Prandtl Wing FVT3 by Angelwing Designs. Maiden flight.

[@georgechristoforou991]

Flies like a bird. Amazingly stable for a flying wing, flying in turbulent cliff uplift. Truly amazing.

[@winged99]

Been following the Prandtl developments. This is one of the most efficient and natural things I've ever seen fly. Thanks for sharing!

[@bob.w3984]

Most dont understand the significance of that plane. It is one of a handful built using research Data of Nasa"s Albion Bowers and Students of the Summer programs. Not to mention Norton And Prandyl . It has no and needs no vertical fins / Rudders and still makes perfect turns no adverse Yaw . Also is more efficient with less drag by near 15%. Gotta Love it. A true International Project and end result. With a beautiful end result !

[@thomasmahoney9748]

NASA? These are around since WWII.

[@martonlerant5672]

@@thomasmahoney9748 Thats a bit of a stretch. The closest thing to bell shaped lift distribution, eve implemented were the planes of the horten brothers, even those were not 100% that. They were mainly interested in creating proverse yaw, and thus not needing vertical control surfaces. And those WEREN'T "around ever SINCE WWII", as we are a bit lacking on examples of them flying around.

[@thomasmahoney9748]

@@martonlerant5672 many many designs by USA and Germans and we have had b-2 bombers for 20 years plus many drones.

[@martonlerant5672]

@@thomasmahoney9748 B-2s are flying wing - that like many other flying wings - DONT UTILIZE bell shaped lift distribution. Its pretty visible when banking, since B-2 have to airbreak on on side, to fight the adverse yaw - lacking the proverse yaw created by said lift distribution. Flying wings are nothing new, thats true. And "flying wings" are not the innovation of the Prandtl-D experimental and the research surrounding it.

[@MarcusDekenah]

Been around since birds were invented.

[@george1gall]

Great build and video! A. Bowers, along with NASA, have been very generous with their research results. Foils and layouts are free to download online. The design is a complex optimization utilizing "wash-in" and "wash-out" along the span of the wing. The result is a very elegant and efficient flyer! Thank you for sharing your experience with it!

[@slowvoltage]

This. No vertical stabilizer. Heart melting. My brain is all abuzz about Prandtl Wings now. Bravo, fantastic piloting, and thank you for sharing!

[@SoloRenegade]

what annoys me is that only hobbyists seem to know of this flying wing concept. I haven't seen a single real (full scale) airplane design concept yet. Making me wonder about the state of the aviation industry.

[@slowvoltage]

Be enthused.

[@opnekryan]

@@SoloRenegade Check out the B-2 or "the flying wing of WW2". Also the YB-35. There are quite a few actually.

[@opnekryan]

@@SoloRenegade I think the main issue with full scale is functionality. FLying wings are very CG sensitive. Having a fuselage and a tail greatly improves the ability to load layout.

[@smile768]

@@opnekryan Love the B2, but the prandtl is superior. The explanations online are not very clear but sea birds have little to no tail and have been using it secretly for a long time! It has a negative angle of attack at the wing tips, where the ailerons are situated. This means adverse yaw is eliminated during an aileron turn. “Proverse” yaw is literally built into the wing, hence no rudder required. It also avoids wingtip vortices. It’s a peach. The B2 relies on clam shell rudder-effect to balance out the yaw. This stuff takes decades to filter through the aviation design process, which hasn’t changed much since the 1950s for most types.

[@Reh8111]

I have been fascinated by flying wings for a long time. I have three in my garage made out of foam sheet they fly like a dream. great vid.

[@mikeupton5406]

When R/C flying becomes art. Musictrack perfect as always.

[@mingology7767]

You have such a beautiful flying site that I can only dream of in my country...

[@hughmungus8784]

Al Bowers did amazing work on this project, his paper is an extremely interesting read

[@pops9190]

Dude! The clouds .. the music .. the moves.. the Wing! One incredible machine after the next!!

[@smile768]

Fantastic glider design (and piloting). I hope it ‘changes the world’ because it is so radical.

[@johnwagenhals881]

I feel the way this glider feels almost everyday ! The beauty of soaring flight

[@JohnSmith-nh9pm]

Superb design and aerodynamics

[@James_Hallam]

Epic. I have a Prandtl “plank” wing similar to this sitting in CAD. Great job.

[@stevenbircher4498]

John, another lovely video! My compliments to your videographer; some of the best flight video I've seen, and your music choices are always outstanding. I'm envious of your cliff! Please keep up sharing your flying! The Prandtl Wing is way different from your usual big light floater planes, change of pace keeps you sharp!

[@craigcolavito5606]

The magic of proverse yaw!

[@zebspace1267]

that looks so much like a bird. really cccooolll. I'm inspired to learn more about prandtl wings& things.

[@RC-DownUnder]

A magical little wing. Even in the video, one can see the washouts.

[@chrismofer]

Totally awesome. Looks rather efficient.

[@Ozzy3333333]

I could not tell, that cliff you can throw a brick off it and it will fly. I would love to see zero wind and a hand toss on flat ground to get any idea of efficiency. I loods nice, but cant tell how much is just ridge lift.

[@yuginoty65]

Wow! Another rudderless verticaless wing. I built one about 20 years ago. It was based on the thermal Zaggy. Lots f fun to fly. Highly maneuverable. No place to slope a wing here in Maine. Peace...

[@fireantsarestrange]

Wow that fly's good. And look at that wing tip tow in. That is a whole bunch of negative tow. Looks fantastic... like an eagle.

[@davewill5226]

Who doesn't love a good flying wing Ive got seven in my little hanger but only two gliders really like this one especially with the Horten bat tail a speedy little thing by the looks of it. Another great video of flying with the usual excellent camera work.

[@royalanania3306]

Lavanders in bloom,and a Horner wing design. Excellent 👌😊

[@NeilStainton]

Amazing and beautiful.

[@MrKeepingitrealau]

Nice one John. Different from the norm and above the rest. Love it.

[@bencrawshaw1227]

Utterly superb. Emulates nature.

[@tioigor4908]

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful... Congratulations! Brazil - Ceará - Aquiraz - Tapera.

[@matthewallen3375]

John, I Think it was your video here (and my Chat with Red Jensen) which informed my choice to Purchase the FTVs from Angelwings. while I designed one from Foam Board, I am eager to develop skills to build mine and fly it. that will make it work the trip to a good soaring sight near the carolinas.

[@samnelson3526]

Cool! Without a vertical stabilizer the turns look like magic

[@darkdom5439]

Wow ! Very little , and so fast !! Surprising !!

[@Skaross]

For anyone struggling to find this kit, it can be found at www.angelwingdesigns.co.uk/collections/prandtl-wings

[@Newtoon]

I have been looking forward to watching this one in your hands... thanks :) !

[@gator1984atcomcast]

Finally, flying like a bird.

[@joshrandall3632]

So much going on here. Another great video and beautiful plane and amazing flying etc. You are blessed to have such a great place to fly. Not sure if anyone has done it, but when I see that spot, I feel like it would be neat to have a plane modeled after a bird to fly around that area. It just seems very fitting for such a place.

[@BobBrownIII]

Beautiful design. Nice flying.

[@deweygravesjr.122]

Beautiful and very cool! Thanks John!

[@alkuhn5219]

Awesome !!!

[@lutsifer5847]

Hi john, it is sure to be an extraordinary experience for you to fly a "flying wing" to Horten

[@tommyatkins1914]

Wow! That's practically the same wing shape as the Horten 229.

[@randall4411]

Amazing how you command that wing like it's you ......it is you !

[@n1vca]

Wow in that perfect spot with that intense upstreaming wind you could probably fly a camping table just as well 😜

[@mr.fredricklawngtawnghedav5094]

MISTER... You are one talented fella.

[@SlopeRCGliders]

Thank you!

[@Fatpumpumlovah2]

Wing design is awesome!!!

[@Sorarse]

I like that. A true flying wing.

[@user-yd1uf4yp6v]

wowza. it's beautiful

[@neilcurson4505]

Reminded me of the Airfix Wombat Chuck gilded my son's had in about 1984.

[@paulbickley658]

Coolest video yet.

[@TheDuncandan]

I noticed a lot of reflex at the tips. I'm thinking that is what gives it stability. Great plane thanks John

[@F3PUK]

It uses Prandtl Theory that has been utilised by Nasa through the work of Albion H Bowers. It is hoped a BSLD wing not unlike this one will flies on Mars!

[@confuseatronica]

yes: "Prandtl later extended his theory to describe a bell-like lift distribution, obtained by washing out the wing tips until negative lift was obtained, which gave the minimum induced drag for any given aircraft weight..." All flying wings have some reflex and usually some washout, and they learned it from Horton and Northrup who learned it from Prandtl, but they usually don't go all the way to what Prandtl recommended- instead they usually just give up and slap on some winglets. However, the common RC flying wings I had used elevons that were bigger towards the tips, so when you reflexed them it would gradually washout towards the tips like Prandtl would want.

[@F3PUK]

@@confuseatronica the aero work was done by Marko Stamenovic using his own software and further software applications. It does indeed use BSLD and proverse yaw

[@capodad2u]

@@confuseatronica that's a good idea I will use that on my next foam board flying wing...along with some winglets cause well you know.

[@SoloRenegade]

@@capodad2u winglets defeat the whole purpose of doing this wing twist. This wing twist is to get rid of winglets.

[@craftysaberchee2491]

Basically a Ho 229. Pretty wing.

[@seanavery7265]

Wow ,that's cool looking ,thanks .✈️🛫🌠

[@bluebear6570]

Looks very much like the Horton gliders from the early 1940s.

[@MarcusDekenah]

Majestic flyer. A want became a need.

[@joshuawfinn]

Very cool. I've got to try a Prandtl at some point.

[@jurez8752]

I want one ! Wings like this are so thin that disappear in the horizon

[@jamesjacocks6221]

Yes they do!

[@AnderzP]

Proverse yaw at work ! Really nice.

[@danielcockerspaniel]

From the NASA press release “The key to the innovation is reducing the drag of the wing through use of an alternative bell-shaped spanload, as opposed to the conventional elliptical spanload. To achieve the bell spanload, designers used a sharply tapered wing, with 12 percent less wing area than the comparable elliptical spanload wing. The new wing has 22 percent more span and 11 percent less area, resulting in an immediate 12 percent drag reduction”. I don’t know who wrote this, but it in nonsensical. What is being compared here for the claimed increase in performance? Two wings with different areas and different spans? What was held constant? I have no doubt there’s something good here, but the press release needs to be written better, and needs to explain how this lift distribution differs from Horten, who also used a bell distribution.

[@jetplaneflyer]

The 'constant' is the weight of the wing. Due to the bell shape lift distribution, the lift is more concentrated closer to the root, so bending moment is reduced. The same amount of material can produce a longer wing.

[@DiamondBackDivision]

Sure looks like the future of wing design to me!

[@3d-printz]

what a beauty

[@user-wq5zd4dm1l]

海に面した断崖は乱れの無い一定の風が吹くので、スロ―プに最適ですね❗️

[@lucywucyyy]

looks like it flies great

[@SlopeRCGliders]

Thank you.

[@BMBTALLER]

Increible!! Que estabilidad! Me encantó 👏👍

[@wobblyrod779]

lovely looking design.

[@davidanderson6222]

Wow. Beautiful design

[@tinsinkplanes]

I thought Prandtl was all about heat transfer in fluid flow. Did he do research in airfoils too? Whatever he did the wing Flies great.

[@pincus321]

Amazing thank you for sharing

[@SlopeRCGliders]

Thank you for watching.

[@MrAndybob71]

Stunning sir some superb flying

[@rronmar]

Flies great!

[@kenmilne2379]

Told u John can fly anything !! Havent seen a brick yet !!! Haha !

[@lucywucyyy]

so cool

[@jma5177]

Amazing

[@alternateshift]

When you get to the field and realise you've forgotten the fuselage.

[@lutsifer5847]

Do you think he noticed?

[@microbuilder]

*we dont need no stinking fuselage*

[@F3PUK]

@@microbuilder or f=vertical stab ;)

[@capodad2u]

@@F3PUK thank you Herr Prandtl ;)

[@richardbradbury9105]

Great flying! That’s rapid!

[@thinkflight]

Yeeeeessssss!!!!

[@karlbe8414]

Great cloud day!

[@TerryNails]

Looks very much like a Horton Brothers design...

[@dion6146]

Very nice flying!

[@CanalPullUpRc]

Beautiful ✈️

[@KHos73]

Really nice looking wing

[@SomeGuyInSandy]

Wow, it's fast!

[@philjones7287]

Beautiful

[@mimmotesento1446]

What about is weight?

[@SlopeRCGliders]

About 330g

[@gordonquigg9389]

The acceleration rate, sustained speed, and radical glide ratio is amazing. This plane is flying like the various maximum efficiency long distance seabirds, like the albatross. This shocking increased efficiency is probably due to a major loss of drag, due to a major loss in total surface area for a given main wing size, due to the lack of fuselage, boom, and vertical and horizontal tail stabilizers. The result is a radical increase in efficiency. The range in long arcing speed runs out to sea, beyond the airwave of lift from the cliffs, is so shocking, and similar in ability to albatross on our coastlines here in hawaii. Whoever the designer is, had really done a good job with enabling a flying wing of this level of performance, to maintain good control and behavior. And your flying skills are top notch. Are there plans available somewhere for this model?

[@F3PUK]

its available as a kit www.angelwingdesigns.co.uk/products/fvt3-pre-order

[@High9231]

I am designer, at least for aerodynamic part. Thank you for your kind words! It was designed so that it is trimmed at point where induced drag equals to parasitic drag. This is point of the best L/D. Aspect Ratio and lift distribution were chosen accordingly. This way all parameters fit for the best efficiency.

[@SoloRenegade]

@@High9231 As someone wishing to learn more about wing design like this, do you mind sharing what tool/s (software, books...) you use in developing something like this? I have a lot of engineering skills, and knowledge, just lacking in wing design specifically, and can't figure out where I should be looking to find answers.

[@High9231]

​@@SoloRenegade I start with calculations for flight mechanics and performance in excel then continue to creating geometry in my own excel sheets program. You can download free and old version here www.nestofdragons.net/weird-airplanes/flying-wings/flying-wing-designer/ Current excels I use are much more advance, but the one publicly available can do a lot too. From that I go to VLM software like XFLR5 and then to CFD (SU2). Results are fed back into calculations in my excel sheets which also include export for CAD modeling. Every design is a little bit different so I adjust design process to particular requirements. As you can see a lot is done in excel because it offers a lot of flexibility and fast adaptation of calculations for different tasks.

[@High9231]

@@SoloRenegade As far as book goes, unfortunately there is non detailed enough for the topic. Theory is based, on Prandtl, Horten, Albion Bowers's and my own work.

[@bekorabello1847]

Wow...Nice wing...

[@davidpiper3652]

It looks like it didn't want to land? 'Interesting' shape to keep orientation. But cool and very stealthy.

[@rcpowres]

Oh so nice!

[@robertk.5195]

The Lippisch brothers must be beaming!

[@SoloRenegade]

Alexander Lippisch? or the Horten brothers?

[@robertk.5195]

@@SoloRenegade , Both

[@sledawgpilot]

Cool tunes for that

[@yayathidayat6678]

I like the design

[@mboykin6047]

Drag? What Drag. Would love to have seen the workings of the control surfaces on this thing.

[@cluelessbeekeeping1322]

I so love your videos!

[@SlopeRCGliders]

Thank you!

[@mikesrcgarage]

This flies beautiful and is probably something I should of started with in slope but me I re purposed a fully symmetrical 3D wing with no dihedral and a slight forward sweep. Today was my first attempt to see if it would even glide at a park with no slope. It seemed to bob up and down and have a terrible glide ratio. How do you determine whether the p!ane is nose heavy or tail heavy by it's flight characteristics off a hand toss? All I can say is that it came home in one piece and always landed f!at on the bottom so if feel that's a mild success... Lol! Thanks!

[@oscarvandale7775]

i need one!

[@microbuilder]

"Did you loose orientation?" "...I'm not sure..."

[@EnglishTurbines]

Ultra low drag with a ton of washout at the wingtips...Is this a 3D printed plane like Eclipsons flying wings of a similar type..?...🤔🤔🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@SlopeRCGliders]

Nope, it’s all wood.

[@EnglishTurbines]

@@SlopeRCGliders Flies well, it would do though in balsa eh..lol .🤔🤔😀🇬🇧

[@lutsifer5847]

@@EnglishTurbines John is a "wood worm"

[@associatedblacksheepandmisfits]

awesome dude.

[@mikedunn7795]

Great flyer! Reminds me of a WW2 design,the Horten Ho 229. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horten_Ho_229

[@dougieboboot-na-boot5877]

What sort of witchcraft is this!!?? Absolutely beautiful though.

[@enriqueyague4848]

Un holten!!! 👏👏👏

[@marc_frank]

nice that you got one of these :) do you feel a performance difference to traditional design flying wings? how is maneuverability compared to them?

[@SlopeRCGliders]

It’s definitely not as aerobatic as a normal flying wing. I think a roll would be impossible and it only just manages a loop. But if you want something different that is happiest just groving about the sky it’s a fabulous little plane.

[@Ignaz366]

Just curious... are you a dead man if you lose your balance or is it just the camera angle that makes it seem that way? Love the content btw.

[@SlopeRCGliders]

It’s a fairly gentle slope down to the costal footpath about 50 meters below and only then does it get steep. It’s just the cameras angle .