I've always been fascinated by pre World War 2 designs that were carried out by Russian and German aviators of the time. I am a big aerodynamics, delta wing and efficiency enthusiast - so one simply cannot ignore the Horton brothers, who to my mind did something as incredible as the Wright brother's first flight.
In 1933 they became synonymous with the flying wing, an aircraft with no fuselage, tail or rudder - just a wing. The idea was to make an efficient glider, so they came up with the concept of removing anything on the aircraft that did not contribute to lift, this cuts down drag by a large degree making for a better glider.
In order to do this the wing has to be perfectly balanced and controlled, something that wasn't easy without complex calculations and systems for the time. However it was achieved by using an unconventional swept back wing and shaping of the wing aerofoil to create a stable craft.
The sweep allowed for some directional stability now the conventional rudder had been removed, and the due to the wing angle, the control surfaces were sufficiently aft of the centre of gravity to be a useful pitching moment (negating the need for the tail section).
Just before the war's end in 1945, the Horton 229 was the first jet powered flying wing and could have been very influential had it entered service, not only was it fast and long ranged, but it's radar cross section / signature was low - the Hortons had unwittingly also created the first stealth aircraft !
The prototype was captured by American soldiers and taken stateside after the war, it is largely though to have been used along with Jack Northrop's designs as the basis for the B-2 Spirit bomber.
With the need for more efficiency and less pollution pushing aircraft design, I can see this sort of thing being developed more and more, something that has largely only been possible due to the advent of advanced computer control for the complex flight surfaces.
This is my homage to the fathers of the flying wing...
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