Non-Subscriber Extract
Blended Wing makes maiden flight
By Gareth Jennings
24 July 2007
The Boeing X-48B Blended Wing Body (BWB) research aircraft made its maiden flight at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, on 20 July.
Boeing's BWB programme manager, Bob Liebeck, said that the half-hour flight, during which the remote-controlled X-48B flew to an altitude of 7,500 ft, was an important milestone in the project's mission to explore the structural, aerodynamic and operational efficiencies of the BWB concept.
The X-48B was developed by Boeing's Phantom Works in co-operation with NASA and the US Air Force Research Laboratory with the purpose of gathering detailed information about the stability and flight-control characteristics of the BWB design, especially during take-off and landing.