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The Northrop YB-49 was a prototype jet-powered Flying Wing heavy bomber aircraft developed by Northrop for the United States Air Force shortly after World War II. It was the jet development of the piston-engined Northrop XB-35 and YB-35 Flying Wing, and the two YB-49s actually built were both converted YB-35 test aircraft.
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Product Description
Length: 12"
Code: NC10227
With the XB-35 Flying Wing program seriously behind schedule by 1944, and the end of piston-engined combat aircraft in sight, the production contract for this propeller driven type was cancelled in May of that year. Nevertheless, the Flying Wing design was still sufficiently interesting to the Air Force that work was continued on testing a single YB-35A production aircraft. Among the aircraft later completed were two airframes that the Air Force ordered be fitted with jet propulsion and designated as YB-49s.
The first of these new YB-49 jet-powered aircraft flew on 21 October 1947 and immediately proved more promising than its piston-engined counterpart. The YB-49 set both an unofficial endurance record of staying continually above 40,000 ft (12,200 m) for six hours, and a trans-continental speed record, flying from Muroc Air Force Base in California to Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C. in 4 hours 20 minutes. The return flight from Andrews was marred by a multiple failure in six of the eight engines. Inspection after a successful emergency landing revealed no oil had been replaced in these engines after the Muroc-to-Andrews leg, raising a suspicion of industrial sabotage.[citation needed] The Air Force engineer in charge of this detail became ill shortly before the scheduled departure and did not accompany the YB-49 back to Muroc. He later died in a motorcycle accident under mysterious circumstances.
The second YB-49 was lost on 5 June 1948, killing its pilot, Major Daniel Forbes for whom Forbes Air Force Base was named, Captain Glen Edwards, copilot (after whom Edwards Air Force Base is named), and three other crew members, one of whom, Lt. Edward Lee Swindell was a crewmember on the Boeing B-29 that assisted Chuck Yeager in breaking the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 aircraft. Their aircraft suffered structural failure, with both outer wing sections becoming detached from the center section. Speculation at the time was that the YB-49 was lost due to excessive pullout loads imposed on the airframe when a planned stall recovery resulted in a high speed, nose-over dive. The post-stall high speed dive resulted from the Flying Wing's clean, low-drag design, which gave it a rapid speed increase in any type of dive.
The last operational YB-49 prototype was destroyed during high-speed taxi trials at Muroc Field. The nosewheel began to encounter severe vibration problems and finally collapsed. The aircraft was completely destroyed in the ensuing fire. The taxi trials took place with the YB-49's fuel tanks full, an unusual testing procedure, fanning further speculation of industrial sabotage of the aircraft.
The Air Force ordered the remaining uncompleted YB-35 piston-engined airframes be completed as production B-35B aircraft.
Bombing target tests showed a tendency of Flying Wings to "hunt" in yaw after turns and when flying in "disturbed" air, degraded bombing accuracy. It was thought that one of the new Honeywell autopilots, with yaw damping, would correct this flaw.
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