All other problems seem to be within the capabilities of current Boeing
construction techniques. A very large scale model is now flying. It's deep in
your court with a ton of top spin.......
Lynn E. Hanover
lehanover@aol.com

Where is this model flying? Dan Gray at Santa Paula was contracted to build
a fairly large blended wing model with a three HP chain saw like pusher engine.
Spun in and crashed after several flights. They gave up. Don't know who 
sponsored it. It may have been NASA.

Lots of flying wings have been built by Horton, Northrup the British
(Vulcan bomber) and others. None of them have revolutionized aircraft design
or were widely copied. Possible reasons are:

A: Some of the aft wing area must be reflexed and used to provide 
pitch stability and does not contribute to lift.

B: Lateral directional stability is marginal. The B2 uses computers
and split ailerons to provide a non-symmetrical drag for directional
stability. If the system fails you punch out.  

C: Fowler flaps are difficult if not impossible to accommodate due high pitching moments. 
Therefor for a given landing speed and runway length wing loading must be lower 
and wing area greater resulting in excess wing skin friction drag at high speeds when 
lift coefficients are low and the wing area is not needed. 

There is nothing like a long fuselage with a tail on the end of it to solve
these problems.

BTW One of the last Horton flying wing designs in Germany also spun in 
and crashed near the end of WW II. That one was jet powered.

Paul Lamar

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