YB-49 Crash, June 5, 1948, with On Site Visit.
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- Опубликовано: 6 фев 2025
- This video gives a brief description of what happed to flying wing YB-49 number 2 on June 5, 1948. While practicing stall maneuvers and stall recovery, the outer panels of the wings were torn off of the aircraft, causing it, and its crew of five to fatally crash into the Mojave Desert ground below.
Crash Site Location:
(35.0425505, -117.9925814)
Road to location:
(35.0175488, -117.9893734)
My dad was a pilot at Edward’s in 1950 and I remember him telling me the story about that plane and many other stories about Edward’s and the pilots in that era. I wasn’t born until 1959 but my oldest brother was born there. He passed away in 1998 seeing your videos really brings back his memory thanks for that.
You're like 179 years young
As a USAF veteran, thank you for posting this. Historic, tragic event.🇺🇸
tragic yes ......because of a failed design like the shuttle slap to get build , builder fail unable to understand fully concept of the machine that's trying to be built 😢
Likewise. USAF 1973-1980 F111F/A, F15A
I’m a veteran of the Canadian Air Force. I always appreciate the respect you show in these videos. Thank you, sir.
I worked on the B2 program in the 80s and 90s. I would drive out to this site many times. I have several pieces of the YB-49. Some with part numbers.
Is this Walt?
Oh sure
Absolutely stoked to see this many aviation videos from forrest. Love the dedication put into these!
I love exploring all these lesser-known historical sites (and sometimes famous crime locations) vicariously through this channel. Thanks again Forrest!!
The Nickles, represent what Air Force pilots say when a fellow aviator has died in a crash, “Here’s a Nickle on the Grass” which is a Salute to those we have lost. It is a tribute to their life. Very Respectfully Craig Bovenizer, USAF Col (ret).
I was stationed at Edwards 78-82.
Thank you for posting this. I feel
Honored to have been stationed
there were so much aviation
history was made and such great
Men lost theirs lives. RIP
Failure history
it's a good day when forrest uploads. thank you sir! and rest in peace to these men that i have sadly never heard of.
I honestly didn't know some of this stuff. I appreciate the history lesson.
Thanks for the historical edutainment! Love the channel Forrest!!
Excellent presentation. Thank you. Really enjoy these adventures.
You're spoiling us this month, thank you so much
Thanks Forrest, I enjoy your content so much. Great stuff.
Fascinating to see the site and the analysis you bring. I was only slightly acquainted with the tragic story, so thank you for bringing it back to mind.
Nothing worse than your wings breaking off, except when your entire plane is a wing.
good point
Another excellent essay Forrest - thanks for posting.
Interesting sidenote: The B-2 Spirit and YB-49 share the same wingspan - 172' 0"
Exactly. This wing was designed with a slide rule and its very distant sister with modern computers, yet the magic number is 172 feet. Jack just needed computers.
A Sunday morning, fresh pot of coffee, and a new video from Forrest? As good as life gets! It's so hauntingly peaceful it reminds me of the Valley of the Tears.
Thank you. Very respectful and well done.
Another great report. Your explanation is always very clear and factual and any speculation is clearly indicated.
Nickel in the grass is a common phrase in aviation, denoting someone who has passed on.
Great work articulating what likely happened Forrest 👍👍
Love the Forrest channel and in depth coverage he puts in on any event.
New subscriber here! Thankyou so much for the effort you put in to each of these videos! Cheers from Aus 🇦🇺
Thank you for your support!🙏
The actual impact site is a purpleish spot just west of the memorial. Been there many times. Before there was a permanent memorial we used to visit once a year to plant new flags. Good video, thanks.
Thank you Forrest for another fascinating & educational video about our beloved military heroes who lost their lives in the service of our country. I’m very thankful that this simple, yet powerful memorial stands tall in the middle of Mojave Desert. So thankful vandals have not destroyed or removed any of our heroes mementos. RIP to the 5 brave military servicemen.
Thanks Forrest, been a fan of yours for years, and immediately click on a video when you release it. Hope retirement is going well my friend! Thanks again for the informative video. 👍
My Aunt's significant other (so 'my uncle' as far as I was concerned) Was a gentleman named Dale Edwards. Capt. Glen Edward's Nephew.
Dale was also in the Air Force in the 50's flying B-47's for SAC. We had many conversations and some memorabilia regarding those days.
I got to read some of Glen's diary. He wasn't overly fond of the YB-49. Stall recovery in that airplane wasn't the cut and dry lesson we all learn in flight school. If you're wondering Gen. Bob Cardenas has a cool video on here describing the process. I highly recommend watching. Search 'General Cardenas - Tumbling in the YB-49'. It's worth 2 mins trust me.
Forrest says 'No-one knows for sure what exactly happened' at Muroc that day. I do. Dale does. Gen Cardenas does too.
I'm not saying what it was. what it wasn't was Pilot error. It wasn't the airplane either.
I never joined the Air Force. And this is pretty much why.
Blue skies my friends!
Forrest, another great video. I really enjoy seeing you remember and respect the people involved in events like this. I would not have known of them without this video, and they deserve to be remembered.
Coins at a veteran's memorial or headstone have significance by denomination.
A penny signifies a visit and paying of respects
A nickel signifies service in the military possibly the same branch, as the individual honored.. It is also can mean that the individuals were in boot camp together,
A dime signifies the member served with the individual directly in the same unit.
A quarter signifies the member leaving the coin was with the individual when they lost their life.
How do you not have more subscribers? You really humanize these people, places, and events.
Very interesting.Thanks for posting, great memorial for the lives lost. We stumbled on a crash site in the everglades several years ago fishing with my dad. Took me several years and visits to finally figure out what it was. Love this kind of stuff.
Always loved flying wings.
Thank You for always producing Quality documentaries/videos.
Many thanks as always Mr. Haggerty
Thank you for sharing this historic information. It looks a little different than when I stumbled upon the site in 1998, while riding my mountain bike from California City. I was searching for the Honda test track and began noticing bits of aircraft. I don’t recall a memorial, but may just have missed it.
I am shocked, but somehow unsurprised, as to how many aircraft crash sites you're able to document, especially from the post WW2 era. My dad was stationed at Edwards in the 80's, so I plan to ask him about this site when I get home today.
It’s so respectful that someone put up an 🇺🇸 American flag and markers of this historical event.
My favorite channel. Thank you.
Thank you for this excellent video essay. I fly into Forbes Field all the time. I never knew the reason why it was named as such. Understanding the background provides important context.
These brave five souls truly gave their lives for this country.
I’m happy to know you fly into Forbes Field! Be sure to let others know how Forbes got its name 🙏
Been out there several times. Good overview detailing the event. Not TOO far away is the crash site of the XB-70 Valkyrie.
XB - 70 Valkyrie Midair Collision with F - 104 Starfighter, June 8, 1966. On Site Visit.
ruclips.net/video/x_pMu698uUw/видео.html
Yah over 50 miles....
“Interesting” story. Thank you for sharing. May the crew R.I.P.
Thank you, Forrest. Another good video!
Thank you for sharing this…it is important that we remember. 🙏🏼🇺🇸
Thank you! 🙏
Well done Forrest.I always enjoy ur videos thanks
Great channel!
I was gonna go to bed but goddamnit Forrest uploaded.
Another great lesson in history, thanks.
Excellent video very informative
People are so respectful of what is effectively a grave site, nice to see.
Interesting video, your mentioning that the flying wing project started in 1943, before the capture of the Horten Ho229 in 1945 I found particularly intriguing.
I meant to say for America.
Thanks for the info, very interesting!
nothing better then Forrest on Site videos
I always remember the flying wing in the movie War of the Worlds (1953) where it dropped a nuclear Bomb on the Aliens.
Considering how far the wings were found from the crash site the air crew must have been very aware this was going to end in disaster
good to see these places are maintained.
You do great work
Another Great historical video Forrest. I have heard and I think read that the Germans develop the first flying wing. Do you know if that’s the case? Also, looking at the terrain where the aircraft crashed I suspect has not changed one bit in the last 76 years.
Thanks again for posting.
Look forward to your next video.
The YB-49 was a very flawed but ambitious design,when it was converted from the piston engines to jet engines,it made it even more difficult to control and maneuver, and it's center of gravity was off,it was an accident waiting to happen.
Um, your account of the B-2 history is a little off. But not by too much. It actually goes back to the Carter years. One of the few things he did right.
By the way, there are oodles of test aircraft crashes around California City.
Northrop employee and Flight Test enginer, 1985-2020.
Great tribute! Thanks!
The experimental aircraft stories are very interesting. What bravery it must take to get into something unproven and push it to limits that aren’t yet known.
It's great that there is a monument here, open for anyone to visit and pay their respects. It could have been kept secret and made off-limits. That machine was so far ahead of its time!
I did read somewhere that the stall was undertaken at or close to full aft C of G which was dangerous. The aircraft was said to be very difficult to escape from in an emergency and this crew found that to be the case.
Do you know if the accident crew was testing aft CG stall characteristics that day?
This is one accident I’m not too awfully familiar with.
@kaypie3112 Yes, I have read that they were doing stalls at aft CofG. Someone had done it before or after (I can't recall but suspect before) and it was an ugly response with it near flipping over backwards. The crew were, I recall, surprised it held together. The article was in a magazine like Airpower or similar- many years ago. I tend to hang on to my old magazines.
@@terrybrown8539 Hi Terry. Thanks for the response.
Long Before the era of FBW and envelope protection.
It’s interesting that the YB-49 departed controlled flight even though the CG was in limits.
Excellent report 👍
A respectful memory of the aircraft and those who died during flight test.
Spent 33 years working on the B-2. 31 of it at Edwards in flight test. Love the history of the flying wings and it was a crime to order them destroyed.
The first I ever heard about this crash came from a video I saw by RUclipsr “Wonderhussy” a few months ago. She also visited the memorial site.
Hello, new sub from Alabama! Air Force from the 80`s Dover De.
Good video but i wonder when so high the crew did nod bail out ? not being clever just a simple question
Excellent post love them.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Great video!
Imagine testing an advanced technology without knowing you're testing it?
RIP to the valiant crew of YB-49 number 2, unknowing pioneers of stealth technology.
Great video.
No ejector seats on the aircraft? 🤔
I found that monument so touching.
Thank you.
Mr Northrop always denied Structural Failure in this accident.
He went so angry about the cancellation of the Flying Wing program, that he destroyed all research data on FW
There were rumors that the aircraft may have been sabotaged by the competition.
Thats the updated binder with info and visitor log I put there a while back. Looks like I need to go back and put some more log pages in there.
Would you consider doing a video about the SR-71 incidents? SR-71A (61-7952 / 2003)
This aircraft disintegrated on 25 January 1966 during a high-speed, high-altitude test flight when it developed a severe case of engine unstart. Lockheed test pilot Bill Weaver survived although his ejection seat never left the plane! Reconnaissance System Officer (RSO) Jim Zwayer died in a high-G bailout. The incident occurred near Tucumcari, New Mexico.
SR-71A (61-7966 / 2017)
This aircraft was lost on the evening of 13 April 1967 after it entered a subsonic, high-speed stall. Pilot Capt. Earle M. Boone and RSO Capt. Richard E. "Butch" Sheffield ejected safely. The incident occurred near Las Vegas, New Mexico.
SR-71A (61-7970 / 2021)
This aircraft was lost on 17 June 1970 following a post-tanking collision with the KC-135Q (59-1474) tanker. Lt. Col. Buddy L. Brown and his RSO Maj. Mortimer J. Jarvis ejected safely although the pilot broke both legs. The SR-71 crashed 20 miles east of El Paso, Texas, but the KC-135 limped back to Beale AFB, California with a damaged refueling boom and aft fuselage.
I would like to see videos on each of these also.
What a beautiful time in America history and a great price the men and women who serve this wonderful country are willing to pay in the name of freedom.
The phrase, "throw a nickel on the grass" is a chorus from an old fighter pilot song, that has evolved to become synonymous with remembering a fallen aviator. Not much grass, but a lot of nickels.
If you found parts of the plane, obviously Dan Gryder has yet to visit. 😉Just kidding. I was born Oct. 1948 so 76 years ago.
R.I.P. Brave Angels.
love to see this notification
Just before his death in 1981 Jack Northrup was wheelchaired in and shown a mockup of the B2 Stealth Bomber we know today.
Jack's security clearance was gone, but they knew it was safe.
RIP to the crew of the 49 and Jack Northrup, who's dream became a living reality.
Thanks Forrest.
Glenn Edwards is actually from Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada Dane
Cool piece of history. Thank you for your service in the defense of our nation. RIP.
Thank you 🇺🇸👍☮️🌞🚀🪦
Super stuff. Subscribed. Easy.
Thank you! 🙏
90 mile view to San Bernardino mountain.
I'm pretty sure to the left is the Hyundai-Kia test track in California City. I worked in PR and drove the CEO opening ceremony .
That’s exactly what that place is.
the sheer terror of that kind of doom even though you know its extra fast.... ya got time to think. hope they were otherwise all busy
The nickels are reprentative of the old saying, "Nickel in the grass."
Pilots would toss a nickel from the cockpit for luck before each mission. If they didn't return, the nickel could be used to make a phone call home by other pilots to tell their loved ones that they had died. Today, pilots leave a nickel in the grass at the graves of fallen comrades to honor them and remember the risks they took.
A nickle in the grass is a classic salute to a fallen airman
Why couldn't you find an actual photo of the Bell X1?
Thanks!
Thank you!🙏
Sacred ground.
Thank you.
DOUG out
The Mojave desert is littered with all kinds of military aircraft crash sites. The BLM maps have some of them marked but I think the most interesting one is the F-22 crash site by Harper lake. The Air Force went through a great detail of recovering almost every piece of the aircraft because they didn’t want the Chinese to try and reverse engineer the aircraft’s stealth capabilities.
The crew had time to bail out, but didn't !
So it looks like the idea that the plane blew up shortly after the wings failed, is more than likely
what happened.