Supersonic Flying Wing.... whatever next...??

[GengisKhant]

Northrop Grumman Corporation has been selected by the U.S. Department of Defence to design the first-ever supersonic flying wing aircraft that can vary the sweep of its wing for the most efficient flight performance.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a contract to Northrop Grummans Integrated Systems sector for the first phase of its Oblique Flying Wing (OFW) program, which aims to design and conduct flight tests of an experimental tailless, supersonic, variable-sweep flying wing. DARPAs goal is to demonstrate that such aircraft are feasible so that similar designs can be considered for future military missions.

The supersonic design envisioned by the OFW program offers potential benefits for missions requiring rapid deployment, long range and long endurance. In theory, an oblique flying wing could maximize its performance in every flight regime: takeoff or landing, high or low altitude, supersonic or subsonic speed.
During the programs first phase, which will conclude in November 2007, Northrop Grumman will conduct technology maturation to reduce the risk of the critical technologies associated with its OFW concepts and develop a preliminary design for the experimental aircraft. The preliminary design effort could be followed by a second phase to finalize the design, then build an experimental aircraft and flight test it. First flight of this "X-plane" is envisioned in 2010 or 2011.

GengisK :ok:

[Green Flash]

I thought this idea rang a bell -

http://www.globalaircraft.org/planes/ad-1_oblique_wing.pl

[Pontius Navigator]

Barnes Wallis strikes again.

[Fokkerwokker]

Was that nicknamed the 'slew wing' or am I confusing it with summat else?

[BEagle]

As PN infers, Barnes Wallis 'Swallow' re-invented?

http://www.barneswallistrust.org/swingwing.htm

[FJJP]

Dammit, Beags, you just beat me to the same link!

Good stuff this Google lark, innit?

[SASless]

In the Swallow he used a flattened profile fuselage blending with the wing and contributing to total lift. The fin was eliminated and all control was provided by the engine pods. These were mounted in pairs towards the tips of the wings, one above and one below the aerofoil. They pivoted about all three axes, providing a constant thrust-line with variations in wing sweep, and served in place of rudder, ailerons and elevators.

Now if one wuz to have multiple engine failures on one side of this critter....or somehow run it out of fuel and have a total engine failure....would it not get a wee bit tricky to control?

[FJJP]

With the technology of the day, very probably. However, given the state of modern computer technology, coupled with a number of years of experience and development, I have no doubt that the Swallow and its configuration could be easily controlled whatever the problem.

After all, NASA are now well on the way to perfecting computer software that will allow the pilot to use the flying control input devices [oh, all right - joystick!] to convert to engine behaviour in the event of a total loss of hydraulics [a la Sioux City]. It will take the trial and error out of the equation faced by the fantastic pilots who landed their flying control-less jets at Sioux City and Iraq.

[k3k3]

I think I remember reading about this in Meccano Magazine (now I really am dating myself).

[buoy15]

Didn't a Blue Peter team build one of these in the late 70's using a hollowed out banana, spatula and a coke can filled with lighter fuel?
One of the presenters (may have been John Noakes - "get down Shep") said it defied the law of aerodynamics, and, as it didn't fly normally, like birds do, could probably go from the studio to Cornwall and back in the dark whilst we were all asleep, and we wouldn't even know about it!
I missed the next programme as I was on detachment
What was the result?