The Active Aeroelastic Wing F-18A lifts off on its first checkout flight November 15, 2002, from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The checkout flight initiated a two-phase NASA--Air Force flight research program that will investigate the potential of aerodynamically twisting flexible wings to improve maneuverability of high-performance aircraft at transonic and supersonic speeds.

NASA's Active Aeroelastic Wing F/A-18 resumed flight tests in the second phase of the program at the Dryden Flight Research Center in early December 2004.

NASA's modified Active Aeroelastic Wing F/A-18 skims over portions of the U.S. Borax mine during a recent mission from the Dryden Flight Research Center.

NASA's Active Aeroelastic Wing F/A-18 rolls into a hard left turn during a research flight in early December 2004 from the Dryden Flight Research Center.