By : Benjamin Preston
Forget everything you know about flying wing aircraft like the B-2 bomber and the F-117 stealth fighter. Researchers at the University of Miami are working on a star-shaped jet that can fly in two different directions. And by that I don't mean forward and backward, but forward and another forward. The NASA funded design, which is still in the computer modeling phase, has a long axis, and a short axis perpendicular to the long one. There are two cockpits: on one end of the long axis, and on one end of the short axis. When it's taking off and cruising at low speeds, the plane can use the longer wingspan for lift, with the tips folded up, presumably for vertical stabilization. Then the plane rotates 90 degrees to use the short wingspan to travel really, really fast. Scientists figure change in direction will be super smooth; virtually unnoticeable from inside the plane.
0 comments:
Post a Comment