [[compressibility]] near the [[speed of sound]], improving performance. Swept wings are therefore almost always used on [[jet aircraft]] designed to fly at these speeds.

The term "swept wing" is normally used to mean "swept back", but variants include [[forward-swept wing|forward sweep]], [[Variable-sweep wing|variable sweep wings]] and [[oblique wing]]s in which one side sweeps forward and the other back. The [[delta wing]] is also aerodynamically a form of swept wing.