The tailless aircraft configuration is relatively rare in the field of aircraft design and for many years was regarded as a “freak” design. It is intended to trace the development of tailless and flying wing aircraft and to outline the major problems in control and stability.

First it is necessary to arrive at an arbitrary definition of the term tailless aircraft. Later an attempt will be made to classify the different tailless types in detail, but for the moment it is sufficient to regard a tailless aircraft as “an aircraft having no auxiliary horizontal stabilising plane, deriving lift and controlling moment solely from the main plane.” This definition, as it stands, includes what are often termed flying wing aircraft.