Why do fast planes like fighter jets use delta wings?


Why do fast planes like fighter jets use delta wings? The delta wing, for example, has low drag at high speeds due to its swept-back shape, and it weighs less, which allows more fuel to be carried. But the delta wing has more drag when maneuvering. Traditional wings, on the other hand, have less drag when maneuvering but more drag at high speeds, and they are heavier.


Can a delta wing stall?

Given their robustness to stall delta wings are used on military aircrafts allowing extremely high incidence angles and recovering from high speed manoeuvres.


Can planes fly too fast?

If they get too fast, the air begins forming shockwaves along the wing that can cause the aircraft to become uncontrollable. The speed they cannot exceed is called the Maximum Mach Number, or the Mmo.


Can a flying wing go supersonic?

The flying wing concept is mostly suited to subsonic aircraft. No supersonic flying wing has ever been built.


Do plane wings ever snap off?

The spars run all the way through the wings, connecting in a “wing box” on the bottom of the fuselage, ensuring that the wings cannot snap off. The only possible way for an airplane wing to snap off would be “bad maintenance,” Rainer Groh, the writer behind the Aerospace Engineering Blog, told Fear of Flying School.