NACA had an oblique wing design... as early as 1946!

[Stargazer]

Simply designated as the "46Y model" this 1946 design predated NASA Ames' AD-1 (Rutan Model 35)... by three decades! Wonder if the "Y" could indicate a Convair-related design (just my two cents).

Full-res picture here:
http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/mw/images/d/d8/LMAL_47279_and_LMAL_47280.jpg

 

[Stargazer]

More pictures of that model, which was tested in Langley's 12-Foot Low Speed Tunnel as the Model 46 (overscan's idea that each facility or wind tunnel had its own numbering system is one step closer to being proved, for at least a number of them) since this particular tunnel had its own:

 

[hole in the ground]

with that date, would that be possibly as a result of stuff coming to light from German research?

 

[Raptor_101]

I was thinking the same thing. Seems like the most logical explanation.

 

[Jemiba]

A short extraction of Mike Hirschbergs ("vstol") AIAA paper "A Summary Of A Half-Century of Oblique
Wing Research" :

"Early NACA Research
..The first mention of oblique wing research in the U.S. was a NACA report ,
regarding the test of an oblique wing model (Figure 8) in the Langley free flight
tunnel; Jones (Robert Thomas “R.T.” Jones, 1910-1999) later commented that
“he promoted the tests,” although it is not clear if he was the original genesis for
the study of oblique wing research. The report, dated July 1946, was published in
May 1947. Jones originally worked at the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory in Virginia,
but in August 1946, after the completion of the tests, he transferred to the Ames
Aeronautical Laboratory in California."

Not sure, if just about one year would have been enough time to get permission, funding
and capacities, do all tests and publish the report. Ok, it were somewhat faster times, but
judging his characterisation, he might well have been able to work on his own ideas.