Explore the complete history and brilliant engineering behind the Vought V-173, famously known as the Flying Pancake. Designed in the brief window of time prior to the jet age, this unorthodox circular flying wing was the brainchild of Charles Zimmerman, an engineer who sought to overcome the aerodynamic dead weight of traditional aircraft. In this comprehensive documentary, we trace Zimmerman’s early days developing vertical wind tunnels at the NACA, to his ultimate move to Vought-Sikorsky to construct his radical prototype. Discover the extreme challenges of building the V-173, an aircraft crafted almost entirely from wood and canvas to conserve strategic wartime metals like aluminum. We delve into the complex mechanics of its two 80-horsepower Continental engines and the massive 16-foot propellers that forced the aircraft to sit at a drastic 22-degree angle, requiring glass floor pane

Source: Aviation Oddities: Engineering the Impossible. WW2 Prototypes: Charles Zimmerman’s VTOL Flying Wings