Researchers in the UK have flown the first aircraft that can maneuver without conventional control surfaces or flaps. In place of elevators and ailerons, the aircraft uses jets of air along the back of the wing to control lift. The demonstration aircraft has been developed as a test bed for new flight-control systems and aircraft manufacture techniques.

Jets of air along the back edge of the wing change how air flows over the wing, a process called circulation control. This can be used to induce the air flowing over the wing to flow around the back edge of the wing instead of simply flowing past. This produces more lift. By turning off and on jets strategically placed along the trailing edges of the wings, the pitch and roll can be controlled.

That is not all this new aircraft can do. It was also designed to test Fluidic Thrust Vectoring (FTV). Most next-generation fighter aircraft have or will incorporate some form of vectored thrust, enabling the pilot to control the direction the thrust from the engine leaves the aircraft. This greatly increases maneuverability and control of the aircraft. However, conventional vectored thrust technologies require a lot of complicated moving parts at the business end of a jet engine. FTV should simplify things by deflecting the thrust of the jet engine by injecting a higher pressure jet of air along the nozzle wall. This secondary jet will deflect the thrust of the engine.

The idea of “flapless” aircraft has several advantages. Fewer moving parts mean less maintenance, lighter weight, fewer failures, and lower cost. It is also more stealthy, as sharp, abrupt angles and gaps like those created by flaps are hard to hide from radar. The successful flight of this aircraft has demonstrated the possibility of fluidic flight control and may be the future of aviation.