JetZero Scaled Demo BWB First Flight Imminent | Aviation Week Network
JetZero says it is poised to begin flight tests of a subscale version of its full-scale blended wing body multirole demonstrator in the next few weeks.
aviationweek.com
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California-based JetZero says it is poised to begin flight tests of a subscale version of its full-scale blended wing body (BWB) multirole commercial and military demonstrator in the next few weeks.
“It should be in a matter of days and weeks,” JetZero CEO Tom O’Leary tells Aviation Week.
“We’re ready and we are just waiting for a dry lakebed,” he adds, referring to the expansive areas of Edwards AFB, California, that will be used for takeoff and landing tests. A large portion of the lakebed remains inundated with water following heavy rains in Southern California.
The 23-ft.-wingspan, 12.5%-scale vehicle was funded under a 2021 contract awarded during an earlier round of NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator program and will be used mainly to evaluate the novel articulating nose leg design—a key feature of the JetZero BWB concept. The vehicle will pave the way for the full-scale aircraft, which is being developed under an initial $235 million U.S. Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) contract awarded in 2023."
