Experimental

Japan's X-2 advanced technology demonstrator jet has completed it's maiden flight. The first Japanese-built warplane to incorporate stealth technology, the aircraft will be used to test various systems and equipment for fifth-generation fighter aircraft for the country's self-defense forces​.

A miniature test version of DARPA's Vertical Take-off and Landing Experimental Plane (VTOL X-Plane) took to the skies recently, successfully completing a series of takeoff, hover, and landing maneuvers at an undisclosed US military base.

NASA is developing a stiletto-like plane wing that's so long and thin that it needs a truss to hold it up. The longer, thinner, and lighter truss-braced wing, as it is called, is aimed at making future commercial transport aircraft more efficient and less polluting.​

With wings that look like a flying set of cupboards, DARPA's VTOL X-Plane design is a hybrid of fixed-wing and rotary wing technologies designed to create a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft that boasts greater range and speed capabilities.

NASA Aeronautics' New Aviation Horizons program wants to revive the X-planes for the 21st century as demonstrators for new, greener flight technology.

Looking more like a high-tech fighter than a light plane designed for private use, the Valkyrie from Cobalt aircraft boasts a canard front wing, sleek aerodynamic shape and a turbocharged 350 hp (260 kW) engine that propels it to speeds of up to 260 knots (482 km/h, 300 mph).

Generally thought of as a brilliant car builder, Ettore Bugatti also had a penchant for aircraft. In the 1930s he designed and built a radical, technically-advanced machine that, because of WW2, was never finished. Now a group of enthusiasts have recreated Bugatti's dream from scratch.

When we laid eyes on the Elytron 2S tiltrotor plane prototype last year at the EAA's fly-in airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, it was a half-built concept with only part of its Prandtl wing box installed. The company has now completed the airframe ahead of planned flight tests later this year.

Twelve years in the making, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg began piloting their experimental Solar Impulse 2 plane at 7:12 a.m. Abu Dhabi local time, bound for Muscat, Oman, on the first leg in a journey that will require 25 days in the air spread over a period of roughly 5 months.

The Dryvtech 2x2x2 experimental motorcycle prototype is up for sale on eBay. It's a truly unique vehicle that drives AND steers with both wheels, using hydraulics instead of mechanical connections. Gizmag spoke with inventor Ian Drysdale about the bike, the build and why he won't be buying it back.

Despite being built from plywood, the Maintenance-Free House promises to not need any significant maintenance for at least 50 years. This is thanks to a glass "shield" that keeps it safe from the elements.

Architecture firm Snøhetta has joined forces with ZEB (The Research Center on Zero Emission Buildings) to design and build an experimental house named the ZEB Pilot House that generates almost three times more more electricity than it uses.