Originally Posted by
unmanned_droid
The Horten flying wings were aerodynamically very far ahead of the Northrop (and everyone elses) wings.
Not sure that stands much scrutiny. Horten's concept still relied on cambered sections with washout/reflex to provide a positive static margin, which generates lots of (parasitic) trim drag and a low Mcrit. Northrop's approach was fundamentally different in using non-cambered sections that had minimal pitching moment so the desired static margin was achieved with far less trim drag and a higher Mcrit. Horten DID think up the idea of using a bat-tail to prevent mid-span airflow stagnation (and consequent unpredictable wing-drop at the stall), so that feature was more advanced, but the general concept of the N9 and XB35 was arguably much more advanced.
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