Horten PUL-10

The Horten PUL‑10 was a German experimental sport aircraft built in the early 1960s by the renowned aeronautical pioneer Reimar Horten, who together with his brother had previously become famous for their tailless, flying‑wing designs during World II. After the war Horten continued his research in West Germany and, with modest private funding, developed the PUL‑10 as a low‑cost, single‑seat, all‑composite glider‑motor that embodied his ongoing interest in delta‑wing and wing‑tip control concepts. The aircraft featured a wooden‑foam sandwich fuselage, a 35‑kW Rotax two‑stroke engine mounted in a pusher configuration behind the cockpit, and a 9.5‑meter wingspan with gently swept, cantilevered wings lacking a conventional tailplane. Its control system relied on elevons and split ailerons, providing both pitch and roll authority while keeping drag minimal. Flight testing began in 1963 at the Stuttgart–Reutlingen airport, where the PUL‑10 demonstrated excellent handling, low stall speed and a remarkable glide ratio for a motorised design. Although only one prototype was completed, the PUL‑10 proved that tailless configurations could be practical for light sport aviation and influenced later home‑built delta aircraft, cementing Reimar Horten’s legacy as a visionary of unconventional aerodynamics.