Flapless flying?!

Its all old hat, have a look at the Hunting H126……

The “world’s first flapless plane”? Didn’t the Wright brothers beat them to it?

I don’t remember any flaps on the SR-71’s (or the YF-12 or A-12’s) but maybe I was mistaken?

Its an interesting concept if you think about it for a large commercial airliner.

Multiple engines could provide redundancy (bleed air from flight engines and APU).

Hydraulic systems could be vastly reduced in size and complexity, but would still be required for undercarriage and braking systems.

I think it’s incredibly cynical to write this technology off without actually knowing anything about it (which none of us do at the moment). The people designing these things know more than we do so how about leaving them to it and seeing what they come up with? The concept of powering a plane with jets of high speed air would have seemed alien at one point, I don’t really see why the concept of controlling one with high speed air needs to be instantly dismissed.

Moggy, indeed, plus, a blowing system will weigh quite a bit (blower, as the trend is for bleedless engines, ducting, … ) I’ll stay with the opinion of it being a possibility for stealth combat aircraft or drones that will fall on primary schools no matter what.

The “world’s first flapless plane”? Didn’t the Wright brothers beat them to it?

Frank, apparently there’s an APU to allow you to retain sufficient control to locate a primary school to miss by a few hundred…. furlongs.

Moggy

good to see my local airfield in the news
i fly from there on the BAE Super King when on business trips

Great idea ! Oh wait, what happens if you loose engine power? It is great for drones, and planes requiring stealth. For the rest… I don’t think so.