Blended Wing Body Completes Phase-1Tests

A NASA Dryden, Air Force Research Laboratory and Boeing Phantom Works team has finished its first phase of flight tests on the subscale X-48B blended wing body aircraft at the Dryden Flight Research Center. The team is studying the structural, aerodynamic and operational advantages of the Blended Wing Body concept, a cross between a conventional plane and a flying wing design.

The 8.5 percent scale, remotely piloted X-48B is dynamically scaled to fly much like the full-size aircraft would fly.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• NASA
• Aeronautics
• research
• flight
• science
• pilots
• testpilot

[DackIsBack]

Make a flying saucer plz, I want to hear the conspiracy nuts claim it uses alien technology.

[1234helloworld1234]

hi i love you nasa

[filmftw3]

@DackIsBack

its a piece of junk.

[admacdo2009]

@NelielTuOderswank If they're naturally unstable on every axis, how come reflexed airfoil plank style wings can be trimmed to be dynamically stable? Almost everything you've said is incorrect and can be proven with just a little bit of research. Low pitching moment washed out flying wings are very efficient. I'd love to see you stand up in front of a bunch of professional aero engineers and present your beliefs.

[roidroid]

@NelielTuOderswank thankyou that was most educational

[NelielTuOderswank]

@roidroid Furthermore, a blended wing body is nothing like a flying wing. Its not truly a blend of a conventional aircraft and a flying wing, but of a conventional aircraft and "Lifting body". The entire aircraft is in the shape of an airfoil, with higher aspect wing ratios the further you get from the center of gravity, which results in massive amounts of lift, efficiency, and stability. Not to mention on a blended wing body the winglets double as the vertical stabilizers.

[NelielTuOderswank]

@roidroid Flying wings are very, very inefficient. Furthermore it requires an unconventional far backward center of gravity, which results in poor stability. Flying wings are naturally unstable on every axis. Even with vertical stabilizers, their usefulness is greatly diminished because they are so close to the center of gravity. The amount of drag you have to create to stabilize a flying wing outweighs the loss in drag of being just a wing.

[roidroid]

@NelielTuOderswank what about a flying wing design such as the Northrop YB-49 or RQ-170 Sentinel, arn't they more efficient than a blended wing?

It just seems to me that a blended wing is specifically designed to be a middlepoint inbetween other more fundamentalist designs. It seems to be trying to preserve as much of the advantages of delta, flying wing, and traditional tube fuselage designs. It's performance will not be as groundbreaking, but will be better rounded. Yes?

[NelielTuOderswank]

@roidroid Delta wings are very inefficient, and extremely unstable at low speeds. Its part of the reason the Concorde was cancelled. Blended wing bodies get massive amounts of lift, have low stall speeds, better handling, and they slip through the air easier.

[jewlzorjay]

looks like a kite.

[FlightSimx97]

This is just another way for conspiracist to say they saw a flying saucer.... There gunna see it and gonna say OMG FLYING SAUCER ALIENS!

[Tubes12AX7k]

@TheDA2345 In addition to that, having passenger seats far away from the aircraft center line would give those passengers a lot more motion during banked turns. So probably using it mostly for cargo would be the bright thing to do. But even still, it would be a very interesting and efficient aircraft.