The New York Times has a brief, but interesting look at a wingless airplane (seriously). The wings are replaced by a tube filled with rotating blades that reduces the drag on the top surface, allowing the FanWing to take flight. According to the New York Times,
Compared with a traditional airplane, the FanWing can fly at much lower speeds and with much greater stability. It can take off from a relatively small runway and cruise at the leisurely pace of a car. If it ever catches on, the FanWing would make a good air taxi, ferrying people on short hops from city to city, or out to airports. It is more fuel-efficient than a helicopter and potentially safer than a normal plane, since a FanWing cannot stall, no matter how sharply it points up or down. The only real danger is if the fan blades jam and cease spinning — then, [inventor Patrick] Peebles admits, “it drops like a rock.”
Source:
FanWing, The. Clive Thompson, The New York Times, December 12, 2004.