What happen to the flying wing?

Question

The military bought several of these planes that were developed for the middle east conflict., and now have been retired. Why haven't they built these, or similar flying wing airplanes, for the airlines? A flying wing can carry a lot more people than our current airplanes of the same size, and now they are easier to fly with the aid of the computer.

Answer 1

The B-2 flying wing bomber is still in service. The Navy was looking into a flying wing type aircraft but it was canceled when it began to go way over budget.  The 117-A stealth fighter* recently retired was the first generation of radar evading aircraft and been been replaced with the much more capable F-22.  It was unconventional looking but not a true flying wing.

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Boeing had been doing research for years of a large flying wing type aircraft that was being called a blended wing body or span loader. Span loader because the load of the aircraft is carrying is equally distributed across the entire span of the aircraft.   Apparently, the flying wing concept still remains at its best in the slow-to-medium speed range, and there has been continual interest in using it as a tactical air lifter design. Boeing continues to work on paper projects for a Blended Wing Body Lockheed C-130 Hercules sized transport with better range and about 1/3rd more load, while maintaining the same size characteristics. A number of companies, including Boeing, McDonnell Douglas and de Havilland did considerable design work on flying-wing airliners, but to date none have entered production.

Answer 2

The Flying Wing had a lot of trouble when it was first designed.  Since the aid of flight computers the closest we have is the B-2 Stealth Bomber.

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Answer 3

the F-22 can do all that and more for less money.

Answer 4

If you mean the Northrop YB-35 and YB-49, they were built in the 1950's, and were too unstable for accurate bombing.

The Northrop B2 is still quite alive and flying missions.  And they weren't designed for the middle east.  They were designed to penetrate the Soviet Union during the cold war.

Answer 5

The term "Flying Wing" refers to the YB-35 and the YB-49 bombers of the late 1940s and early 1950s.  They were very advanced developments, and had some superior capabilities, but they ran into political and technical problems.  The B-50 and the B-36 were built to take their places.

The B-2 Stealth bomber inherited some of the technology, and those appeared during the Gulf War of the 1990s.  They use computer control systems to overcome the stability problems of the B-35 and B-49.

The B-2s are still very much in use, though there have been rumors that they were retired.  Like any other advanced machine, they had some problems and were grounded for a while a couple of times.  But they are in daily service now.

"Flying wing" type airplanes don't make good airliners because they don't provide for efficient and convenient passenger seating, and because they are very expensive to develop and operate.

Answer 6

A flying wing is unstable on all 3 axis of flight, and if a computer system were to fail, it would be extremely difficult for the pilot to safely control the airplane, as it has unusual stall and aerodynamics compared to a conventional airplane.

Also, since a flying wing has no tail, any control surfaces would be quite ineffective in maintaining a stable flight. (Or using them would compromise the aerodynamic benefits of not having a tail.) Though there are ways around this.

Also, because flying wings tend to be very flat and wide, they are also more difficult to evacuate in an emergency, as well as having fewer windows which might make some passengers nervous.

Answer 7

The stealth bomber has not been retired. In regard to a civilian version, most airlines are opposed to such an unconventional design proposal. The control issues have all been solved as proved by how successfully the stealth flies.

Answer 8

Boeing is working on a Blended Wing and Body design that they hope will be a very efficient new transport. But it's still years away.

The drawback to a true flying wing, besides the stability issue, is that in order for it to have any kind of interior space it has to be massive. The BWB concept hopes to capitalize on the lifting capacity of the flying wing, while still having a reasonable sized aircraft for the desired payload.