Northrop YB-49 (B49)

[jrm53]

When I was a kid I remember the Northrop flying wing in Air Trails magazine and I always wondered what happened to it well I was on youtube and came across John K Northrops final interview and in it he tells what happened to his airplane and his company. It will make you sick at the way he was treated by our government and what they did to the aircraft they had finished and under construction. If you have time it is a real eyeopener to raw power. Mr Northrop was very old in 1979 when it was done but he was sharp as a tack. Look for "John K Northrops final interview". The B49 was flying and was a six engined jet power work horse. Jeff

 

[rwsmith]

I remember the same thing..

It was the hottest thing since sliced bread and then it just disappeared. I think I remember a reference to it in the old 'War of the Worlds' where they had the Flying Wing drop an atomic bomb on the invaders. I think it was way ahead of its time and since they were limited on what they could do and how to control it with payloads, etc., it just had to wait until technology caught up with it.

UPDATE: I just watched this video:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-LjDUM5tyI[/ame]

And what the air force secretary did to Northrup STUNK!

 

[Targets Guy]

yep. a real shame.

 

[Rustyt1953]

I became more familiar with the plane when I was stationed, for a minute, at Forbes AFB, named after Maj Daniel Forbes who died testing the XB-49.

 

[Bob L]

Really a new exciting aircraft in its time. Every time that see the B-2 Bomber I think of the Grumman wing it what it could have been.

 

[jeffsmith]

"Shortly before his death in 1981, he was given clearance to see designs and hold a scale model of the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit which shared many of the design features of his YB-35 and YB-49 designs. Northrop reportedly wrote on a sheet of paper "Now I know why God has kept me alive for 25 years". In the Wing Will Fly documentary, B-2 project designer John Cashen says: "As he held this model in his shaking hands, it was as if you could see his entire history with the flying wing passing through his mind." Jack Northrop died 10 months later,"

Jack Northrop

 

[cowboy4evr]

I have read that people in high places wanted Convair to get the new contracts for their B-36 .

 

[LVSteve]

When I was a kid I remember the Northrop flying wing in Air Trails magazine and I always wondered what happened to it well I was on youtube and came across John K Northrops final interview and in it he tells what happened to his airplane and his company. It will make you sick at the way he was treated by our government and what they did to the aircraft they had finished and under construction. If you have time it is a real eyeopener to raw power. Mr Northrop was very old in 1979 when it was done but he was sharp as a tack. Look for "John K Northrops final interview". The B49 was flying and was a six engined jet power work horse. Jeff

The YB-49 had eight engines, the B-47 had six.