Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The backward slant of the leading edge of an airfoil.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun the rearward angle of the leading edge of a wing, or airfoil.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • As a rough estimation, 10° of sweepback on a wing provides about 1° of effective dihedral, while a high wing configuration can provide about 5° of effective dihedral over a low wing configuration.

    [flight dynamics] twist, dihedral and wingtips 2009

  • In five short years we have seen wing design go from the straight leading edge and comparatively thick section through moderate sweep back to the delta wing, and beyond to the extreme sweep back, and beyond that again, to the two and even three angles of sweepback.

    The Farnborough Show 1954

  • Currently, the wing section has become thinner, and thinner, as the design speeds have increased, and the sweepback principle has extended to the leading edges of the fine and the horizontal tail surfaces.

    The Farnborough Show 1954

  • Powered by two 20,900 thrust-pound, afterburner-equipped Pratt and Whitney TF30-P-414A turbofans, the swing-wing, variable-geometry fighter, whose sweepback varies from 20 degrees in the forward to 68 degrees in the aft position, was the 331st such Tomcat airframe to roll off the nearby

    Arsenal News Blog 2010

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