A blended wing body aircraft includes a body section having an aerodynamic lifting surface. The body section includes an upper body and a lower body. The blended wing body aircraft also includes a plurality of blended wing sections further defining the body section. The blended wing body aircraft includes one or more grooves in the body section. The one or more grooves extend from the upper body towards the lower body. The blended wing body aircraft further includes one or more open-fan engines mounted at least partially within the one or more grooves. The one or more open-fan engines ingest a portion of a boundary layer of the blended wing body aircraft.