Only the Wing: Reimar Horten's Epic Quest to Stabilize and Control the All-Wing Aircraft / With a New Introduction

by Russell E. Lee

Overview

Reissued in paperback with a revised and expanded Introduction: In the late 1920s, Reimar Horten began experimenting with flying models equipped with fuselages, stabilizers, rudders, and elevators, but his life’s work involved systematically removing these components from models until he could achieve flight with only the wing. Not only were pure wings more difficult to design with the stability and controls needed to fly, they were harder to place in practical roles not already filled by conventional aircraft operating for less support and lower operational costs. Always seeking to increase performance and efficiency, Horten adopted a multidisciplinary approach after flying his first piloted wing in 1933, eventually breaking new ground in cockpit design and construction materials. His most important innovation was the unique pattern he developed to distribute lift over his wings, the result of his efforts to refine the aerodynamic control of all-wing aircraft, often while working alone and in difficult circumstances. Two days after Horten passed away in 1993, the Royal Aeronautical Society awarded him the British Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Aeronautics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781944466381
Publisher:	Smithsonian Institution Press
Publication date:	09/01/2020
Pages:	310
Sales rank:	859,822
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

RUSSELL E. LEE is a curator in the Aeronautics Division at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C. He specializes in soaring flight and sailplane technology as well as other types of sport aircraft. Lee graduated in 1992 from George Mason University with a master’s degree in American history, and he has flown a variety of single-engine and motorless aircraft since earning a private pilot’s license in 1979.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 From Flying Models to Piloting a Wing 23

Chapter 2 Freedom of Flight 49

Chapter 3 Competition Wings 75

Chapter 4 Jet Wings 111

Chapter 5 End and Beginning 141

Chapter 6 Winglets and more Wings 169

Appendix 1 Horten Aircraft Type Data 195

Appendix 2 Horten Aircraft Performance Characteristics 209

Appendix 3 Horten Aircraft Airframe Data 221

Notes 233

Glossary of Terms, Phrases, and Abbreviations 261

References 275

Index 285

About the Author 295