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The Armstrong Whitworth AW.171 was a British project of the 1950s to develop a supersonic VTOL
flying wing
A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no definite fuselage, with its crew, payload, fuel, and equipment housed inside the main wing structure. A flying wing may have various small protuberances such as pods, nacelles, blis ...
aircraft. It was planned to investigate the extremely low
aspect ratio delta wing
A delta wing is a wing shaped in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta (Δ).
Although long studied, it did not find significant applications until the Jet Age, when it proved suitabl ...
s proposed by Professor
A.A. Griffith for supersonic transports. The A.W.171 design was a very slender delta flying wing powered by two
Bristol Orpheus
The Bristol Siddeley Orpheus was a single-spool turbojet developed by Bristol Siddeley for various light fighter/trainer applications such as the Folland Gnat and the Fiat G.91. Later, the Orpheus formed the core of the first Bristol Pegasus ...
turbojet
The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...
s mounted at the wingtips, with 10
Rolls-Royce RB.108
The Rolls-Royce RB.108 was a British jet engine designed in the mid-1950s by Rolls-Royce specifically for use as a VTOL lift engine. It was also used to provide horizontal thrust in the Short SC.1.
Design and development
The RB.108 was the ...
lift jets. The pilot was to lie in a
prone position to minimise drag.
Work was cancelled in 1957 before a prototype was completed.
Specification
See also
References
*Williams, Ray. "Paper Planes:Armstrong Whitworth's unbuilt projects". ''
Air Enthusiast'', Forty-three, 1991. ISSN 0143-5450. pp. 60–79.
External links
Armstrong Whitworth AW.171
{{Armstrong Whitworth aircraft
1950s British experimental aircraft
AW.171
Flying wings
VTOL aircraft
Cancelled aircraft projects
Prone pilot aircraft
Tailless delta-wing aircraft
Twinjets
Aircraft with auxiliary jet engines