NASA's X-48C hybrid wing-body plane completes flight test (2)

The X-48C retained most dimensions of the B model, with a wingspan slightly longer than six meters and a weight of about 225 kilograms. Primary changes to the X-48C model from the B model, which flew 92 flights at Dryden between 2007 and 2010, were geared to transforming it to an airframe noise-shielding configuration. External modifications included relocating the wingtip winglets inboard next to the engines, effectively turning them into twin tails. The rear deck of the aircraft was extended about two feet. Finally, the project team replaced the X-48B's three 23-kilogram thrust jet engines with two 40-kilogram thrust engines.

"Working closely with NASA, we have been privileged throughout X-48 flight-testing to explore and validate what we believe is a significant breakthrough in the science of flight and this has been a tremendous success for Boeing," said Bob Liebeck, a Boeing senior technical fellow and the company's Blended Wing Body (BWB) Program manager.

"We have shown a BWB aircraft, which offers the tremendous promise of significantly greater fuel efficiency and reduced noise, can be controlled as effectively as a conventional tube-and-wing aircraft during takeoffs, landings and other low-speed segments of the flight regime," Liebeck added.