Delta wing facts for kids

A Mirage III fighter with a tailless delta wing

A MiG-21 Fishbed fighter with a delta wing and a tail

A delta wing is a type of wing that looks like a triangle. It's often used on fixed-wing aircraft, especially fast fighter aircraft. Some delta wings are "tailless," meaning they don't have a separate tail section with elevators. Others have a regular tail. Many famous planes, like the Mirage III, Mirage V, Mirage 50, and Mirage 2000, use delta wings.

What is a Delta Wing?

A delta wing gets its name because it looks like the Greek letter delta (Δ), which is a triangle. This shape helps airplanes fly very fast, especially at supersonic speeds (faster than sound). The design also makes the plane strong and simple to build.

Types of Delta Wings

There are a few main kinds of delta wings:

• Simple Delta: This is a basic triangle shape. Some planes with this design don't have a separate tail, like early Dassault Mirage jets.
• Tailed Delta: These wings are still triangular, but the aircraft also has a normal tail section with horizontal and vertical stabilizers. The MiG-21 Fishbed is a good example.
• Double Delta: This design has two different sweep angles, making the wing look like two triangles joined together. The Saab Draken used this for better control at different speeds.
• Canard Delta: This type combines a delta wing with small front wings called "canards." Canards help with control and lift. The Eurofighter Typhoon is a modern plane with this setup.

Why Use Delta Wings?

Delta wings are popular for fighter jets and other fast planes for several reasons:

• High Speed: Their shape is excellent for flying at very high speeds, including supersonic flight, because they create less drag.
• Strong Structure: The wide base of the triangle makes the wing very strong and stiff, which is important for planes that need to handle a lot of stress.
• Good Control: While early tailless deltas could be tricky to control at low speeds, newer designs with tails or canards offer great maneuverability for fighter pilots.
• Internal Space: The thick root of the delta wing can hold a lot of fuel or landing gear, which is useful for long-range missions or carrying heavy equipment.

Famous Delta Winged Fighters

Many well-known fighter jets have used delta wings:

• F-106 Delta Dart
• Mirage III
• Mirage V
• Mirage 50
• Mirage 2000
• MiG-21 Fishbed
• Su-9 Fishpot
• J-35 Draken

Images for kids

• 

  Convair made several supersonic deltas. This is an F-106 Delta Dart, a development of their earlier F-102 Delta Dagger

• 

  Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde shows off its ogee wing

• 

  The Saab 35 Draken was a successful tailless double-delta design

• 

  The Eurofighter Typhoon has a canard delta wing configuration.

• 

  The Avro Vulcan bomber had a thick wing

• 

  The MiG-21 fighter had a conventional tail

• 

  The Saab Viggen pioneered the close-coupled canard

• 

  This hang glider is a relatively broad-span and lightly swept Rogallo delta

See also

In Spanish: Ala en delta para niños