Bi-directional Flying Wing
The supersonic bi-directional flying wing (SBiDir-FW) design comprises a long-span low speed wing and a short-span high speed wing joined in the form of an uneven cross.
The proposed craft would take off and land with the low-speed wing across the airflow, then rotate a quarter-turn so that the high speed wing faces the airflow for supersonic travel. NASA have funded the continued study of the proposal.
The design is claimed to feature low wave drag, high subsonic efficiency and little or no sonic boom.
The low-speed wing would have a thick, rounded airfoil able to contain the payload and a wide span for high efficiency, while the high-speed wing would have a thin sharp-edged airfoil and a shorter span for low drag at supersonic speed.
Read more about this topic: Flying Wing
Famous quotes containing the words flying and/or wing:
“It is a happy thing that there is no royal road to poetry. The world should know by this time that one cannot reach Parnassus except by flying thither.”
—Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889)
“I could replace
God for awhile, that old ring of candles,
that owl’s wing brushing the dew
off my grass hair.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)