SPACEPHOTOS

This photo shows the No. 2 X-29 technology demonstrator aircraft as it lifts off from the runway at Edwards Air Force base on a 1989 test flight. The X-29 was flown by NASA's Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (later redesignated the Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, in a program to investigate the unique design's high angle of attack characteristics and to evaluate its military utility. This aircraft is the second X-29 forward-swept wing research aircraft built by the Grumman Corporation for the joint NASA-Air Force technology demonstration program. The No. 2 aircraft is identical to the No. 1 aircraft except for the spin recovery parachute system in the tail, for added safety. The No. 1 aircraft flew from December 1984 to December 1988. First flight of the No. 2 X-29 was May 23, 1989.