Exceedingly rare lifting body wind tunnel model, measuring approximately 25″ long and 8″ tall, constructed of a high density material and wood. Linkage to a specific program has not been established but it is probably an early Shuttle Orbiter prototype. Includes its wooden transportation box, bearing an affixed Rockwell International label and notated on one side, “Model 10, WTM-1609.” In fine condition. Designed to function with little or no conventional wings, lifting body aircraft were a major area of research in the 1960s and 1970s. NASA worked with the lifting body style early in the design process of the Space Shuttle, which eventually evolved into a somewhat more traditional design. Oversized.
