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The Germans found out that wings that are swept back reduce wind resistance, so that their jet powered swept wing ME-262 was much faster than the British jet powered straight wing Gloster Meteor. The USA F-86 Sabre and the Russian Mig-15 were a lot more like the ME-262 than the Gloster Meteor.

Edit:

This reduction in drag is only true at very high subsonic, trans sonic, and supersonic speeds. In a propeller airplane the most efficient design is a long narrow straight wing.

Look up wave drag theory for more information. In very generalized terms when an airplane traveling at speeds approaching the speed of sound the air flowing over the wing actually reaches trans-sonic speeds. This forms a pressure wave. This wave creates lots of drag. A swept wing will have less curvature compared to the airflow due to the angle of the sweep. This reduction in curvature reduces the speed increase in the over wing airflow compared to the plane which in turn reduces the pressure wave and thus drag.

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10y ago

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