@Glasspack40 The 100 manhours of maintenance per flight hour, compressor stalls, no fly by wire, complicated swing wings which are not needed in modern aircraft since engine technology has advanced enough to make them obsolete and its airframe was created without computer assistance. Oh and did i mention the crazy per unit cost?
@Glasspack40 As for the other nations you are probably refering to IRAQI airforce when they had mirages and other outdated aircraft facing off against the tomcat which is not fair to compare since they are very very different machines
@@v0id683 your assessment of the F-14 is wrong on many levels. Granted it had significant issues. But it Created a far superior aircraft to the F-4 & F-8.
The center engines? Those aren't nearly as critical... aerodynamically, if you clip the engines on one side, the plane will have to kick in rudder and reduce thrust on the other engines to compensate... which will reduce power even further, increase drag, and so on, and result in a nearly crippled aircraft.
In the early 80s, jack was still alive. He was asked to come to Northrop offices, and shown a model of the B2. After seeing the model, he said, " now i know why I've lived so long." He died shortly thereafter.
Not really. Parallel development by the Hortens shows that the idea was widespread. They were all copying Junkers who patented an all-wing in 1910, designed them all through the interwar period. Northrop and the Hortens were informed by Lippisch. Many others had built "flying wings" as the media-hype terminology calls them. Cheranovsky in the '20s and '30s, another Russian effort by Kharkov bureau called the KhAI-3 served as a small transport for a few years. The Arup planes from Indiana in the '30s were the most well flown, well known and successful. The problems with all of them including Northrop is that they violate every part of "if it looks right it'll fly right". Fixes for any instability in the XB-35-49 were in use at the time, but it would require a commitment of time and $$, and the USAF CoS was corrupt, on the take from Convair, and they really didn't want to help Northrop build more factory floor space to make bombers.
@@JFrazer4303 Northrop was making powered aircraft in the 1920s, when the Horten brothers were in their teens, working with gliders. Fair point on Lippisch, in innovating many concepts, among others.
I remember when the original Flying Wing suddenly disappeared from all the books. Only when the B2 Stealth Bomber suddenly arrived on the scene did I realize just why they were suppressing it... the B2 was a direct result of the Northrup Flying Wing, invented in 1929. They retooled it, added jet engines and made it out of carbon fiber, but it is essentially the same, exact design.
Destroy all evidence then there's no comeback. Did the same with the TSR2 and a Rocket/Ramjet fighter that was favourite but killed to sell Germany the F104.
@@huudielbo728 did that not happen in Canada also re: Avro Arrow ...Canadian government lobbied by U.S. arms suppliers such as Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas
It wasn't cursed, it was ill timed. The instabilities of the flying wing were partially compensated for by the prop torque. But the skinny turbojets of the early jet age couldn't compensate, and it ended on the scrap heap.
Because simply Northrop was nobody at that time. Providing any funky design to seemingly stoneheaded organization is something you want to work way-way harder, to say the least
In reality a tailless aircraft can't fly for too long without fly-by-wire. The B-2 for example uses both control surfaces in the wing that act as air brakes and independent variable thrust in each of the engines to control yaw and avoid a flat spin. Same for the X-36. That technology was simply not there until the dawn of microchips. No matter how hard they tried, the project had to be suspended.
It flew well as per Testpilot statements! But some other Aircraft manufacturer may sabotaged it and some Parties or Politicians were corrupt and took money too...
The XB-49 was also nearly 90 mph slower than the B-47, too. It wasn’t until fly-by-wire became viable in the 1970’s that Northrop was finally able to make the flying wing bomber work with the B-2.
@@DonVigaDeFierro Not true, that issue has been solved, fly-by-wire is not required anymore, and flying wings are now superior to traditional designs in many ways. Depends on your application.
So the arsenal bird from Ace combat 7 was REAL?!!? Also this isn't cursed its cool Edit: this real life Arsenal bird has less engines and no force fields no drones no missiles the Ace combat arsenal bird had Force fields missiles lasers drones And ALOT More engines
The Arsenal Bird merely borrowed design from some real prototypes, it isn't real in any sense even if you take out the ridiculous laser and force field. The concept of Arsenal Plane does exist too, but has nothing to do with UAVs. Rather they are envisioned as a cargo plane with ability to air-launch a huge number of cruise missiles, but lack any sophisticated fire control of its own and must rely on friendlies to guide it.
_>real life Arsenal bird has less engines and no force fields no drones no missiles_ That's what -Southern Belk...- Northrop Industries wants you to believe...
@@noco7243 Are you kidding? Nancy Pelosi is worth over $100m. Most Senators are worth more than $3m. They all gain huge wealth while in office. Insider stock trading scandals have been exposed over the past 2 years. Our political system is totally corrupted by money.
Complete fabrication. Symington NEVER worked for Convair, and he did not cancel the B-35 production contract. All he did was approve the B-36 production contract, in accordance with the Air Force Source Selection Board recommendation.
I have a print of this framed on my wall, had it since I was 10yo. Still amazing to look at considering how old the aircraft design was. Cant wait for the video :)
Harry Zain: We must be contemporaries because, while I'm not lucky enough to have a print of this amazing aircraft, I certainly remember being totally mesmerized by the concept of a ' flying wing ' aircraft. When I got a little older I enlisted in the Air Force and, lo and behold, was stationed at an airbase, which I will not name, that became known for its black hanger. That hanger allegedly housed a black aircraft which only flew well after sundown. Jack Northrop really got screwed...
I mean, the YB-35/49 worked, it was just pure politics and corporate warfare that killed it. Considering the Horton didn't even fly under its own power I'd give more credit to Jack here.
Also worth noting, the flying wing design while efficient has stability issues. It is hard to control, as there is a reason planes took on the shape they did. This can (and has) been fixed with computer technology that can make thousands of micro adjustments every second. But such tech didn't exist, or even was conceptualized, in the 40s & 50s. Put simply, Northrop was born in the wrong decade.
I remember first seeing the YB-49 jet Flying Wing bomber in the 1953 movie, “War of the Worlds” when I was a kid. That first viewing got me fascinated with it to this day. A very cool and unique aircraft.
This Video: US Flying Wing Bomber Me: Ah yes, the predecessor of the B-2 Stealth Bomber. Comment Section: ** CL-1201 Airborne Aircraft Carrier Concept which was featured in this channel some time ago: *_Am I joke to you?_*
It's worth mentioning that, circa 1979-80, Jack Northrop's health had deteriorated to such a degree that he could no longer speak. The accepted series of events is that Northrop was given clearance to take a look at, and handle, a scale model of what was to become the B-2 Spirit. The years of work on the original Flying Wing came back to him and he wrote, reportedly, "Now I know why God has kept me alive for 25 years." He would pass away less than a full year later, having finally seen the potential of what his life's work was capable of, but not what that potential could give.
I'm surprised that this design isn't used more today. The biggest problem is stability which today is taken care of by computers running the SAS (stability augmentation systems)
Training pilots to fly the flying wing would be difficult. b2 pilots need separate training, as the b2 flies differently than every other plans on Earth. Every pilot would need to be re-trained, which is a financial and logistical nightmare. There are so few experienced flying wing pilots that the military couldn't train rookies fast enough.
The flying wing pushes the upper limits of what our tech can do. You’ll be seeing a lot more of the flying wing in the decades to come as the military gets used to the vast computing power of the 21st century.
Love the 3d model and the video! This plane was so ahead of its time but just could not make it through all the approvals and hurdles thrown in Northrop's way. I love that in the end Jack Northrop got to at least see the B-2 before his death.
@@barrybarnes96 Military had much more to gain from the offer and Northrop everything to lose, including the independence of the company that bears his name. The fact that Northrop never lost faith in the basic design (much later vindicated in the design of B-2 Spirit) means to me that he was not all about succeeding at all cost. It's possible I am a cynic of large organizations, but militaries all over the world have shown themselves to have many ulterior avenues for decision making.
Actually the graphics had some fairly fundamental flaws, the YB35 had 'contra-rotating' props, which means the front prop turns in the opposite direction to the back one. All the CGI showed all the props turning the same way. Also the fins on the YB49 were above AND below the trailing edge, not on stubs above the trailing edge. Good video overall, but typical little mistakes from non aviation doco makers.
First there was . . . the XB-35. (1946) Then there was . . . the YB-49. (1947) Finally, there was . . . the B-2. (1997) References: (1) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_YB-35 (2) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_YB-49 (3) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit
I've seen so many (in this channel and others) vehicle projects that didn't get finished because were either to much ahead of their time, or just needed more investiment. Recent history is paved with projects like this one, and the real shame is no one picked them up in the more recent years. This was an icredible video mate, just the best👌
The reason it didn't take off was because the design was unstable to fly. Only with the advent of computers did flying wings became controllable so the B-2 was born.
No, that was a completely fictional plane, its design was inspired by two German aircraft concepts from World War II. Its shape resembles the Horten Ho 229 flying wing night-fighter, while its intended function is closer to that of the Daimler-Benz Project C, which was also intended to launch suicide missiles.
i remember watching and reading in my books about how this plane 'had a curse'. Pretty funny how somethings that look so new and fantastical idea most shun away from as they cannot believe it will work. also he was alive to see the b2 bomber fly
My mom was a cockpit instrument "tech" at North American Aviation (Now Northrup) after WW2 and she worked on the YB's. I have a YB lapel pin from her. I would at times, hang out with my Aerospace Engineer friends at Northrup, either via the AIAA or with the Ham Radio Club. Years ago, I acquired the Pilot's manual for a YB 49.
What an excellent piece again! Great research work, excellent visuals and good delivery! You are only missing 4K production at this point and your channel is just perfect for aircraft enthusiasts. ;)
The biggest issue with the early flying wing bombers was yaw stability. A strategic bomber needs to be able to hit it's target. It's hard to do that when you're plane keeps wandering left and right. The B2 uses spoilers and fly by wire for this but that technology wasn't there in the '50s.
@@verden2323 Lockheed wasn't even competing with the design. It was Convair with the B-36 and Secretary of the Airforce Stuart Symington who want them to create a merger with Consolidated Vultee who became Convair or "be damned sorry if they didn’t."
The plane was inherently unstable and pilots could not get out when it stalled. It tended to flip over and over when it stalled. Also in banking turns, It's side slip was so bad that it would slip right into the ground. My father did an analysis back the the fifties for a senator which in the end, killed the project
They could get out, it happened with a test pilot. But he also said that the aircraft was never to be stalled. They had solved the yaw stability issues with a gyro system, Bell would later reuse that idea with the AH-1 cobra see: ruclips.net/video/EHsiBSTdjyA/видео.html Gyro stability with no computer required. They didn't update that system until the mid 80's because it worked so well.
Good work on this documentary! I love the Flying Wing Bomber. Its outside the box eccentricity yet simplicity of design makes it, along with the Ho-229 my favorite aircraft of all time. I thought the animation you used illustrating the Wing was pretty amazing, in my opinion. Glad I found this documentary and it definitely stands as my favorite among all the 20-25 minute short docs on the YB-49.
In 1953, I was in the Navy, stationed @ Adak, Alaska. I got a 30 day "leave" and went NORTH to my home in Fairbanks, Alaska. My Dad owned "The Elbow Room" bar on 2nd Ave in downtown. At the back of the bar was a big circle area where 6 to 8 could sit and see each other. Test pilots from different aircraft Cos. hung out there in the evenings. One night I'm sweeping peanut shells into my apron when one of the guys said, "Hey, would you like to see some airplanes tomorrow?" My answer was a loud "SURE!!!!!!!!" So at 8 AM I'm at the hangar check-in and get in like it's a movie theater, not a place where SECRET AIRCRAFT are testing. When I walked into the hangar, a big thing is blocking my view so I look under it and see an F-80 sitting on the other side of the hangar, then I looked up, and this monster, the XF-102 is what I'm under, and on the other side of it was the XF-101. I got to sit in both of'm. When I got back to Adak and told guys about them, they said something like, "Ray, you've got to change beers because the stuff you're drinking is screwing up your mind. I'd like to have seen their faces when those planes became public.
The interesting irony of the (in)famous Flying Wing's history, is that on both sides of the war, both 'Merican and Nazi engineers were having similar ideas, and getting a similar convoluted hell to ground their projects. Northrup and Horten... damn. Reality can, at times, be weirder than fiction. Shame that true visionaries have a high propensity to encounter dicey carriers. But rest in peace, Jack Northrup. At the very least, YOU got to see your wing take to the sky, you badass visionary.
My dad worked on the flying wing. He was adamant that it was junked way too soon. I, too, worked on aircraft (A mixture of fighters, B-52s and KC-135s), and got to talk to one of the pilots as to why it was junked. He said it was because it was really difficult to handle. Nothing of that sort is in this video. It makes me wonder what the entire true story is.
What i think is no bell shaped lift distribution on flying wings is a big no-no. As it makes the plane wobble left to right - whihc is not exactly compatible with hitting targets with bombs.
The only way the design could work in the late '40s & early '50s was propeller driven because that gave stability in flight. But there was no turboprop at the time so an adapted transmission had to be used the piston engine. Those things ate themselves.
I'm so glad Northrop got to see the B2 under development. What a feeling that must have been. He must have smiled ear to ear. Great video and CGI , excellent channel.
Hardly cursed. The tailless design was unstable because it needed many control adjustments a second. It was only more recently the computers were designed that could keep the plane from crashing. No sabotage. No bad luck. Just a design whose time has not yet come.
Boeing didn't have anything to do with the B-36. This was also NOT cheaper or less complex in fact the engine design, layout and operations were quite complicated and prone to failure. While initial (purchase) cost was found to be cheaper actual operations costs were higher than expected and actually using them was likely going to be more expensive than thought. (This held true for the B-36 as well) The YB-35 actually had a pretty 'normal' radar cross section due to the props and the raised engine housings. Speaking of engines they were the same ones provided to Convair for the XB-36 design and as the ones who proposed the contrarotating prop system 'testing' the combination was actually on Northrup not the government. (They fell back to essentially using the same set up as Convair) The bomb bays would be a tight fit for the Little Boy bomb and could not carry the Fat Man types at all which is one reason it wasn't pursued. It also could not carry the "Tall Boy" or "Rainmaker" deep penetration bombs which was another downside to the military. Modification WAS required, (but to be fair the B-52 had to be modified to carry the post-WWII nuclear bombs) so arguably a 'big-belly' mode might work but the initial design could not carry the bomb load as efficiently as a 'tubular' fuselage design. And no the Air Force didn't 'refuse' to allow modifications to the bomb bay, Northrup felt the required modifications would (and did) impact the aerodynamics which would slow the plane even more. This is where the smaller bomb bays bit Northrup in the butt in that BECAUSE they were so small and diverse they could not 'borrow' from each other and therefore modifications would mostly require expanding them out into the air stream. You see the downside. That APU claim seems dubious as, again that's a contractor thing not something the government provides. The YB-49 was a great idea but the bomb bay was still to small for the planned atomic bombs. Again actually fitting them would mean pushing them out into the airstream which Jack Northrup was adamantly against. (He also hated the 'podded' jets they hung on the wings and the 'air-separator' fins they added for stability to replace the 'props') Oddly the oil problem had a simple explanation, it wasn't on the ground crews checklists because they HAD no checklists for the YB-49. It was on the crew checklists but not the ground crews which were working from XB-35 paperwork which DID require checking and filling the oil reserves for a PISTON powered aircraft, not a jet powered one. Quite plausible when you consider all the engines serviced by ONE crew seized up but the other four serviced by a different crew did not. Uhm "unusual" ground test? Full speed, high weight taxi tests are standard for large aircraft and finding things like the nose wheel resonance is exactly why they are run. So no, not "odd" at all. And no the YRB-49 had extra engines on the wings, (in the pods Jack hated) but the extra fuel tanks were in the bomb bays, not the wings. The order was canceled because the design was not meeting the required, (and yes they'd changed several times but that was actually 'standard' for the Air Force of the day and not something that Northrup initially found "unusual") goals. The podded engines actually helped with the persistent stability problems (pitch issues) but they didn't go away and the design still couldn't carry the new bombs and because of the new fuel tanks it's total bomb load was less than a 'medium' bomber of the day. Later Jack and some in Northrup 'blamed' the government and claimed that because they wouldn't 'merge' as the government wanted the contract was canceled but really the YB was simply not meeting goals and not proving to be as effective as hoped. She was fast and sleek but the flying wing design has issues that required some advancement of technology to overcome such as the stability issue (and oddly let me point out your "YB49" CGI that has 'fin' on the end of the PISTON engine nacelles was actually suggested over the eventual "air-separator" design as it it was found the props and engine housing greatly contributed to the overall stability, but Jack felt that it was too much of a compromise to the design) and limited load carrying capability. The flying wing was very sleek and very advanced but it needed to make some compromises that Jack Northrup specifically was unwilling to make. It was actually suggested that the 'central' wing area be increased to allow accommodation of the needed modifications and as we see today in the B2 for example such a 'blended' wing/body actually works but Northrup felt that any significant deviation from the "pure-as-possible" flying wing design was unwanted. Symington (as noted below) had budget issues and frankly if the Smithsonian couldn't, (and they couldn't) pay to preserve the example then there wasn't much choice but TO scrap it. (Keep in mind that Northrup had an option to 'preserve' an example but had neither the space nor budget to do so either) The 'turbodyne' thing is overblown as well, Northrup SOLD the designs and patents to GE as they were not 'rivals' since Northrup didn't actually HAVE an 'engine' division. Again Northrup could have 'saved' parts but didn't by their own admission. Kind of understandable given how bitter Jack Northrup was over the whole thing, but he, (not the Air Force which had no 'say' over un-delivered parts nor any claim on the patents) junked everything. In fact this all hurt the overall development of 'stealth' technology because with all the research data and that gone a lot of work had to be accomplished. Changing times and requirements indeed had a hand in the demise of the flying wing but in the end the refusal to compromise a 'vision' of the future was more responsible than anything else. Convair had a point actually, the B-36 was more 'conventional' but it also was more practical and capable than the YB-35/49. (And again Boeing had nothing to do with the B-36 they were working on the B-29 as a priority project and had nothing to spare for the intercontinental bomber project until well after the war) And oddly the entire reason that the Air Force had to 'choose' was because the Truman administration was essentially strangling the military with budget cuts! Now mind you the official policy was to rely on long-range bombers carrying atomic bombs for the majority of the US 'defense" requirements in order to 'save' money by reducing military spending. (Literally Truman would pay all domestic and unavoidable foreign debts first and then take whatever was left over and give it to the military with the lions share going to the Air Force) Which to be clear was not even enough to actually MAINTAIN the then current "strategic" bomber force that the US policy depended on! The Air Force was unable to pay to retain personnel or maintain aircraft and they were getting the MOST money at the time! It took the Korean war to stop this downward trend. In perspective at this point (1946 to 1948) all most all post war military research and development programs ended up having to be shut down due to lack of funds. Keep in mind that in 1946 the US actually had the most advanced missile program, more advanced jet aircraft research and several promising aircraft development programs going on and 90% of these would be canceled due to lack of funding. And this was the service getting most of the military budget at the time!
This is a completely correct and absolutely brilliant summary of the Flying Wing project. Thank you for this! One minor thing you left out: the engine/prop combination was extensively tested in wind tunnels, and found to be satisfactory. But that was in clean, undisturbed airflow field. Operating in the installed configuration, with only part of the blades dipping into and out of the wing downwash, caused terrible vibration.
You’re more than correct in pointing to Stewart Symington, slimy Secretary of the Air Force for the demise of the YB-49. He fared quite well before and following his resignation benefiting from the deep pockets of Consolidated (Convair).
Slimy is a good description. No one was in that room but the two, but the retaliation to crush Northrop, destroy all YB35 and YB49 aircraft, transfer of Northrop technology to Convair, and then the very minor future contracts pretty well verify that Northrop was blackballed. Convair was in trouble and a few years later taken by General Dynamics, and Symington was no doubt attempting to beef up Convair with more facilities and technology before that could happen.
My Father worked for Northrop during the building of the YB35 & YB49. He didn’t work on either but on another project in a nearby building. He told me the flying wing ran across a B36 and the wing crew turned it on edge and flew around the B36 longitudinally. What a magnificent airplane! As far as the story of the near forced merger of Northrop and General Voltie, yes it happened the way Jack Northrop tells it. Everyone who worked for him respected and admired the man. Sorry, the history of what became General Dynamics is one of questionable ethics especially Symington. I take Jacks story as more truthful.
Jack Northrop DID live to see his concepts become real. When Northrop-Grumman held a gettogether to show the finalized design of the B2 bomber, one of the guests was Jack Northrop. Although old and frail, bound to a wheelchair and unable to speak, Jack was invited to the unveiling, where he saw and held scale models of the aircraft, and listened while engineers explained how computers were used to overcome the flying wing's stability issues. Though he died before seeing the finished airplane, he saw what it would be and saw that his ideas of using a flying wing had finally found purchase in the US Air Force.
That's sweet to hear Northrop got to live to see the spirit of his legacy live on.
I work for Northrop Grumman. They told me that story my very first day on the job.
lol...I see what you did there....his spirit....the Northrop Grumman B2 Spirit lives on
yeah
They let his company die and be bought by his competitors, and rubbed it in by showing him the B-2.
Like the later F5 program, Northrop made a superior product but was denied by those with larger lobbying power.
@Glasspack40 F-14 deserved to go down
@steven anderson Too aggressive capitalism moment. Fortunately Northrop is a capitalism corporation that we can cheer for.
@Glasspack40 The 100 manhours of maintenance per flight hour, compressor stalls, no fly by wire, complicated swing wings which are not needed in modern aircraft since engine technology has advanced enough to make them obsolete and its airframe was created without computer assistance. Oh and did i mention the crazy per unit cost?
@Glasspack40 As for the other nations you are probably refering to IRAQI airforce when they had mirages and other outdated aircraft facing off against the tomcat which is not fair to compare since they are very very different machines
@@v0id683 your assessment of the F-14 is wrong on many levels. Granted it had significant issues. But it Created a far superior aircraft to the F-4 & F-8.
I bet the Ace Combat fans are real scared right now.
"Son of a-...they had the thing combat ready this whole time!"
*painting three white lines onto plane's tail
Yep ._.
You could say that they're..
**😎**
Triggered.
@@Leonidae I love you
17:08 That made me tear up a bit. At least he got to see his work finally realized. Rest In Peace Mr. Northrop.
Ace combat 7 was dope af..but the dialogue pissed me off just a little. 🤣
It all comes down to destroying rectena base
@@brecibros2469 is he really that good
@@phoenixleader1999 he has to be besides if he thought it was impossible he wouldn't have said anything
The center engines? Those aren't nearly as critical... aerodynamically, if you clip the engines on one side, the plane will have to kick in rudder and reduce thrust on the other engines to compensate... which will reduce power even further, increase drag, and so on, and result in a nearly crippled aircraft.
So, is the B-2 spirit Jack Northrop's vindication?
@zanbrocal
RE: "So, is the B-2 spirit Jack Northrop's vindication?"
Exactly!
Definitely. And the aircraft dimensions was almost the same.
No. After they let his company go belly-up and be bought by his worst competitor, they showed him the B-2 to rub it in.
In the early 80s, jack was still alive. He was asked to come to Northrop offices, and shown a model of the B2. After seeing the model, he said, " now i know why I've lived so long." He died shortly thereafter.
Walter Johnson B2 is more like the German H2 concept
*"All units, take out Big Baby Huey!"*
SlyCooperFan1: What the f**k??? _DING_
ok
Jack Northrup was always about 20 years ahead of everybody else in aviation.
Seriously. Now stealth bombers, drones and maybe 6th gen fighters are all moving towards flying wings.
Not really. Parallel development by the Hortens shows that the idea was widespread.
They were all copying Junkers who patented an all-wing in 1910, designed them all through the interwar period.
Northrop and the Hortens were informed by Lippisch.
Many others had built "flying wings" as the media-hype terminology calls them.
Cheranovsky in the '20s and '30s, another Russian effort by Kharkov bureau called the KhAI-3 served as a small transport for a few years.
The Arup planes from Indiana in the '30s were the most well flown, well known and successful.
The problems with all of them including Northrop is that they violate every part of "if it looks right it'll fly right".
Fixes for any instability in the XB-35-49 were in use at the time, but it would require a commitment of time and $$, and the USAF CoS was corrupt, on the take from Convair, and they really didn't want to help Northrop build more factory floor space to make bombers.
@@JFrazer4303 Northrop was making powered aircraft in the 1920s, when the Horten brothers were in their teens, working with gliders. Fair point on Lippisch, in innovating many concepts, among others.
35 years
The Flying Wing concept wasn't viable until fly-by-wire controls became available
I think Kelly Johnson over at Lockheed was quite forward thinking too.
I remember when the original Flying Wing suddenly disappeared from all the books. Only when the B2 Stealth Bomber suddenly arrived on the scene did I realize just why they were suppressing it... the B2 was a direct result of the Northrup Flying Wing, invented in 1929. They retooled it, added jet engines and made it out of carbon fiber, but it is essentially the same, exact design.
It's sad the last remaining flying wing wasn't saved for preservation .
Would have been great at an Aerospace Museum
Destroy all evidence then there's no comeback. Did the same with the TSR2 and a Rocket/Ramjet fighter that was favourite but killed to sell Germany the F104.
Boeing was not having that
@@huudielbo728 did that not happen in Canada also re: Avro Arrow ...Canadian government lobbied by U.S. arms suppliers such as Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas
@@scotttait2197 or you know because Canada Air Force is poor as fuck
It wasn't cursed, it was ill timed. The instabilities of the flying wing were partially compensated for by the prop torque. But the skinny turbojets of the early jet age couldn't compensate, and it ended on the scrap heap.
Because simply Northrop was nobody at that time. Providing any funky design to seemingly stoneheaded organization is something you want to work way-way harder, to say the least
In reality a tailless aircraft can't fly for too long without fly-by-wire.
The B-2 for example uses both control surfaces in the wing that act as air brakes and independent variable thrust in each of the engines to control yaw and avoid a flat spin. Same for the X-36.
That technology was simply not there until the dawn of microchips. No matter how hard they tried, the project had to be suspended.
It flew well as per Testpilot statements! But some other Aircraft manufacturer may sabotaged it and some Parties or Politicians were corrupt and took money too...
The XB-49 was also nearly 90 mph slower than the B-47, too. It wasn’t until fly-by-wire became viable in the 1970’s that Northrop was finally able to make the flying wing bomber work with the B-2.
@@DonVigaDeFierro Not true, that issue has been solved, fly-by-wire is not required anymore, and flying wings are now superior to traditional designs in many ways. Depends on your application.
Innovation vs politics, including lobbying and power grabs. Politics wins.
GOVERNMENT SUCKS.
The only thing wrong with "politics" it's the politicians
Lobbying is a cool word to say corruption, reject democracy, return to tradition, long live the king
yes if it costs the taxpayers less or works much better than anything else it gets killed by US Industrial politics.
That's what happened to the Avro Arrow
So the arsenal bird from
Ace combat 7 was REAL?!!?
Also this isn't cursed its cool
Edit: this real life Arsenal bird has less engines and no force fields no drones no missiles the
Ace combat arsenal bird had
Force fields missiles lasers drones
And ALOT More engines
Its really the Northrop B-2 but done in the 40's, the have nearly the same dimensions for probably obvious reasons.
Yeah I would agree. It never saw combat sadly
The Arsenal Bird merely borrowed design from some real prototypes, it isn't real in any sense even if you take out the ridiculous laser and force field.
The concept of Arsenal Plane does exist too, but has nothing to do with UAVs. Rather they are envisioned as a cargo plane with ability to air-launch a huge number of cruise missiles, but lack any sophisticated fire control of its own and must rely on friendlies to guide it.
@@UNSF yea
_>real life Arsenal bird has less engines and no force fields no drones no missiles_
That's what -Southern Belk...- Northrop Industries wants you to believe...
The XB-35/YB-49 are some of my favourite concept aircraft ever. But I just love the flying wing design so much...
And the backroom dealing continues to this day. How else can our elected "representatives" become multi-millionaires in such a short time ?!
Ted Bomba you hit it right on the head
I don't think that many of them are "multi-millionaires"
@@noco7243 Are you kidding? Nancy Pelosi is worth over $100m. Most Senators are worth more than $3m. They all gain huge wealth while in office. Insider stock trading scandals have been exposed over the past 2 years. Our political system is totally corrupted by money.
ahem, pfizer ahem
What really got interesting, the AF General that cancelled the flying wing, retired, and went to work for Convair on the B-36 program.
Complete fabrication. Symington NEVER worked for Convair, and he did not cancel the B-35 production contract. All he did was approve the B-36 production contract, in accordance with the Air Force Source Selection Board recommendation.
@@daveciocchi851 The book I have, the history of Northrup, told it otherwise. That's my source.
Rip flying dorito lads
RIP
@@FoundAndExplained yeah rip
@@FoundAndExplained btw, for a suggestion for ww2 aircrafts, how about the Pe-2 or Tu-2?
@@foxgaming76yt24 or ho 229
It's a Boomerang! and if one engine stops it flies like a Boomerang.
I have a print of this framed on my wall, had it since I was 10yo. Still amazing to look at considering how old the aircraft design was. Cant wait for the video :)
Harry Zain: We must be contemporaries because, while I'm not lucky enough to have a print of this amazing aircraft, I certainly remember being totally mesmerized by the concept of a
' flying wing ' aircraft. When I got a little older I enlisted in the Air Force and, lo and behold, was stationed at an airbase, which I will not name, that became known for its black hanger. That hanger allegedly housed a black aircraft which only flew well after sundown. Jack Northrop really got screwed...
We got the arsenal bird and we got the drones, now we just need to combine them together and we are ready to bring ace combat 7 into real life
But still no super pilots that can take monstrously high G-forces.
@@marrqi7wini54 I mean even we got such pilot we still need the physics though kekw
People keep forgetting that these perpetually flying rocs are powered by a SPACE ELEVATOR. Built that first Harling.
Mwahahaha
@@marrqi7wini54 actually
We have some
Selective breeding or genetic harvesting
AC fans: Hey we've seen this one!
USAF: WHAT DO YOU MEAN SEEN THIS ONE?!
We uhhh don’t like to talk about it
The FIx was In!
It was too good and it was slaughtered with Red Tape.
A pure wing concept. Jack nearly made it work. The Horten brothers did make it work. Computers made it definitely work with the B-2 bomber.
I mean, the YB-35/49 worked, it was just pure politics and corporate warfare that killed it. Considering the Horton didn't even fly under its own power I'd give more credit to Jack here.
Horten Brothers did not even make their plane fly
How many drones can we fit in that
asking for a not belkan friend
why do you need drones when you have a v2
Why need V2 when you have Stonehenge?
@@AbsoluteZero6714 why I need a stonehenge when you got trigger
That sounds like something a Belkan would say.
@@dominicporter5100 I mean... the username does checkout =\
Sweet vid as always. Please do a vid on the Horten Ho 229.
Also worth noting, the flying wing design while efficient has stability issues. It is hard to control, as there is a reason planes took on the shape they did.
This can (and has) been fixed with computer technology that can make thousands of micro adjustments every second. But such tech didn't exist, or even was conceptualized, in the 40s & 50s.
Put simply, Northrop was born in the wrong decade.
I think you mean generation or century. A LOT of people were born in the wrong time. But then again this world might not be here.
Hear Hear! "Fly-By-Wire" solved so much of the "Flying Wing" problem that the F-117 became feasible.
I remember first seeing the YB-49 jet Flying Wing bomber in the 1953 movie, “War of the Worlds” when I was a kid. That first viewing got me fascinated with it to this day. A very cool and unique aircraft.
Flak Jack Ed I remember that War Of The Worlds scene too.
I'm glad you mentioned the B-2 and how Jack Northrop was shown it less than a year before he died. He recognized his baby .
Yea i almost teared up when he was like "I know why I've been alive so long"
This is one of my favorite aircraft. Actually, most Northrop aircraft are my favorites
"I've gotta put it in the water"
I understood that reference
Captain Rogers? STEVE?
This Video: US Flying Wing Bomber
Me: Ah yes, the predecessor of the B-2 Stealth Bomber.
Comment Section: **
CL-1201 Airborne Aircraft Carrier Concept which was featured in this channel some time ago: *_Am I joke to you?_*
CL-1201 is more of an Aigaion.
Looks very close to the Avro Vulcan too
No it was the Ho 220 built by the Horton brothers in Germany,
Accurate
USA: I have stealth bombers
Some Serb dudes: Shame if something were to happen to them
That at10:31 is not an extra fueltank, it is a other jetengine.. this Version had 4 Build in engine and two engine in pylons.
You noticed that error too concerning the six jet engine YRB-49A "flying wing."
It's worth mentioning that, circa 1979-80, Jack Northrop's health had deteriorated to such a degree that he could no longer speak. The accepted series of events is that Northrop was given clearance to take a look at, and handle, a scale model of what was to become the B-2 Spirit. The years of work on the original Flying Wing came back to him and he wrote, reportedly, "Now I know why God has kept me alive for 25 years." He would pass away less than a full year later, having finally seen the potential of what his life's work was capable of, but not what that potential could give.
Glad he was able to finally see his dream.
I cannot miss this one. It starts at 6:30 PM
I'm surprised that this design isn't used more today. The biggest problem is stability which today is taken care of by computers running the SAS (stability augmentation systems)
Training pilots to fly the flying wing would be difficult. b2 pilots need separate training, as the b2 flies differently than every other plans on Earth. Every pilot would need to be re-trained, which is a financial and logistical nightmare. There are so few experienced flying wing pilots that the military couldn't train rookies fast enough.
The flying wing pushes the upper limits of what our tech can do. You’ll be seeing a lot more of the flying wing in the decades to come as the military gets used to the vast computing power of the 21st century.
Thank you!!! I've been waiting for this video for a long time. You are the best making videos about planes 👏🏻👏🏻
Love the 3d model and the video! This plane was so ahead of its time but just could not make it through all the approvals and hurdles thrown in Northrop's way. I love that in the end Jack Northrop got to at least see the B-2 before his death.
This seems something that's out of some space movie ngl
Think you could make a space plane out of it by replacing the jets with SABREs or similar?
It looks similar with the plane that the red skull use in the captain America movie
It looks like something out of certain arcade flying game set in a strange real world
@@Monarch683 hmmmm
Kinda did.
The jet version had a starring role in War of the Worlds in 1953.
6:41 i like the idea of military officals and engineers just casually bickering at mcdonalds lol
Id love to see more flying wings, I personally love the HO229 which was being developed at the same time.
Ah I remembered the time when I destroyed the arsenal bird but then crashed into it which resulted in me having to re-do it again from a check point.
😆😆😆😆😆😆
Trigger is down, command
We are returning to base
@@kenbee1957 I was just trying to look at the Arsenal bird LOL
"Way longer ... " - I had no idea how almost 20mins passed.
Awesome work. Thank you!
I would trust Jack Northrop's word over the military any time
why?
@@barrybarnes96 Military had much more to gain from the offer and Northrop everything to lose, including the independence of the company that bears his name. The fact that Northrop never lost faith in the basic design (much later vindicated in the design of B-2 Spirit) means to me that he was not all about succeeding at all cost. It's possible I am a cynic of large organizations, but militaries all over the world have shown themselves to have many ulterior avenues for decision making.
Those damn Belkans are at it again!
Awesome video as per usual. Your CGI graphics are top notch!
Thank you sir!
Actually the graphics had some fairly fundamental flaws, the YB35 had 'contra-rotating' props, which means the front prop turns in the opposite direction to the back one. All the CGI showed all the props turning the same way. Also the fins on the YB49 were above AND below the trailing edge, not on stubs above the trailing edge.
Good video overall, but typical little mistakes from non aviation doco makers.
First there was . . . the XB-35. (1946)
Then there was . . . the YB-49. (1947)
Finally, there was . . . the B-2. (1997)
References:
(1) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_YB-35
(2) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_YB-49
(3) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit
And before that, there was the Avion 1 (1929)
The N-1M (1940) and the N-9M (1942)
a number of Horten is missing
@@Dinitroflurbenzol nope, because Hortens had nothing to do with it
I was aware of this topic and had done a volume of research on it.. You have DONE an amazing job on this truly AMAZING story!!
Amazing story. Reminds me of the Avro Arrow. Remember, though, the B-2 flies well because of…computers.
Solved the instability problems.
"Took to the air in 1946". Also the time UFO sightings really took off. Coincidence?
Normal people: damm that’s cool
Ace combat fans : I kinda seen that before
I've seen so many (in this channel and others) vehicle projects that didn't get finished because were either to much ahead of their time, or just needed more investiment.
Recent history is paved with projects like this one, and the real shame is no one picked them up in the more recent years.
This was an icredible video mate, just the best👌
I love it
now I know where the Ace Combat 7 developers got their design for the Arsenal bird
The reason it didn't take off was because the design was unstable to fly. Only with the advent of computers did flying wings became controllable so the B-2 was born.
Wait, I know that plane is the one that appeared in Captain America 1 that has mini planes
I think that was a german design
Yes that was a German design, similar idea tho
No, that was a completely fictional plane, its design was inspired by two German aircraft concepts from World War II. Its shape resembles the Horten Ho 229 flying wing night-fighter, while its intended function is closer to that of the Daimler-Benz Project C, which was also intended to launch suicide missiles.
I saw all the ace combat memes coming as soon as I saw this
why not? Ace combat is underrated game and had alot of potential in it
@@Whopparhombus I never said anything was wrong with it you are right
sad this plane was not selected and was more developt, there would be amazing aircraft now flying.
Yes, the B2
I love flying wing designs, it amazes me and looks cool in my opinion
i remember watching and reading in my books about how this plane 'had a curse'. Pretty funny how somethings that look so new and fantastical idea most shun away from as they cannot believe it will work. also he was alive to see the b2 bomber fly
Flies great as a model too
My mom was a cockpit instrument "tech" at North American Aviation (Now Northrup) after WW2 and she worked on the YB's. I have a YB lapel pin from her. I would at times, hang out with my Aerospace Engineer friends at Northrup, either via the AIAA or with the Ham Radio Club. Years ago, I acquired the Pilot's manual for a YB 49.
What an excellent piece again! Great research work, excellent visuals and good delivery! You are only missing 4K production at this point and your channel is just perfect for aircraft enthusiasts. ;)
The biggest issue with the early flying wing bombers was yaw stability. A strategic bomber needs to be able to hit it's target. It's hard to do that when you're plane keeps wandering left and right. The B2 uses spoilers and fly by wire for this but that technology wasn't there in the '50s.
The US Air force: NOOOOOO YOU CAN'T JUST BUILD A FLYING WING THATS [insert reason here]
Also them a couple decades later: Haha stealth dorito
I put illegal
Lockheed was jelous of design
@@verden2323 Lockheed wasn't even competing with the design. It was Convair with the B-36 and Secretary of the Airforce Stuart Symington who want them to create a merger with Consolidated Vultee who became Convair or "be damned sorry if they didn’t."
And the B-36 turned out to be a flying dinosaur.
One pilot said it was like "flying your grandmother's house from the front porch"
The thumbnail is just awesome and so for the video
DON’T EVER SAY ITS CURSED AGAIN ITS BEAUTIFUL!
Aight im calling the strider squadron
Dang it USAF, why did you have to destroy this beauty
The plane was inherently unstable and pilots could not get out when it stalled. It tended to flip over and over when it stalled. Also in banking turns, It's side slip was so bad that it would slip right into the ground. My father did an analysis back the the fifties for a senator which in the end, killed the project
They could get out, it happened with a test pilot. But he also said that the aircraft was never to be stalled. They had solved the yaw stability issues with a gyro system, Bell would later reuse that idea with the AH-1 cobra see: ruclips.net/video/EHsiBSTdjyA/видео.html Gyro stability with no computer required. They didn't update that system until the mid 80's because it worked so well.
Good work on this documentary! I love the Flying Wing Bomber. Its outside the box eccentricity yet simplicity of design makes it, along with the Ho-229 my favorite aircraft of all time. I thought the animation you used illustrating the Wing was pretty amazing, in my opinion. Glad I found this documentary and it definitely stands as my favorite among all the 20-25 minute short docs on the YB-49.
In 1953, I was in the Navy, stationed @ Adak, Alaska. I got a 30 day "leave" and went NORTH to my home in Fairbanks, Alaska. My Dad owned "The Elbow Room" bar on 2nd Ave in downtown. At the back of the bar was a big circle area where 6 to 8 could sit and see each other. Test pilots from different aircraft Cos. hung out there in the evenings. One night I'm sweeping peanut shells into my apron when one of the guys said, "Hey, would you like to see some airplanes tomorrow?" My answer was a loud "SURE!!!!!!!!" So at 8 AM I'm at the hangar check-in and get in like it's a movie theater, not a place where SECRET AIRCRAFT are testing. When I walked into the hangar, a big thing is blocking my view so I look under it and see an F-80 sitting on the other side of the hangar, then I looked up, and this monster, the XF-102 is what I'm under, and on the other side of it was the XF-101. I got to sit in both of'm. When I got back to Adak and told guys about them, they said something like, "Ray, you've got to change beers because the stuff you're drinking is screwing up your mind. I'd like to have seen their faces when those planes became public.
What a great story
"Its a flying fortress" the B-17: am I a joke to you
I’m really happy that you did this plane, I wish that one of these was preserved.
The interesting irony of the (in)famous Flying Wing's history, is that on both sides of the war, both 'Merican and Nazi engineers were having similar ideas, and getting a similar convoluted hell to ground their projects.
Northrup and Horten... damn. Reality can, at times, be weirder than fiction.
Shame that true visionaries have a high propensity to encounter dicey carriers. But rest in peace, Jack Northrup. At the very least, YOU got to see your wing take to the sky, you badass visionary.
I’m getting some serious usea flashbacks right now
My dad worked on the flying wing. He was adamant that it was junked way too soon. I, too, worked on aircraft (A mixture of fighters, B-52s and KC-135s), and got to talk to one of the pilots as to why it was junked. He said it was because it was really difficult to handle. Nothing of that sort is in this video. It makes me wonder what the entire true story is.
Just wondering could it prove to be more efficient after all if not all those "ifs".
Long caster:
Ohh! It's the Northrop Grumman YB-49! (Or something else) Because it kinda resembles the YB-49.
@Wilson Stone sometimes I forget about my ill-fated aviation projects.
@@satvikkrishna1593 you spelled B-2 wrong. 😎
@@rexmann1984 I agree with my B-2 Spelling!
@@satvikkrishna1593 Did you study up on the flying wing NASA recently developed? Dude, the next generation of fighters and bombers are gonna be crazy.
@@rexmann1984 that's the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider! Well recently China copied the Northrop B-2 Spirit.
Thank you for adding metric conversion...much appreciated.
Airforce: "We need bigger bombs"
Northrop: "ok, we'll make some bigger bomb bays"
Airforce: "no"
Northrop: 👁👄👁
What i think is no bell shaped lift distribution on flying wings is a big no-no.
As it makes the plane wobble left to right - whihc is not exactly compatible with hitting targets with bombs.
The only way the design could work in the late '40s & early '50s was propeller driven because that gave stability in flight. But there was no turboprop at the time so an adapted transmission had to be used the piston engine. Those things ate themselves.
Me: I’ve seen this one before, it’s a classic
I'm so glad Northrop got to see the B2 under development. What a feeling that must have been. He must have smiled ear to ear.
Great video and CGI , excellent channel.
It need a powerful energy shield & some air drones
Also lasers
...and a couple of missiles
you mean a volley of missiles?@@kenbee1957
The physical destruction of Mr. Northrop's projects is the "you'll be goddamn sorry if you don't" part.
Hardly cursed. The tailless design was unstable because it needed many control adjustments a second. It was only more recently the computers were designed that could keep the plane from crashing. No sabotage. No bad luck. Just a design whose time has not yet come.
Boeing didn't have anything to do with the B-36. This was also NOT cheaper or less complex in fact the engine design, layout and operations were quite complicated and prone to failure. While initial (purchase) cost was found to be cheaper actual operations costs were higher than expected and actually using them was likely going to be more expensive than thought. (This held true for the B-36 as well)
The YB-35 actually had a pretty 'normal' radar cross section due to the props and the raised engine housings. Speaking of engines they were the same ones provided to Convair for the XB-36 design and as the ones who proposed the contrarotating prop system 'testing' the combination was actually on Northrup not the government. (They fell back to essentially using the same set up as Convair)
The bomb bays would be a tight fit for the Little Boy bomb and could not carry the Fat Man types at all which is one reason it wasn't pursued. It also could not carry the "Tall Boy" or "Rainmaker" deep penetration bombs which was another downside to the military. Modification WAS required, (but to be fair the B-52 had to be modified to carry the post-WWII nuclear bombs) so arguably a 'big-belly' mode might work but the initial design could not carry the bomb load as efficiently as a 'tubular' fuselage design. And no the Air Force didn't 'refuse' to allow modifications to the bomb bay, Northrup felt the required modifications would (and did) impact the aerodynamics which would slow the plane even more. This is where the smaller bomb bays bit Northrup in the butt in that BECAUSE they were so small and diverse they could not 'borrow' from each other and therefore modifications would mostly require expanding them out into the air stream. You see the downside.
That APU claim seems dubious as, again that's a contractor thing not something the government provides.
The YB-49 was a great idea but the bomb bay was still to small for the planned atomic bombs. Again actually fitting them would mean pushing them out into the airstream which Jack Northrup was adamantly against. (He also hated the 'podded' jets they hung on the wings and the 'air-separator' fins they added for stability to replace the 'props')
Oddly the oil problem had a simple explanation, it wasn't on the ground crews checklists because they HAD no checklists for the YB-49. It was on the crew checklists but not the ground crews which were working from XB-35 paperwork which DID require checking and filling the oil reserves for a PISTON powered aircraft, not a jet powered one. Quite plausible when you consider all the engines serviced by ONE crew seized up but the other four serviced by a different crew did not.
Uhm "unusual" ground test? Full speed, high weight taxi tests are standard for large aircraft and finding things like the nose wheel resonance is exactly why they are run. So no, not "odd" at all.
And no the YRB-49 had extra engines on the wings, (in the pods Jack hated) but the extra fuel tanks were in the bomb bays, not the wings.
The order was canceled because the design was not meeting the required, (and yes they'd changed several times but that was actually 'standard' for the Air Force of the day and not something that Northrup initially found "unusual") goals. The podded engines actually helped with the persistent stability problems (pitch issues) but they didn't go away and the design still couldn't carry the new bombs and because of the new fuel tanks it's total bomb load was less than a 'medium' bomber of the day. Later Jack and some in Northrup 'blamed' the government and claimed that because they wouldn't 'merge' as the government wanted the contract was canceled but really the YB was simply not meeting goals and not proving to be as effective as hoped.
She was fast and sleek but the flying wing design has issues that required some advancement of technology to overcome such as the stability issue (and oddly let me point out your "YB49" CGI that has 'fin' on the end of the PISTON engine nacelles was actually suggested over the eventual "air-separator" design as it it was found the props and engine housing greatly contributed to the overall stability, but Jack felt that it was too much of a compromise to the design) and limited load carrying capability. The flying wing was very sleek and very advanced but it needed to make some compromises that Jack Northrup specifically was unwilling to make. It was actually suggested that the 'central' wing area be increased to allow accommodation of the needed modifications and as we see today in the B2 for example such a 'blended' wing/body actually works but Northrup felt that any significant deviation from the "pure-as-possible" flying wing design was unwanted.
Symington (as noted below) had budget issues and frankly if the Smithsonian couldn't, (and they couldn't) pay to preserve the example then there wasn't much choice but TO scrap it. (Keep in mind that Northrup had an option to 'preserve' an example but had neither the space nor budget to do so either) The 'turbodyne' thing is overblown as well, Northrup SOLD the designs and patents to GE as they were not 'rivals' since Northrup didn't actually HAVE an 'engine' division. Again Northrup could have 'saved' parts but didn't by their own admission. Kind of understandable given how bitter Jack Northrup was over the whole thing, but he, (not the Air Force which had no 'say' over un-delivered parts nor any claim on the patents) junked everything. In fact this all hurt the overall development of 'stealth' technology because with all the research data and that gone a lot of work had to be accomplished.
Changing times and requirements indeed had a hand in the demise of the flying wing but in the end the refusal to compromise a 'vision' of the future was more responsible than anything else.
Convair had a point actually, the B-36 was more 'conventional' but it also was more practical and capable than the YB-35/49. (And again Boeing had nothing to do with the B-36 they were working on the B-29 as a priority project and had nothing to spare for the intercontinental bomber project until well after the war) And oddly the entire reason that the Air Force had to 'choose' was because the Truman administration was essentially strangling the military with budget cuts!
Now mind you the official policy was to rely on long-range bombers carrying atomic bombs for the majority of the US 'defense" requirements in order to 'save' money by reducing military spending. (Literally Truman would pay all domestic and unavoidable foreign debts first and then take whatever was left over and give it to the military with the lions share going to the Air Force) Which to be clear was not even enough to actually MAINTAIN the then current "strategic" bomber force that the US policy depended on! The Air Force was unable to pay to retain personnel or maintain aircraft and they were getting the MOST money at the time! It took the Korean war to stop this downward trend.
In perspective at this point (1946 to 1948) all most all post war military research and development programs ended up having to be shut down due to lack of funds. Keep in mind that in 1946 the US actually had the most advanced missile program, more advanced jet aircraft research and several promising aircraft development programs going on and 90% of these would be canceled due to lack of funding. And this was the service getting most of the military budget at the time!
Very good reply!
@@FoundAndExplained I completely agree!
This is a completely correct and absolutely brilliant summary of the Flying Wing project. Thank you for this! One minor thing you left out: the engine/prop combination was extensively tested in wind tunnels, and found to be satisfactory. But that was in clean, undisturbed airflow field. Operating in the installed configuration, with only part of the blades dipping into and out of the wing downwash, caused terrible vibration.
can your next video be about the XB-70 Valkyrie
The B-36 was built to do that. The flight controls did not excise at the time to totally control a flying wing.
I'm glad that he lived to see his dream come true after all those years 🙏
Nice! 3:35 a P-61 Black Widow as a chase plane.
You’re more than correct in pointing to Stewart Symington, slimy Secretary of the Air Force for the demise of the YB-49. He fared quite well before and following his resignation benefiting from the deep pockets of Consolidated (Convair).
Slimy is a good description. No one was in that room but the two, but the retaliation to crush Northrop, destroy all YB35 and YB49 aircraft, transfer of Northrop technology to Convair, and then the very minor future contracts pretty well verify that Northrop was blackballed. Convair was in trouble and a few years later taken by General Dynamics, and Symington was no doubt attempting to beef up Convair with more facilities and technology before that could happen.
My Father worked for Northrop during the building of the YB35 & YB49. He didn’t work on either but on another project in a nearby building. He told me the flying wing ran across a B36 and the wing crew turned it on edge and flew around the B36 longitudinally. What a magnificent airplane! As far as the story of the near forced merger of Northrop and General Voltie, yes it happened the way Jack Northrop tells it. Everyone who worked for him respected and admired the man. Sorry, the history of what became General Dynamics is one of questionable ethics especially Symington. I take Jacks story as more truthful.
Trigger: Well, well, well
In the beginning you should mentioned about Horten brothers. They started flying wing projects in '30 and final model was Ho 229
correct!
*ac7 PTSD intensifies*
M I S S L E M I S S L E M I S S L E
Man.. Your animations and explaination was pretty cool... 💙
The plane shape oddly reminds me of Mega star destroyer
And i hope it will have the same ending
No wonder this reminded me of spacecrafts, it looks very similar to the superstar destroyer
Yeah that looked like a boomerang to me ngl
Looks like the arsenal bird
Jack Northrop DID live to see his concepts become real. When Northrop-Grumman held a gettogether to show the finalized design of the B2 bomber, one of the guests was Jack Northrop. Although old and frail, bound to a wheelchair and unable to speak, Jack was invited to the unveiling, where he saw and held scale models of the aircraft, and listened while engineers explained how computers were used to overcome the flying wing's stability issues. Though he died before seeing the finished airplane, he saw what it would be and saw that his ideas of using a flying wing had finally found purchase in the US Air Force.
sooooo Airbus' flying wing concept is not so wild after all. cant wait to fly it tbh
So this machine didn't saw production because of long series of sabotages?
Man, how do I love lobbying...