Northrop HL-10 Lifting Body Aircraft
The unique Northrop HL-10, shown after landing on a dry lake bed in the late 1960s with the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress from which it was dropped, passes overhead. Rather than using traditional wings, lifting-body aircraft like this use the fuselage itself as a wing. The design offers reduced drag for supersonic and hypersonic flight, and several lifting-body aircraft were used to study spacecraft reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, helping inform the design of various spacecraft.
Topics Related To: AVIATION HISTORY
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