I have heard that flying wing design requires computer controls to maintain stability.
Nope, they don't require it. Look up the B-49 that first flew in the late 40s. No computer controls back then.
Yeah, they attempted the flying wing, but it was a failure, specifically because there were no computer controls.
"Flight testing revealed stability problems which could not be corrected with existing technology."
Nope, The B-49 crash was attributed to the wings coming off the center structure. In-flight structural failure cause the crashes and NOT controllability issues. The B-35 was the piston driven version which pre-dated the B-49, so the flying wing concept has been around a LONG time before digital computer control systems.
I'm assuming you have a link to that info? Everything I've read has pointed to uncorrectable stability problems as the cause for the YB-49 programs demise.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/b-49.htmIn May 1948, Capt. Glen W. Edwards was selected to join the team of test pilots and engineers at Muroc who were then evaluating the Northrop YB-49, the all-jet version of the exotic flying wing bomber. After his first few flights, he was not favorably impressed, confiding to his diary that it was "the darndest airplane I've ever tried to do anything with. Quite uncontrollable at times." Then, on June 5, 1948, he was flying as co-pilot with Maj. Daniel Forbes when the airplane departed from controlled flight and broke apart in the sky northwest of the base. All five crewmembers were lost.
Judging from this, the acft departed from controlled flight,
then broke up.
Flight testing revealed stability problems which could not be corrected with existing technology. The designers had not been able to anticipate the critical control requirements needed for a large all-wing airplane, especially for a system that could anticipate and correct problems before the pilot was aware of them. That, of course, would have to wait for the computer age. The Air Forces flight evaluators soon found that the YB-49 was sloppy in turns, and took too long to steady up for an effective bombing run. The YB-49 was a sleek airplane, its upper surfaces marred only by four wing fences and small auxiliary fins added for greater control. Wing fences were added to the YB-49 to control the spanwise movement of air toward the wingtips [today's electronic stability augmentation systems would have made them unnecessary]. Its 1940s control technology was inadequate to the big planes needs. Worse, it could not provide the necessary margin of flight safety.