> The Global Hawk has a wingspan over 50% as long as an A350, yet it weighs 1/10th as much. There is no comparison.
I agree that there is no comparison - in the sense that the two cannot be compared that way. For example: A childhood toy of mine (a compressed-air plane) needs a wingspan 1% as long as an A350, yet it only weighs 1/1,000,000th as much - and can still only stay airborne for 30 seconds!
This discussion [1] on the different most-aerodynamic plane shapes is fairly interesting, and certainly doesn't confirm the person above who claimed that a flying wing is the most aerodynamic shape.
I agree that there is no comparison - in the sense that the two cannot be compared that way. For example: A childhood toy of mine (a compressed-air plane) needs a wingspan 1% as long as an A350, yet it only weighs 1/1,000,000th as much - and can still only stay airborne for 30 seconds!
This discussion [1] on the different most-aerodynamic plane shapes is fairly interesting, and certainly doesn't confirm the person above who claimed that a flying wing is the most aerodynamic shape.
[1] https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/17119/what-is-t...