The V-173 Vought V-173 Flying Pancake was an experimental test aircraft designed and built during World War II as part of the Vought XF5U program.
The V-173 featured an unorthodox "full-wing" design, with a flat disc-shaped fuselage as a whole, with two piston engines buried in the fuselage located at the front of the wingtip.
Made of wood and canvas, the V-173 has a traditional fully symmetrical wing section and is powered by two 80 hp A-80 engines with F4U Corsair propellers.
The disc wing design has a low spread-to-cho ratio, overcoming the disadvantages of induced drag that the wingtip is prone to produce, and can fly more smoothly at high altitudes.
The V-173 first flew on November 23, 1942, under the control of Boon Gateton, Walter's chief test pilot. There was an unexpected sense of vibration during the test flight, and the maneuver was very slow.
The cockpit used a transparent baseplate ingenuity, but the test pilot said that the comfort was poor and the number of uses was not much. The plane was at low speeds and it was difficult to maneuver.
In 131.8 hours of 190 flights, the V-173 provided much experience with Zimmerman's designers' future VTOL fighter theory.
The aircraft is currently preserved at the Flight Frontier Museum in Dallas, Texas.