Swept-back wing — dimension sheet
Source: Xem Studio, https://xemstudio.com/objects/swept-wing/  (sheet CC BY 4.0; files Xem Studio Design License, https://xemstudio.com/license/)
Basis: Design rules and figures from the cited sources; example geometry by Xem Studio
Catalog version: 2026-10-20

Sizes: see table below
- Sweeping the wing raises its critical Mach number, since Mcr for a swept wing scales with 1/cos(sweep) (TU Delft AE1101); sweep is mainly worth it at transonic and supersonic speed.
- Sweepback adds a stable dihedral effect that grows with lift coefficient, so swept high-wing designs may even need anhedral (Kitplanes, Wainfan).
- On a swept-back wing the local angle of attack rises toward the tip, so washout is needed to keep the tips from stalling first (R/C Soaring Digest). NACA tests of a 45 deg swept wing showed severe pitch instability without fences (NACA RM A53I21).
- Used on: B-1 (variable sweep), Boeing 737.
- The file is a reference example built by Xem Studio from the numbers above. Sizes the sources do not fix are illustrative; scale the example to your own vehicle.

parameter  value or range  source
Sweep measured at  quarter-chord line (or LE/TE angles)  ERAU (Leishman)
Example  sweep 40 deg with Mcr 0.7 (worked example)  TU Delft AE1101
NACA test wing  45 deg sweep, AR 5.515, taper 0.532, 10% thick  NACA RM A53I21
Reference build  span 1000, root 250, tip 120, LE sweep 40 deg  illustrative (TU Delft example angle)

Files elsewhere (not hosted by Xem Studio; license as stated by the publisher):
- TU Delft OpenCourseWare: AE1101 Introduction to Aerospace Engineering, Aerodynamics 6 — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts — https://ocw.tudelft.nl/wp-content/uploads/AE1101-Aero-6.pdf
- Kitplanes (B. Wainfan): Wind Tunnel: Roll's role in lateral stability (2008) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts — https://www.kitplanes.com/wind-tunnel-135/
- R/C Soaring Digest: Twist Distributions for Swept Wings, Part 2 (June 2002) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts — https://new.rcsoaringdigest.com/2002/06/twist-distributions-for-swept-wings/[pdf].pdf
- NACA Ames (Cleary & Boddy), RM A53I21: Wind-Tunnel Investigation of a 45 deg Sweptback Wing ... Including the Effects of Fences (1953) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts — https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19930088248/downloads/19930088248.pdf
- Embry-Riddle (Leishman), Introduction to Aerospace Flight Vehicles: Wing Shapes and Nomenclature — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts — https://eaglepubs.erau.edu/introductiontoaerospaceflightvehicles/chapter/wing-shapes-and-nomenclature/

Free files (Xem Studio Design License, Xem Studio; STEP + STL, 1 parts): https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/swept-wing/index.json
API: https://xemstudio.com/api/geometry?object=swept-wing