The Armstrong Whitworth AW.171 was a British project of the 1950s to develop a supersonic VTOL flying wing aircraft. It was planned to investigate the extremely low aspect ratio delta wings proposed by Professor A.A. Griffith for supersonic transports. The A.W.171 design was a very slender delta flying wing powered by two Bristol Orpheus turbojets mounted at the wingtips, with 10 Rolls-Royce RB.108 lift jets. The pilot was to lie in a prone position to minimise drag.^[1] Work was cancelled in 1957 before a prototype was completed.

Specification

Data from Paper Planes:Armstrong Whitworth's unbuilt projects^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 70 ft 10 in (21.59 m)
• Wingspan: 17 ft 7 in (5.36 m)
• Gross weight: 17,500 lb (7,938 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Orpheus turbojet, 4,850 lbf (21.6 kN) thrust each
• Powerplant: 10 × Rolls-Royce RB108 turbojet (lift jets), 2,100 lbf (9.3 kN) thrust each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 1,534.54 mph (2,469.60 km/h, 1,333.48 kn)
• Maximum speed: Mach 2.0