Both the V-173 and the XF5U featured an unorthodox "all-wing" design consisting of a flat, somewhat disk-shaped body (like a pancake flying, hence the nickname) serving as the lifting surface.

[2] In the 1930s, noted aeronautical engineer Charles H. Zimmerman advocated the concept of "discoidal" aircraft, the so-called "Zimmer Skimmer"[3] and worked on a variety of projects on his own and with the Vought company.

The original prototype, designated the V-173 (Flying Pancake), was built of wood and canvas and featured a conventional, fully symmetrical aerofoil section (NACA 0015).

Designed as a "proof-of-concept" prototype, the initial configuration V-173 was built as a lightweight test model powered by two 80 hp (60 kW) Continental A-80 engines turning F4U Corsair propellers.

The disc wing design featured a low aspect ratio that overcame the built-in disadvantages of induced drag created at the wingtips with the large propellers actively canceling the drag-causing tip vortices.

The empennage consisted of two vertical fins with rudders, all-moving stabilizers with anti-servo tabs,[5] and two large elevator/trim surfaces on either side of centerline on the trailing edge of the wing planform.

[6] Zimmerman chose to include the all-moving stabilizer design because he realized that the increased drag, prop wash, and large wing area would make the aircraft difficult to control at low speeds.

[12] Despite their inability to stall the aircraft they did find low speed handling to be a persistent issue largely due to the shape of the lifting body.

As of April 2012, after undergoing a long restoration by Vought Aircraft Heritage Foundation volunteers, the V-173 is on loan from the Smithsonian Institution to the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas.