The Penguin Plane

The U.S. Air Force recently released photographs of its new stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider. Not being well-versed in aeronautics, my first reaction on seeing pictures like the one above is that the plane looks like a flying penguin, with beak and all–or, because penguins don’t fly, a penguin skidding on its belly down some icy slope in Antarctica.

The new bomber is now in flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The photos released by the Air Force, like the one below, show some of the interesting features of the new plane. Like the B-2 bomber, which it resembles, the B-21’s design elements are intended to make it more difficult to pick up the plane on radar. Aviation Week describes some of the features of the B-21 as follows: “The planform itself is driven by the need to accommodate complex inlets and exhausts and a large weapon bay within the flying-wing profile while staying within a maximum thickness-to-chord ratio compatible with efficient flight above Mach 0.8.”

Well, that’s clear as mud, isn’t it? Since I can’t grasp the mechanics or aeronautics, I’ll just stick with thinking that the side view of the plane makes it look like a penguin.