-Despite no operational future, X-29 work advanced fly-by-wire control laws and high-AoA understanding that fed later fighters. But what if I told you NASA and Grumman were once working on an experimental airplane with forward-swept wings? The technology demonstrator was flown by NASA’s Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (now Armstrong Flight Research Center) in Edwards, California. This partnership aimed to help the Air Force determine if forward-swept wings were worth pursuing in new airplanes. The X-29 thus could not create the kind of speed that would have made it valuable for future fighter jets.