Simviation Forums

If a variable sweep plane - like F-111, B-1, Tu-160, Boeing 2707 or some other - were to suffer from the wing sweep breaking down so that one wing becomes stuck and firmly fixed in a position different from that of the other wing... what would be the aerodynamic consequences and, provided there are no other accompanying failures, how would the pilots compensate for asymmetry in flight?

Presumably the next step would be divert and emergency land on nearest suitable airfield... how would the asymmetry be handled on landing? And what would be the effects of a combination of asymmetric sweep and crosswind?

in an asymetrical sweep situation the aircraft would have a tendency to roll toward the swept wing, this is because of the increase in vertical component of lift on the "unswept" wing. Compensation for such an event would initially be to input large airleron and rudder correction to hault the rolling tendency, much like single engine flight in a multi-engine aircraft. The second thing to attempt would be to try and return the swept wings to their previous position manually in an attempt to un-jam the wings. Landings would have to be made at a slightly higher speed.

Asymetrical wing sweep in the F-14 was tested by the Navy during flight trials, and pilots determind that the aircraft was capable of carrier landings at full sweep differential. see the following site

http://www.f-14association.com/stories-01.htm

It would also add some adverse yaw, because the unswept wing is creating more lift, and therefore more drag, so rudder and aileron trim and inputs would probably be sufficient to fly it relatively normal, but you would probably want to land as soon as possible.