The Northrop Flying Wing

"Jet Flying Wing Flown: Hawthorne, CA: The AAF's huge boomerang-shaped YB-49 flying-wing bomber takes to the air on a spectacular maiden flight. The mammoth craft climbs quickly, smoke pouring from its eight jet engines." The Northrop YB-49 first flew Oct. 21, 1947.Universal Newsreel 20-85 (10/23/1947) from National Archives - requires Quicktime 7


Text from USAF Museum on The Early History of Flying Wings:

"Northrop Corporation built an all-wing airplane in 1927, but the first successful tailless, all-wing airplane in which the pilot and engines were housed inside the wing was the N-1M which flew for the first time in 1940. Over 200 successful flights were made by this plane, the forerunner of larger flying wings built by Northrop Corporation for the United States Air Force. In 1942, the N-9M was built. This was a 60-foot scale model of the bigger Flying Wing, B-35 and YB-49. This aircraft served to prove flight characteristics of the Flying Wing airplane, and also was used for indocrination of pilots in this new type of aircraft. Northrop's Rocket Wing MX324 was America's first military rocket airplane. Its first flight, possibly the world's first military rocket plane flight, was made in 1944. Its wing span was less than 30 feet, and the plane emplyed the new principles of rocket propulsion and of a prone cockpit. The prone cockpit enabled the pilot to lie flat to withstand higher accelerations and also made possible a thinner air foil. It was powered by an Aerojet XCAL-200 rocket motor.

The year 1946 brought the Northrop Flying Wing B-35 bomber, a bomber which dwarfed all previously built versions of all-wing aircraft. It measured 172 feet in span, and was built for an overload gross weight of 209,000 pounds, more than 104 tons. Four Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major engines, developing a combined 12,000 horsepower, drove counter rotating propellers which pushed the sky giant through the air. Elimination of the fuselage and tail surfaces increased its efficiency by cutting down drag and reducing the airplane to a nearly pure supporting surface in which every part contributed to weight-lifting ability. The B-35 had a range of more than 5,000 miles with a 10,000 pound payload.

The XB-49 was a jet-powered version of the B-35, containing eight TG-180 (J33) Allison turbojet engines within the wings. Its gross weight was approximately 206,000 pounds, and was capable of a 4,000 mile range with a 10,000 pound payload at 450 miles per hour, (over 500 miles per hour maximum cruise speed), an outstanding achievement in the era of that airplane, 1946. The airplane had full power irreversible controls, the first aircraft to incorporate this feature. It was also the first aircraft to incorporate artificial stability augmentation. The airplane had accommodations for a crew of 10, with four bunks, a gallery, and head. An interesting feature of the XB-49 was the main control arrangement... the pilot, co-pilot, navigator bombardier, flight engineer, and the forward gunner, all were located together, being able to see and speak to each other at all times. The maximum length of the airplane, including sweepback, was 53 feet, and had a wing thicknees at maximum cockpit section, of seven feet. It had a fantastic rate of climb and was extremely maneuverable.

The XB-49 was followed by the YB-49 Flying Wing bomber in 1947, also powered by eight turbojet engines. It, like the B-35 and XB-49, was an all-metal, tailless bombardment type airplane built on the true Flying Wing design principle, with no tail surfaces, using "elevon" controls as both elevators and ailerons, as did the B-35 and XB-49. Its maximum weight, loaded, was 213,000 pounds. It had a wing span of 172 feet, and had speeds in the 500-mph class. The YB-49 was powered by eight General Electric designed Allison-built TG-190 (J35) turbojets, developing 4000 pounds of thrust each. The YRB-49A Flying Wing (1950) was an all-wing six engined photo-reconnaissance type turbojet aircraft built to the Flying Wing configuration. It had a span of 172 feet, the same as its predecessors, the B-35 and YB-49. Six Allison TG-190 J35 turbojet engines provided the power. Four of the engines were wholly enclosed within the wing; two were suspended on pods."

revised 6/28/05 by Schoenherr | WWII Timeline start | Jets 1 2 3