Supersonic Flying Wing Nabs $100,000 from NASA

[entropy13]

An aircraft that resembles a four-point ninja star could go into supersonic mode by simply turning 90 degrees in midair. The unusual "flying wing" concept has won $100,000 in NASA funding to trying becoming a reality for future passenger jet travel.

The supersonic, bidirectional flying wing idea comes from a team headed by Ge-Chen Zha, an aerospace engineer at Florida State University. He said the fuel-efficient aircraft could reach supersonic speeds without the thunderclap sound produced by a sonic boom — a major factor that previously limited where the supersonic Concorde passenger jet could fly over populated land masses.

"I am hoping to develop an environmentally friendly and economically viable airplane for supersonic civil transport in the next 20 to 30 years," Zha said. "Imagine flying from New York to Tokyo in four hours instead of 15 hours."

The U.S. military's B-2 Spirit stealth bomber that debuted in 1989 represents the only previously successful flying wing aircraft, even though experimental flying wings flew before then. Zha's bidirectional flying wing kicks the general concept up a notch by essentially laying two flying wings on top of one another at a 90 degree angle, so that the aircraft faces one way for subsonic flight and rotates another way for supersonic flight.

The midair transformation allows the aircraft to fly in its most fuel-efficient modes at both subsonic and supersonic speeds, Zha explained. Jet engines located on top of the aircraft in concept illustrations appear to rotate independently of the aircraft so that they can always point forward in flight.

Such midair spinning might sound unpleasant for people riding the aircraft. But a five-second rotation would only cause pilots and passengers to experience a "g-force" just one-tenth the force of gravity — less than what airline passengers experience during takeoff.


Full article here.

[INSTG8R]

Very interesting design that's for sure.

[FordGT90Concept]

It might be mechanically impossible to make work (control surfaces being a big concern as well as stability) but still very creative. I wouldn't be surprised if Lockheed, Northrop Gruman, and Boeing look further into the possibility.

[LAN_deRf_HA]

Isn't that what the variable swept wing is for? I think I'd rather have simple extending wings rather than a rotating power plant on an aerodynamically challenged body.