Blended wing body free flight

Researchers at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. conducted a free flight test of a five percent scale model of a blended wing body "flying wing" in the Langley Full-Scale Tunnel. During tests in the tunnel's huge 30X60 foot test section, pilots "flew" the 12-foot wingspan, 80-pound model. It stayed aloft in the tunnel's wind stream constrained only by a tether cable. The flying wing is the biggest model ever to be free flight tested in the Full Scale Tunnel.
NASA is working with industry and government partners on this advanced, more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly airplane concept. Researchers say a blended wing body could be useful as a multi-role aircraft for the military, including functioning as a tanker or cargo or transport plane.