The Flying Wing

The term ’flying wing’ is a generic term, though it usually refers to an American aircraft of the 1950’s called the Northrop YB-49 and subsequently that aircrafts modern day descendent, the B2 ’Spirit’ stealth bomber. In fact the term is much older and refers to a recurring dream of aeronauts that has always found resonance in the realm of pulp literature. Quite why this particular type of aircraft should continue to appeal to the genre is not hard to fathom. Flying wing aircraft are both futuristic and yet arcane in appearane. They combine the grace of birds with the brutality of machines.

The first flying wing designs were very basic and were nearly all gliders or variants based on glider designs. They usually featured swept back wings since the lack of a fusilage meant tail planes had to be placed at the wing tips in order to control the air craft during flight. Some of these designs go right back to the father of all gliders Otto Lilienthal, whose earlier designs often come very close to being flying wings, but never quite make it. Hugo Junkers, the German aircraft manufacturer and designer patented a flying wing design in 1910 under the name ’Nurflügel’ (see the above image) though this was essentially another glider. Junkers did have designs for building powered flying wings and he even began on a prototype called the JG-1, but the post First World War limitations placed on Germany killed the project.

In the 1981 film ’Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (set in 1936) Speilberg and Lucas introduced an nazi flying wing that could be a homage to the JG-1 but since I’ve never been able to find a picture of the proposed JG-1, I really can’t say for sure. The Indy plane also bears a slight resemblence to the Horton Ho-VII though this was a far smaller aircraft in reality and I have a feeling some one (apparently Spielberg) was thinking wishful thoughts. Can’t say I blame him. The designer of the Indy plane was none other than the great Ron Cobb whom I shall have to dedicate a month to one day soon...

The earliest, successful, pioneers of true powered flying wings were Waldo Waterman in the USA and the Horton Brothers in Germany. Both also began by designing glider designs and moved onto powered flight. Waldo Waterman is the typical American genius whose talents ultimately led no where because, like so many American genius’s, he had no serious backers. Waterman built his first ’flying wing’ in 1929. It was called a tailess monoplane at the time, but in essence it was the worlds first, powered and operational flying wing. Waterman however never developed the concept of a flying wing, vainly concentrating all his efforts on the manufacture of a ’flying car’.




It was left to two German teenagers to do the really serious pioneering work on flying wings and when they flew their first glider prototype in 1933, neither Walter nor Reimar Horten had passed the age of twenty. They received the backing of the nazi’s however and they built their first fully operational powered flying wing, called the Ho-VII in 1937. The credibility of the flying wing never really 'took off' though. The Hortons worked hard to build a serious jet fighter called the Horten Ho-IX (see above image) but this aircraft never saw service and subsequently the flying wing retained its aura of mystery which renders it so perfect for the pulp genre. The only surviving Horton jet resides in the Smithsonian archives.

During the war, the Americans ‘inherited’ much of the Horton brothers idea’s and Northrop in particular made various fully operational prototype’s, including the amazingly beautiful YB-35 (see above image) and the YB-49. Jack Northrop was another designer who’d long been fascinated by the concept of the flying wing. He’d examined the idea in the 1930’s examining photographs of the Horton brothers glider protoypes and during the war he received backing to attempt to build a long range bomber on the flying wing principle. At first Northrops designs were just rip offs, as can be seen by comparing the (still surviving) N9-M with the Ho-VII but this didn't last long. Northrop’s later prototypes became the most spectacular flying wings ever built. Silvery and graceful they had the size and power to encourage the imagination of the period and despite their short operational service managed to impress themselves onto an eager audience. For a short period, the future seemed to be embodied in the flying wing.

The 1953 adaptation of HG Wells ‘War of the Worlds’ features footage of a YB-49 deploying an atomic bomb against the Martians and this is probably the last time the flying wing was seriously considered as futuristic rather than retro. Ironically, the only flying wing today is the B2 ‘Spirit’ bomber, the most advanced operational aircraft in the world, but the original romance of the flying wing has not survived and the angular drab B2 has none of the trappings that are the appeal of the flying wing.

A comprehenseive history of the flying wing.
B35 gallery
B49 gallery
German flying wing enthusiasts page
Flying wings
Video: Indiana Jones. Flying wing fight scene
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