QUESTION:
When the wings on the KAO are diagonal, does this affect the flight?  
How does it help with speed of take off?

ANSWER from Terry Rager on October 12, 1995:
I'll answer the last part first. On the C-141 (KAO) aircraft the diagonal
(swept) wing really doesn't affect the takeoff. There are many reason to
design an aircraft with a swept wing and I will try to explain without getting
too complicated. 

When an airplane flies, air goes over and under the wing.  That is what 
causes lift and allows the airplane to leave the ground.  However, the front 
of the wing hits the air and compresses that bit of the air. The faster 
the airplane goes , the more the air is compressed by wing and the more 
"drag" is created making it more difficult for the airplane to fly. If you 
have a picture of the KAO you may be able to to look at the front of the 
wing and see how thick it is. That is very good for creating lift at slower 
speeds, but at high speeds it is to large and compresses too much air. By 
sweeping the wing, the designer allows the wing to go through the air at an 
angle and all the air does no strike the front of the wing at the same time 
causing less resistance.

I hope this makes sense. Try an experiment at school or home moving different
shaped objects though water or air and see the difference in resistance.

Terry Rager, Project Pilot, KAO