NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Image above: The unique X-48B Blended Wing Body subscale demonstrator banks over desert scrub at Edwards AFB. NASA photo / Carla Thomas

Boeing's X-48B Blended Wing Body technology demonstrator successfully completed its eighth flight of its flight test program on Jan. 31, 2008 at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. Among the test points completed during the flight were airspeed calibrations, steady-heading sideslips, and roll and pitch doublets. The 8.5 percent scale, remotely piloted X-48B is a cross between a conventional aircraft and a flying wing design. Flight tests are intended to validate the potential advantages of the blended wing body aerodynamic concept over conventionally designed aircraft.

+ Read More