Can anyone tell me about the "flying wing" an experimental jet aircraft built at Coventry in the 1940s?

Question

Can anyone tell me about the "flying wing" an experimental jet aircraft built at Coventry in the 1940s?

Answer 1

Actually Kluge, you're wrong about the first flying wing.  The Freel Flying Wing was the creation of Charles Lewis Freel (b. 1916). As a student of San Diego High School, in San Diego, California, Freel learned about aerodynamics under the instruction of LeTain Kittredge, in the aircraft rigging/woodshop class. Before his graduation, Free designed a 36-inch experimental free flight model of a flying wing glider. The model flew well enough that in 1933, construction began on a full-scale flying wing glider at the San Diego High School woodshop. This aircraft was completed in 1937 and licensed with identification mark 18131. A unique worm-drive was used to control elevons on the trailing surface. The glider suffered from poor directional control and several flights were made in the 52 foot wingspan glider by Kittredge and Freel as pilots in hillsides near San Diego. After graduation, Freel worked for Consolidated Aircraft Corporation and held the title of "junior engineer."

Answer 2

i actually saw a prototype of the flying wing  flying over where i lived in coventry ; i lived at stoke aldermoor,not far from baginton,and we used to see most of the aircraft built by armstrong whitworth fly over our area;it didnt last long; too many faults in design etc;i saw all manner of aircraft when iwas a kid  ,friendly and enemy iwas a young boy who with my family .lived in coventry during the blitz ; are there any of the old coventry blitz kids on this site?

Answer 3

Here's a link to a good article about various flying wings with really good pictures of the aircraft.

http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviatio...

http://www.rafmuseumphotos.com/pics_6994...

http://www.awa.uk.com/aw52

Answer 4

the flying wing planes are unstable . they did not work until the advent of sophisticated electronics. And even now only the military fools around with them. Same thing with "flying" saucer shapes.

Answer 5

The Armstrong Whitworth A.W. 52 was an experimental British bomber design during WWII. It was a 4 engine bomber but was never built. A 2 engine prototype was built after WW II but due to the unstable nature of the flying wing design it crashed (elevon flutter). The pilot escaped using a Martin-Baker ejection seat,the first known emergency use of the ejection seat. Try the link listed below for more information on the British flying wing.

Answer 6

First of all the first "Flying Wing"  was built by the n***s in the late 30's and early 40's. It was originally built with jets. It was a small model to test to make a huge model to be called the American Bomber, they wanted it to bomb New York and still be able to fly back to Germany. The prototype was lost in the Smithsonian for years after the war and forgotten. Till Jack Northrop saw it when the were looking for a new long ranger bomber to go up against the soviets in the cold war. He used the n**i Design and created 2 prototypes, but he used radial props no jets, then eventually jets. Both countries failed because at that time we did not have the control systems to make a craft of that design fly. Now we have the B-stealth it fly's well because we now have computer and the ability to create systems so the plane can fly properly. Same dimensions as Jack Northrop's and he got to see his early creation fly only a month before he died. As for Coventry, never heard of them, nor any other attempt at the flying wing.

As for the Armstrong Whitworth A.W.52, it flew less then the n**i prototype. Plus all research was never used by any country for further consideration so it was destroyed. It was not even taken seriously by the people that built it.