Editing Flying wing (section)

===Second World War===

[[File:Horten H.IX line drawing.svg|thumb|The German [[Horten Ho 229]] flew during the last days of World War II and was the first flying wing to use a jet engine.]]

During the [[Second World War]], aerodynamic issues became sufficiently understood for work on a range of production-representative prototypes to commence. In [[Nazi Germany]], the [[Horten brothers]] were keen proponents of the flying wing configuration, developing their own designs around it - uniquely for the time using Prandtl's birdlike "bell-shaped lift distribution".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bowers |first1=Albion, H |title=Experimental Flight Validation of the Prandtl 1933 Bell Spanload |journal=NASA STI Programme |date=29 July 2021 |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210014683 |access-date=4 August 2021}}</ref> One such aircraft they produced was the [[Horten H.IV]] glider, which was produced in low numbers between 1941 and 1943.<ref name="bbc 229">Dowling, Stephen. [http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160201-the-wwii-flying-wing-decades-ahead-of-its-time "The Flying Wing Decades Ahead of its Time."] ''BBC News'', 2 February 2016.</ref> Several other late-war German military designs were based on the flying wing concept, or variations of it, as a proposed solution to extend the range of otherwise very short-range of aircraft powered by early [[jet engine]]s. [[File:Horten Ho 229 Smithsonian front.jpg|thumb|right|Part of a [[Horten Ho 229]] V3, unrestored as of 2007, at the Smithsonian's [[Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility|Paul Garber Facility]]]]
The [[Horten Ho 229]] jet fighter prototype first flew in 1944.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Green |first=William |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/127356 |title=The warplanes of the Third Reich; |date=1970 |publisher=Macdonald & Co |isbn=0-356-02382-6 |location=London |oclc=127356}}</ref> It combined a flying wing, or ''Nurflügel'', design with a pair of [[Junkers Jumo 004]] jet engines in its second, or "V2" (V for ''Versuch'') prototype airframe; as such, it was the world's first pure flying wing to be powered by twin [[jet engine]]s, being first reportedly flown in March 1944. V2 was piloted by Erwin Ziller, who was killed when a flameout in one of its engines led to a crash. Plans were made to produce the type as the Gotha Go 229 during the closing stages of the conflict. Despite intentions to develop  the Go 229 and an improved [[Gotha Go P.60|Go P.60]] for several roles, including as a [[night fighter]], no Gotha-built Go 229s or P.60s were ever completed. The unflown, nearly completed surviving "V3," or third prototype was captured by American forces and sent back for study; it has ended up in storage at the [[Smithsonian Institution]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.airspacemag.com/need-to-know/Need-to-Know-Horten.html |title=Need to Know - The Luftwaffe's Flying Wing |last=Maksel |first=Rebecca |date=January 11, 2010 |website=Air & Space Smithsonian |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |access-date=June 11, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://insider.si.edu/2018/04/desperate-for-victory-the-nazis-built-an-aircraft-that-was-all-wing-it-didnt-work/ |title=Desperate for victory, the Nazis built an aircraft that was all wing. It didn't work. |date=5 April 2018 |work=Smithsonian Insider |access-date=5 April 2018 |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Allies also made several relevant advances in the field using a conventional elliptical lift distribution with vertical tail surfaces. During December 1942, Northrop flew the [[Northrop N-9M|N-9M]], a one-third scale development aircraft for a proposed long-range bomber;{{sfn|O'Leary|2007|p=66}} several were produced, all but one were scrapped following the bomber programme's termination.{{sfn|O'Leary|2007|p=68}} In Britain, the [[Baynes Bat]] glider was flown during wartime; it was a one-third scale experimental aircraft intended to test out the configuration for potential [[winged tank|conversion of tanks into temporary gliders]].<ref name="Ellison">{{cite book |last=Ellison |first=Norman |title=British Gliders and Sailplanes 1922-1970 |publisher=Adam & Charles Black |location=London |date=1971 |isbn=0-7136-1189-8}}</ref>

The British [[Armstrong Whitworth A.W.52]]G of 1944 was a glider test bed for a proposed large flying wing airliner capable of serving [[transatlantic crossing|transatlantic]] routes.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The A.W. Flying Wing |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1946/1946%20-%200902.html |journal=Flight |access-date=18 July 2010 |format=pdf |date=9 May 1946 |page=464 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305150726/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1946/1946%20-%200902.html  |archive-date=5 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Tapper"/> The A.W.52G was later followed up by the [[Armstrong Whitworth A.W.52]], an all-metal jet-powered model capable of high speeds for the era; great attention was paid to [[laminar flow]].<ref name="Tapper"/><ref>{{cite journal |title=Twin-jet A.W.52 |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1946/1946%20-%202270%20-%200296.html |journal=Flight |access-date=18 July 2010 |format=pdf |date=19 December 1946 |page=674 following}}</ref> First flown on 13 November 1947, the A.W.52 yielded disappointing results; the first prototype crashed without loss of life on 30 May 1949, the occasion being the first emergency use of an [[ejection seat]] by a British pilot. The second A.W.52 remained flying with the [[Royal Aircraft Establishment]] until 1954.<ref name="Tapper"/>