Armstrong Whitworth Flying Wing

As the name suggests an aeroplane developed after the end of WW2, in the shape of a wing. Can anybody remember them flying over Coventry approx 1947-51 I think there were three, then there were two,then there was one, then they were gone. I have seen a drawing of one in one of the members gallery photos, included in a book of about twenty adverts I think. Does anybody know a history? manufacturer?purpose?

I remember seeing a flying wing come over our house in Wycliffe Grove. It would have been 1947/48 time.

Same here, flying over my grandmother's house in Stoke Aldermoor. It must have been the early late 40's or early 50's . Edited by member, 9th Sep 2014 4:40 pm

Just as an aside, here is a memorial stone to William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong - the Armstrong in "Armstrong Whitworth" - photo taken at Bamburgh Castle recently Wiki entry

I don't remember any flying wing but I do remember a mass of aircraft flying over Coventry, in the 50's I think. I was only a kid but I remember that they looked like WW2 bombers, each had a projection jutting out from under the fuselage, they were flying fairly low and filled the sky, seemed like hundreds of them and they were flying north. Anyone with any ideas of what it was all about?

Kerbstone, do you think it could have been anything to do with The Festival of Britain ? Just a wild guess.

Could they have been flying to an assembly point for scrap? or were any used in the Berlin Air Lift?

Could they have been Coastal Command Shackletons? (Lancasters with a large bird strike prone radome at the front)

Hi everyone, I feel that if they had been part of some air show there wouldn't have been so many, I mean they filled the sky and were low enough to pick out details of them quite clearly. It was a long time ago and the memory gets a bit hazy but I'm pretty sure that they had camouflage colours but the thing that stuck in my mind was this thing jutting down from under the fuselage, my small mind thought that the bombs came out of it but may have been a gun turret without the glass dome. The idea that they were being flown somewhere for scrap sounds the most logical, I'd like to know where so many planes would put down though, I bet that was a sight. Cheers

I have a memory of seeing the AW52 flying wing flying just after the war. I know that it crashed in Leamington but cannot be sure that I actually saw it. Can anyone remember seeing it flying over Coventry or read of it having done so?

Hi Argon, Actually, I did see some flying wings, but whether it was that particular one I don`t know. I remember where I was also - King Henry VIII school playing field / edge of playground, behind the classroom huts.

The Western Morning News of 31st May 1949 reported that an AW52 Flying Wing worth £200,000 crashed at Leamington Hastings near Rugby the day before. The pilot ejected and landed safely. It was one of two flying wings built for the Directorate of Science Research of the Ministry of Supply.

Thank you Roger and Annewiggy for your replies. I looked for any previous items on the forum about the flying wing but obviously missed them, old age you know. Its nice to know that my memory of the viewing isn't a false one. As I get older I become more unsure of the accuracy of my memory and and hesitate to assert anything as a true memory. Nice to have it confirmed.

I think it is worth reviving this posting, purely for the explanation given by "rojwhittle"