“Experts tested a 22.5 kg and 3-meter scale model of the futuristic airplane”
I know there’s a few classic movie buffs among you. That quote instantly made me think of “Flight of the Phoenix” with James Stewart. If you’ll recall, the Hardy Kruger character was put in charge of designing the aircraft, because he told everyone he had experience in that field. Much later, when he revealed that his experience involved gliders, not full-size actual aircraft , James Stewart had a cow . . .
It is good of Delft to make a model first to confirm the 110 year old theory… 
Hugo Junkers and Jack Northrup would certainly agree. They were so far ahead of their time. Farther than the ability to control the airplane.
Imagine how spacious the cabin would seem.
Is the fuel, over, under, or beside the passenger compartment in the wing? That’s a little unsettling, especially if it’s hydrogen. Well, maybe not. If hydrogen lights up Accidentally the plane will vaporize anyway.
I believe Kruger designed model planes. If you want to split hairs and say a scale model plane is too small to have a fuel powered motor I will give you that. I did have powered scale planes when I was young though.
Supposedly the B2 has software (being fly by wire) that won’t allow the plane to be put in at an attitude to where it would flip over on it’s back and go out of control. Apparently in earlier iterations of the flying wing, that was a real problem since there’s no tail and thus no tradition elevators
Might have been gliders . . .
Kruger argued that they were large gliders at that, but James Stewart still had a cow
A few miles from my house, there’s a park where guys bring their “powered scale planes” as you call them. I know next to nothing about them, but they seem pretty impressive to me 
The ailerons function as elevators in a flying wing. Both ailerons up and the plane climbs. Both ailerons down and the plane dives. If the center of mass is a little forward of the wing’s aerodynamic center of lift so the ailerons have to be trimmed up a little to counteract the center of mass location tendency to make the plane dive, you have a plane that’s stable in pitch. The exact amount of aileron up position determines the wing’s trim speed.
The fact that they combine the function of ailerons and elevator gives them the name “elevons”.
The main problem that has kept flying wings from revolutionizing aircraft is not instability, it’s how terrible conventional airplanes are not.
The Germans were often quite the forward thinkers. Pretty amazing engineers even if it did not see active duty. First flight in the mid 30s I think. They had the 262 and Komet in action while everyone else was still experimenting. Flight of The Phoenix 1 was a fantastic movie. FOTP 2 went all Hollywood and ruined it.
Due to the recommendation of a colleague, who happens to be a fellow movie buff, I saw the remake.
I was quite disappointed, to say the least
Sometimes the original is good enough, so you shouldn’t tempt fate by making a remake.
My mom who was a competitive wind sailor when young said that flying an Army two-seater propeller trainer aircraft was rather similar to handling the sails and tiller of a sailboat, that it was all about keeping the craft, whether boat or plane, in balanced trim.
When she learned to drive a car she was having trouble smoothly shifting gears at first until she realized that shifting a car wasn’t that different in principle from coordinating trimming a sail or moving the boom while handling the tiller.
Northrop flew its first flying wing in 1940, the N1M
I’ve been at the controls of small aircraft a few times (although not a licensed pilot) and did pretty well.
About 20 or so years ago I had an opportunity to visit the local AFB and participate in a very limited number of slots to “fly” an AF jet simulator. It was far tougher than the small planes I’ve been in. I took three “trips” and crashed all 3 times. It was doubly embarrassing because the guy riding with me was an F-15 Desert Storm captain.
In my defense, the captain was letting me wing it and left me on my own for the most part; only telling me where to fly to and what to do once there. So I was a babe in the woods…
They did a remake staring Dennis Quaid. It was no where near as good as the James Stewart movie.
I do remember that Kruger character said he built model planes. I think I’ve seen the movie at least 20 times and I don’t remember if they were gliders or not. I thought they were powered. Sounds like I’ll have to watch it again.
Great Movie.
Some experts say the wide cabin will be great on the ground and in straight and level flight, but they worry that people will get airsick in turbulence or turns.
Normal planes put the passengers at just about the center of roll, which means they get tilted left and right but don’t do a whole lot of fast climbing and dropping.
Stick a passenger out on the wing tip, and every time the plane turns the passenger shoots upward, then downward. Rapid up and down motions are a good way to make some people barf - i.e., seasickness.
And worse, most passengers will not have a window to look out of due to the design, which will add to the chances for some people to become motion-sick because when you feel motion but don’t see it, it can cause queasiness. I suspect they’re going to need to do some human factors work before this kind of plane becomes a viable commercial transport.
Fuel is already under passengers in normal planes. If you’re sitting in line with the wing, you’re also sitting directly over the center tank. The good news is that jets basically run on diesel fuel, and we all know from cars/trucks how safe that is from an explosion/flammability standpoint. The bad news is that any in-flight problem that results in passengers who are sitting near a fuel tank being in danger from the fuel is probably a problem that’s about to bring down the whole plane anyway.
There may be a center tank, but most is stored in the wing tanks, isn’t it? If the center tank is drained first, then the remainder is in the wings. I’m not sure it matters for safety sake. In the extremely unlikely event that a fuel tank catches fire, everyone is likely dead anyway.
Friend and neighbor is a retired airline pilot. He few F-15’s in the Air-force. When he left the air-force and became a commercial pilot he learned very quickly that some maneuvers you just couldn’t perform. Sure the plane could handle it, but (as he put it) you’d have a cabin full of barfing passengers.
That’s one (of several) reasons I hate to get in the back few rows - exaggerated up/down motions.
Very good point I had not considered. That kind of motion doesn’t bother me. We used to pay for that kind of thrill at amusement parks. My wife would pass out. I would not like to be in the middle of that shower of barf!
I’m mildly disappointed that this post has nothing to do with Coach Bombay or any of the Mighty Ducks…
