The V-173 was constructed mostly of wood and covered in fabric, with the forward cockpit structure and propeller nacelles made of aluminum. The aircraft was lightweight and powered by two ...

One of the most notorious was the XF5U “Flying Flapjack,” an unorthodox carrier-based fighter design for the U.S. Navy. The XF5U utilized a unique blended wing and body configuration.

But an eventful flight would change Joy’s pumpkin seed of a plane into a “flying flapjack.” Danny Grecco piloted the wingless bird, perhaps making the first wingless flight ever.

The “Flying Flapjack” or Vought XF5U program was a U.S. Navy experimental aircraft that had some odd design features. The plane was designed by Charles H. Zimmerman just prior to World War II ...

The newly-restored Flying Pancake, or V-173, has a new home in North Texas for the next decade. The aircraft, recently restored by Grand Prairie's Vought Aircraft Heritage Foundation, will spend ...

That design ethos created an aircraft that was as flat as it was roundish in shape. The result was what many thought looked like a giant flapjack or pancake flying through the sky - hence its ...

The “Flying Flapjack” or Vought XF5U program was a U.S. Navy experimental aircraft that had some odd design features. The plane was designed by Charles H. Zimmerman just prior to ...

Vought Aircraft Heritage Foundation Archives. ... for a civilian lightplane that would hover like a helicopter. Zimmerman's design—nicknamed the Flying Pancake, Flying Flapjack, ...

Charles H. Zimmerman, designer of the circular flat-bodied V-173, photo taken on Aug. 19, 1960. (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons) Success of a large-scale flying model designated the V-162, and ...