The Horton Wingless aircraft was invented by William Horton of Huntington Beach, California in 1952. He called the strange-looking plane “wingless” because he claimed the entire craft was a simple air foil with vertical fins and utilized all surfaces for lift.

In 2026, the term "wingless plane" most commonly refers to a Lifting Body aircraft or a "Blended Wing Body" (BWB) design where the traditional distinction between the fuselage and the wings is removed. In a lifting body design, the actual shape of the aircraft's body generates the upward force (lift) required for flight, rather than relying on separate, protruding wings. This concept was famously tested by NASA in the 1960s and 70s with the M2-F2 and X-24 projects, which eventually paved the way for the Space Shuttle. These designs are highly valued in high-speed and hypersonic research because they reduce drag and can withstand the extreme heat generated by re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. Another interpretation of a "wingless plane" in contemporary aviation is the development of circular or "joined-wing" aircraft that appear to lack traditional flat wings. These experimental models aim to solve the "induced drag" problem of wingtips, potentially offering much higher fuel efficiency. While they may look alien compared to a standard Boeing or Airbus, these wingless or integrated-wing designs represent the next frontier in sustainable, ultra-efficient aerospace engineering.