The first flight of the X-48B

A joint team of NASA and Boeing engineers completed the first stage of flight tests of the unique X-48B aircraft (this is a 8.5% reduced copy with a length of 6.4 meters). The curved wings of this liner show what future aviation can become.



The design is based on the fact that not the wings, but the fuselage provides the aircraft with a significant part of the lift. This approach provides a normal load capacity with significant fuel savings. Since the time of the secret fascist bombers, no one has yet tried to implement such a technology.

During the test flights, the stability of the aircraft was tested in various flight conditions in flight and, most importantly, during landing. According to the participants of the experiment, stability at low speed, that is, during landing, is the most important problem, but it was successfully solved.
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Project X-48B is part of the new NASA Environmentally Responsible Aviation program, which creates more economical and quiet aircraft.

In the last phase of testing the X-48B, the pilot (that is, the on-board computer operator) was allowed to test the strength of the aircraft: exceed the permissible angle of attack and roll angle. The computer coped and, after extreme tests, was able to return the aircraft to normal mode.

For future tests, a new prototype X-48C is being manufactured.



via Wired