History Flying wing

the northrop yb-35 bomber prototype began development during world war ii.

tailless aircraft have been experimented since earliest attempts fly. 1910 j. w. dunne s swept-wing biplane , monoplane designs displayed inherent stability.

hugo junkers patented wing-only air transport concept around same time, in 1910. saw natural solution problem of building airliner large enough carry reasonable passenger load , enough fuel cross atlantic in regular service. believed flying wing s potentially large internal volume , low drag made obvious design role. deep-chord monoplane wing incorporated in otherwise conventional junkers j 1 in december 1915. in 1919 started work on giant jg1 design, intended seat passengers within thick wing, 2 years later allied aeronautical commission of control ordered incomplete jg1 destroyed exceeding postwar size limits on german aircraft. junkers conceived futuristic flying wings 1,000 passengers; nearest came realization in 1931 junkers g.38 34-seater grossflugzeug airliner, featured large thick-chord wing providing space fuel, engines, , 2 passenger cabins. however, still required short fuselage house crew , additional passengers.

the flying wing configuration studied extensively 1920s, in conjunction other tailless designs.

the soviet boris ivanovich cheranovsky began testing tailless flying wing gliders in 1924 gliders, producing powered bich-3.

after 1920s, soviet designers such boris ivanovich cheranovsky worked independently , in secret under stalin. significant breakthrough in materials , construction methods, aircraft such bich-3, bich-14, bich-7a became possible. men chizhevskij , antonov came spotlight of communist party designing aircraft tailless bok-5 (chizhevskij) , oka-33 (the first ever built antonov) designated motorized gliders due similarity popular gliders of time. bich-11 cheranovsky in 1932 competing horten brothers h1 , adolf galland @ ninth glider competitions in 1933, did not demonstrate in 1936 summer olympics in berlin. bich-26 1 of first attempts @ supersonic jet flying wing aircraft, ahead of time in 1948. airplane not accepted military , design died cheranovsky.

in germany, alexander lippisch worked first on tailless types before progressively moving flying wings, while horten brothers developed series of flying wing gliders through 1930s. h1 glider flown partial success in 1933, , subsequent h2 flown in both glider , powered variants.

the northrop yb-49 yb-35 bomber converted jet power.

in united states, 1930s jack northrop , cheston l. eshelman each worked on own designs. northrop n-1m scale prototype long-range bomber flew in 1940.

other 1930s examples of true flying wings include frenchman charles fauvel s av3 glider of 1933 , american freel flying wing glider flown in 1937. featuring self-stabilizing airfoil on straight wing.

by world war ii aerodynamic issues enough understood work on production prototypes begin while research continued. in 1942 northrop flew n-9m scale development aircraft proposed long-range bomber. german horten ho 229 of march 1944 world s first twin jet engine pure flying wing, , pre-production examples test-flown during closing stages of war. british armstrong whitworth a.w.52g of 1944 glider test bed tailless research. later armstrong whitworth a.w.52 jet-powered version.

the german horten ho 229 flew during last days of world war ii , first jet powered flying wing.



part of ho 229 v3, unrestored of 2007, @ smithsonian s paul garber facility

several late-war german military designs based on flying wing concept (or variations of it) proposed solution extend range of otherwise short-range jet engine powered aircraft. famous example of these designs horten ho 229 fighter-bomber, first flew in 1944. combined flying wing, or nurflügel, design twin jet engines in second, or v2 (v versuch) prototype airframe flown erwin ziller. however, flameout in 1 of junkers jumo 004 jet engines caused ziller crash, killing him. unflown, completed surviving v3, or third prototype remains in storage @ smithsonian institution in unrestored state.

some work continued postwar. work on northrop n-1m led yb-35 long-range bomber, pre-production machines flying in 1946. superseded next year conversion of type jet power yb-49 of 1947. design did not offer great advantage in range, presented number of technical problems , did not enter production.

elsewhere, turkey had been conducting research , thk-13 appeared in 1948. proposals british avro vulcan roy chadwick explored flying wing designs.

with arrival of supersonic era, military interest faded due conflicting demands of thin wing supersonic flight against thick wing accommodate crew , equipment.

interest in flying wings renewed in 1980s due potentially low radar reflection cross-sections. stealth technology relies on shapes reflect radar waves in directions, making aircraft hard detect unless radar receiver @ specific position relative aircraft—a position changes continuously aircraft moves. approach led northrop grumman b-2 spirit stealth bomber. in case, aerodynamic advantages of flying wing not primary reasons design s adoption. however, modern computer-controlled fly-by-wire systems allow many of aerodynamic drawbacks of flying wing minimized, making efficient , stable long-range bomber.

due practical need deep wing, flying wing concept practical designs in slow-to-medium speed range, , there has been continual interest in using tactical airlifter design. boeing continues work on paper projects blended wing body, c-130 hercules-size transport better range , 1 third more load, while maintaining same size characteristics. number of companies, including boeing, mcdonnell douglas, , de havilland, did considerable design work on flying wing airliners, date none has entered production.