History Channel's Modern Marvels had a show on military aircraft. Whole thing was extremely interesting to watch. But one part took me back to early youth: the part about the flying wing bomber. I remember seeing pictures when still in grade school. My brother was an avid model builder. He never built a flying wing model, but I think I saw pictures at the hobby store. Always intriguing due to the esoteric design.
What made me think of this was the ongoing discussion of stalls in the aviation safety section. One of the two main test pilots (Robert Cardenas) described how the flying wing could stall and flip over backwards. And then he described how he pulled it out before plummeting to earth. One part was maximizing power. I think (not sure) another part was putting one wing down. Not so sure I followed it, but the pilot didn't seem to think it was a big thing to have a giant bomber flip backwards and then save it from a crash. Maybe this distinguishes a military pilot from civilian. Of course, the plane only had the crew and maybe not even any bombs aboard.
What made me think of this was the ongoing discussion of stalls in the aviation safety section. One of the two main test pilots (Robert Cardenas) described how the flying wing could stall and flip over backwards. And then he described how he pulled it out before plummeting to earth. One part was maximizing power. I think (not sure) another part was putting one wing down. Not so sure I followed it, but the pilot didn't seem to think it was a big thing to have a giant bomber flip backwards and then save it from a crash. Maybe this distinguishes a military pilot from civilian. Of course, the plane only had the crew and maybe not even any bombs aboard.
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