Prize challenge seeks drag-reducing ideas; precision location for NASA Langley UAS testing; carnivorous plant inspires morphing flap design; rocket-propelled fireballs will incinerate chem/bio agents; bend it, stretch it, wear it—Pentagon backs flexible electronics

We round up five of our most read stories in August, and your reaction to them.

This week's aerospace and defense stories you don't want to miss, including a vertical-take-off-and-landing aircraft crowdfunding campaign and success for Europe's Neuron demonstrator flight trials.

Former Sikorsky and Cessna presidents, Piper chief designer lead effort to develop ducted-fan vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft for point-to-point executive travel.

Instead of investing in faster aircraft, what about investing in something that would truly make a difference for the majority of passengers?

Has Lockheed Martin found the right mix of advanced design and conventional thinking with its Hybrid Wing Body airlifter concept? Wind-tunnel tests confirm its efficiency promise and a demonstrator is on the cards.

Highly accurate performance tests on Lockheed Martin’s HWB airlifter design stress the National Transonic Facility’s capability to reproduce near-flight-like aerodynamic conditions.

With wind-tunnel tests confirming the expected efficiency benefits of Lockheed Martin's Hybrid Wing Body airlifter, Aviation Week takes a closer look at the latest transport design.