McDonnell Douglas coplanar joined wings patent

[Maki]

He is a McDonnell Douglas patent for aerodynamic bodies with coplanar joined wings. There are various configurations including variable geometry.

 

[flateric]

Interesting find. First pic is 1:1 of that first Sensorcaft impression that has appeared first ever.

 

[AeroFranz]

I understand the CJW wing arranngement is good for sensor coverage, and possibly low observables. It seems to me, though, that you don't get any of the structural advantages of a joined wing. For that, you need wings that are out of plane. This still buys you two relatively high aspect ratio wings, but one ends up being in the wake of the other. Wouldn't you be better off with a pure delta, a la X-47?
Any comments?

 

[Abraham Gubler]

Its probably because this plane would look really cool:

 

[Abraham Gubler]

Seriously I would imagine the joined wing configuration would only be of advantage for a very high aspect ratio wing aircraft like the U-2 or RQ-4. By co-joining two wings (one higher than the other to avoid wake disturbance) you avoid bending stress of high AR and keep the aircraft within a reasonable size package.

 

[quellish]

Interesting find. First pic is 1:1 of that first Sensorcaft impression that has appeared first ever.

Boeing/McD actually flew a model of this in the late 90s as an internal "Project Diamond" program.