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x-48c

Boeing's futuristic X-48C makes final flight

It's mission accomplished for the experimental X-48C aircraft.

The distinctively shaped machine this week made the last of 30 flights in an eight-month program as backers Boeing and NASA sought to show how well a "blended wing body" aircraft can perform. The X-48C program is tied to NASA's Environmentally Responsible Aircraft project, which is geared toward developing futuristic airplanes that burn less fuel, spew fewer emissions, and make less noise.

The Boeing-designed X-48C has a radically different look than that of conventional aircraft. Where a big 747 or a little Cessna has -- very roughly speaking … Read more

NASA's futuristic X-48C hybrid wing-body plane takes flight

NASA said today that its experimental X-48C hybrid wing-body airplane took flight for the first time.

A remotely powered prototype that's housed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert, the X-48C is thought to be the future of efficient, long-haul aviation.

The plane is known as a hybrid wing-body because it's essentially a cross between a flying-wing design and a conventional plane. NASA and its partners in the U.S. Air Force, Boeing, and Cranfield Aerospace are confident the aircraft will offer users long-term fuel efficiency, fuel capacity, … Read more