More in

Aerospace

Flying wing road test

News

Even building the blended wing body model was a challenge. For the test, the model had to be dynamically scaled, which means it had to have the same scaled shape as the real plane as well as the scaled weight and inertia characteristics of roll, pitch and yaw. This required the model to be very lightweight for its size. It was built out of graphite composite material similar to that used to build Formula 1 racecars..

NASA

researchers have installed a 5% scale model of a blended wing body in the Langley Full-Scale Tunnel at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA.

During tests in the tunnel's huge 30X60 foot test section, pilots "flew" the 12-foot wingspan, 80-pound model. It stayed aloft in the tunnel's wind stream constrained only by a tether cable.

The flying wing is the biggest model ever to be free flight tested in the Full-Scale Tunnel.

"We want to understand the edge of the envelope flight characteristics of the blended wing body," said Dan Vicroy, blended wing body flight dynamics principal investigator. "We're comfortable with the flight characteristics of conventional tube with wings airplanes, but we don't have much experience with flying wings."

NASA is working with Boeing Phantom Works, Long Beach, CA, on the advanced, more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly airplane concept. Researchers say a blended wing body could be useful as a multi-role aircraft for the military, including functioning as a tanker, cargo or transport plane.

Register now to continue reading

Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of news stories. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our news coverage, as well as premium content including opinion, in-depth features and special reports.  

Benefits of registering

  • In-depth insights and coverage of key emerging trends

  • Unrestricted access to special reports throughout the year

  • Daily technology news delivered straight to your inbox

Register
Or continue by

Signing in with your registered email address