Lightning - delta wing
Hi
On the Lightning, does anyone know why Petter, (the designer of the initial LIghtning), go for what amounted to a delta with a notch taken out of it and a tailplane? Would much be gained from a Skyhawk or Mig 21 like setup, i.e. a complete delta with a tailplane? There’d be more wing area, the wing close to the root would be thicker thus giving more possibilities for undercarriage stowage and putting fuel in the wings and he could of added some sort of flap. Conversely by putting the notch into the rear of the wing the total drag would have been less in a turn than the unnotched one, (aspect ratio would be lower on the non-notched example and thus the induced drag would have been higher). What are your thoughts?
Mark