Image to right: In May the research partnership of NASA, Boeing, and the Air Force Research Laboratory put a 21-foot wingspace prototype of the X-48B, a blended wing body aircraft, through wind tunnel tests at NASA's Langley Research Center (pictured here). Image credit: NASA Langley Research Center/Jeff Caplan

In May, engineers installed a small-scale prototype of a blended wing body concept for testing at the Langley Full-Scale Tunnel at NASA's Langley Research Center—an historic wind tunnel that once hosted some of America's greatest aviation pioneers, including Orville Wright, Howard Hughes, and Charles Lindbergh.

A blended wing body (BWB) aircraft, with its triangular shape, looks very different from most aircraft flying today. Instead of using a conventional tail, the blended wing body relies solely on multiple control surfaces on the wing for stability and control.

Designated the X-48B by the U.S. Air Force, the BWB prototype is an 8.5 percent scale version of a blended wing body concept. Two high-tech, 21-foot wingspan prototypes of the BWB were produced for wind tunnel and flight-testing. Made primarily of advanced lightweight composite materials, the prototypes weigh about 400 pounds each. They are powered by three turbojet engines and can fly up to 120 knots or 138 miles an hour as high as 10,000 feet in altitude during flight-testing. The prototypes were used to demonstrate that a BWB would be as controllable and safe during take-off, approach, and landing as a conventionally-shaped aircraft.

X-48B Ship No. 1 began wind tunnel testing April 7 at the Langley Full-Scale Tunnel at NASA Langley. The Langley Full-Scale Tunnel, operated by Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., was built in 1930 and has been used to test everything from World War II fighters, to the Mercury capsule, to concepts for a supersonic transport and now a blended wing body prototype.

When testing is completed in mid-May, the prototype will be shipped to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to serve as a backup to Ship No. 2, which will be used for remotely-piloted flight tests later this year. According to the team, both phases of testing are focused on learning more about the low-speed flight-control characteristics of the BWB concept.

The Air Force has designated the vehicles as the "X-48B" based on its interest in the design's potential as a multi-role, long-range, high-capacity military aircraft.

X48B BWB Test Team
NASA Langley Research Center, NASA Dryden Research Center, U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, Cranfield Aerospace Ltd., Boeing Phantom Works