Boeing’s X-Planes

Posted on July 29, 2007 at 7:08 am (PST)

This X-48B is Boeing’s Blended Wing Body prototype flew for the first time at Edwards Air Force Base in California. It was "remotely piloted from a ground control station in which the pilot uses conventional aircraft controls and instrumentation while looking at a monitor fed by a forward-looking camera on the aircraft."

Developed by Boeing, NASA, and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, these X-Planes do not have a tail and the triangular shape creates less drag than a traditional circular fuselage. That translates into 30% less fuel consumption than a standard-design airplane.

It employs three turbojet engines that enable it to fly up to 10,000 feet and 120 knots in its low-speed configuration, and it makes less noise to make everyone happier.