There were less than 6 YB49's ever built, the planes that were destroyed were the YB35 prototypes, which were the earlier propeller driven version. Northrop had converted a few of these to the jet powered YB49 version. Despite Northrop's hype, the YB49 had quite a few problems that would have taken several more years, and lots of money to work out. Meanwhile, the B36 and the B47 had been flight proven as suitable long and medium range bombers, and were ready to go. The YB35 and YB47 had been originally targeted for the role of the next long range bomber, but the '35 had prop and engine issues, and the jet powered YB47 didn't have the range required for the long range mission (the jet powered version's fuel consumption was higher than predicted), so it was retargeted at the medium range role. The flying wing didn't have the required yaw stability to qualify as a bombing platform for the Norden bomb sight. Northrop claimed that the Honeywell autopilot unit could correct the yaw stability, however even with this unit in place it still took too long for the remaining yaw oscillation to damp out, and this was a problem for high speed bombing runs. While the flying wing's technical problems could have been worked out, the air force was not willing to sink any more money into the project when Northrop's competition had already demonstrated suitable alternatives that were production ready. The current B2 uses 'control by wire' tech with computer aided control, so it does not suffer from the lack of yaw stability that the earlier flying wings did. Note that all flying wings, because of their thick air foils necessary to house the aircraft's cargo and crew, are limited to subsonic operation. While there may have been some politics involved, and perhaps even bribes, the fact remains that the flying wing, while it was a good flying aircraft, was ahead of it's time and was not ready for the military role. It's too bad that Northrop could not have developed the aircraft for civil aviation (airliner) use, but they didn't have the funding to continue the development, and would have had to start from scratch using the lessons learned on the YB49.

@rye_too_quick

5 жыл бұрын

I’m no expert but I believe the B-2 can at least get close to Mach 1. I’ve seen photographs of it with a large vapor cloud around it at high speed. I know his doesn’t mean it’s supersonic but it means it’s at least close correct? I’m guessing the b-2 could hit Mach 1 in a dive

@motorhead738

4 жыл бұрын

P

Jack was so far ahead of his own time. It makes me smile that he got to see the B-2 before he passed! What a true American Hero🙏🏻🇺🇸

@stevenschmidt1564

4 жыл бұрын

IXcc c v v

One of the test pilots said not to ever stall it. He said it flipped end over end until he was able to input full power and get it into a spin. He said he then was able to recover. He wrote a full page paper stating how to get out of the end over end flips. 172 foot wingspan. Exactly what the stealth bomber is also. Beautiful airplane.

@DoubleMrE

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah, that was Cardenas who said that (I forget his first name). The problem you talk about is what killed Glen Edwards (whom, the famous air force base was named after).

The main narrator of this film sounds like Paul Frees, who you might remember from such sci-fi classics as "The Thing From Another World" and "War of the Worlds".

@teto85

5 жыл бұрын

And Hardware Wars. And he voiced Boris Badenov in all those Rocky & Bullwinkle episodes.

@thepman1964

4 жыл бұрын

It IS Paul Frees narrating.

@aj-2savage896

3 жыл бұрын

Thought so.

@danf321

3 жыл бұрын

Ahh yes. I thought I recognized that voice. All needed was an alien👍

@danf321

3 жыл бұрын

And it was funny, War of the Worlds featured a Flying Wing that dropped an atomic bomb on the flying saucers.

Marvin Miller and Paul Frees were some the greatest voice over artists ever.

It crushed Jack Northrop when they ordered him to chop up those planes I'm glad he got to see that he was right and way ahead of his time besides being a genius it seemed like he was a nice gentleman

@siemensohm

4 жыл бұрын

lol, he just copied the Horten planes.

In good colour, finally!! Thanks Fred! I have a crummy B&W version (Don't get me wrong, I love B&W cinematography) uploaded, LOL. SDASM or Periscope has a version too, but not as good colour as this, thanks again.

@airailimages

7 жыл бұрын

Glad you like it! Can you imagine if the airliner/transport version had been built?

Flying Wings were envisioned before flight itself was ever achieved. Those who saw stingrays gliding gracefully through the water centuries earlier knew that propulsion systems would have to be developed. Children dropping stones in clear water soon learned the basic dynamics of objects and their shapes. Launching spears showed the usefulness of weapons that enabled killing from a remote distance. It just took time for technology to develope.

1:15 "... the plane of tomorrow is flying today." How prescient, except it wasn't the right today.

The optimism of the 50's. Still waiting for my flying car....

One of America's greatest engineering feats when considering the B2 came along years later.

@Suddenlyits1960

2 жыл бұрын

The B2 lacks the beauty and futuristic look of these magnificent early wings.

I bet my buddy Dave would have loved this video. He flew the N9MB, the prototype to the full sized flying wing.

@wilburfinnigan2142

5 жыл бұрын

Sam Too bad they crashed the last flying version of the N9M !!!!!!

No mention of the abandoned prop B-35 wing it came from. Replacing with jet engines did not change that it was a prop-era airfoil and also put it in the medium-range category where it was in losing competition with the B-47.

A marvellous film; thank you.

@airailimages

5 жыл бұрын

And thank you for watching and commenting.

August 3, 2020----Got one of these kits in 1/72 scale. Right now I'm into 1/35th zombie/apocalypse dioramas, but plan on doing a USAAF '46 version of many of the Luftwaffe '46 aircraft eventually. Thanks for the video.

@airailimages

4 жыл бұрын

And thanks for watching!

Loved the way the film ended, the wing banking close a full 90 degrees. How much altitude was lost in that example? Remember the si-fi tv show of the 70's which displayed one of the wings actually banking at 90 rotation? 2 questions: #1 What actually happened to cause the crash that killed Edwards, for whom Edwards AFB is named? #2 Didn't one of the earlier one man (experimental) prototypes end up in an air museum in the US?

They should have developed and mass produced this instead of the B-52.

Just before he died, Jack Northrop was wheeled into a secret hangar at the company to see a mock up of the B-2 Stealth Bomber. Paralyzed and unable to speak, he wrote ""Now I know why God has allowed me to live for so long."

BTW, the narrator at 2:58, character actor John Gallaudet, played Steve Douglas's boss on "My Three Sons"'. :-) Great to see your channel growing, looking good!

@airailimages

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks Chris, and happy New Year!

Size of the tyres. You have to think a couple of farmers are out their wondering where their tyres have gone. The idea of flying wing passenger aircraft has been mentioned a number of times but no one seems to want to take that step. From what I have read it would no only be much more efficient way of flying it would be able to carry many more passengers.

Obrigado por compartilhar , eu amo esses vídeos antigos , muita informação precisa e peculiar .

@airailimages

5 жыл бұрын

Você é bem vindo! Obrigado por assistir e comentar.

It was not viable as a stable bombing platform pre computer. B-2 has the has the system to control stable pitch.

The YB-49 was canceled mostly out of general political corruption. A certain Senator on the Armed Services Committee held a certain interest in Consolidated Aircraft who was in competition for federal dollars with the obviously obsolete XB-36. Consolidated had more political mojo and we know the rest of the story. The Air Force got an outdated and very clumsy airborne target and the YB-49's were broken up (13 aircraft I think) on the ramp before comprehensive flight testing was completed. All traces of the plane were erased. Kinda sound like the C-27 and the improved models of the F - 22.

@magister61

5 жыл бұрын

Each time in the past when a prototypes of a new and revolutionary aircraft were destroyed surely there was corruption. There no are true reasons to destroy anything

Paul Frees doing the narraion

The Flying Wing carried the Atomic Bomb that was dropped on the Martians in THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, but George Pal should have used it to drop the bomb on that Senator who had a financial and political investment in Consolidated Airlines. Hope he's got plenty of sun tan lotion where he's going!

LOS MEJORES EN AVIACIÓN , SIN DUDA ALGUNA

@airailimages

5 жыл бұрын

Gracias por ver y comentar.

Pity, we still do not have flying wings to replace the concord

THE UK as always in this historical time frame already had a flying wing . The Armstrong Whitworth AW 52 .

@bigblue6917

5 жыл бұрын

Both aircraft were ahead of their time. When the Armstrong Whitworth AW 52 crashed the pilot ejected using a Martin Baker ejection seat which was the first time one had been used for real. Ironically once out of the aircraft the problem resolved itself and the aircraft glided down to land itself in open country with relatively little damage.

@FIREBRAND38

4 жыл бұрын

Horsecrap. The first flight of the AW 52 was 1947 well after the XB-35 and about par with the YB-49. You're also forgetting the Norhrop N1M & N9M flying winds in the early 1940's.

@karlhubben8009

2 жыл бұрын

And who build really the first jet powered flying wing a few years earlier??

What A Beautiful Aircraft and Then They Were ordered to be cut up Just like The Avro Arrow Project, The Damage Politicians can do to set back Advancements in Science and Research.

What ever you do “Just don’t stall the damn thing”! 😳

Looks like it has mag wheels and big tires just like a hot rod and two fours (jet engines)

Great design but never came to life as a passenger cruiser though

I'm surprised it has no dihedral. The N9-M did, as did most of the Horton designs.

@wilburfinnigan2142

5 жыл бұрын

fromkentucky And NONE of the Hortons were successful either. Crashed !!!!

So now all we need is a full set of phaser Banks a couple of Photon Cannons (P.C's) and a Cloaking Device(CD). But where to install the Warp Drive? (WD40)🤔🤔🤔. L.L.&P 🖖 🖖🖖

I'm convinced!!.....oh..yeah. 🙄

Very small load capabilities. Only useful to deliver the bomb quickly and fast with low radar profile.

11 people dislike. That just confounds the heck out me. What's not to like? Must be trolls from the swamp.

@jessfrankel5212

3 жыл бұрын

Probably descendents of Symington...

Hello very efficient never got in production, and the newest never got into combat. Saludos

@maximiliannetzow3595

4 жыл бұрын

Ñ

I guess the skeptic guy was right.

The term "flying wing" has always amused me. Don't all wings fly? Well, except the wings of hospitals and libraries.

Why did it disappear for decades?

@airailimages

5 жыл бұрын

Several reasons; computerized flight controls help make the B-2 viable today. The controls are constantly "dithering", responding much like the feathers of a bird to keep the B-2 stable and on track at all times; the original flying wings were all manual in that regard.

@FiveCentsPlease

5 жыл бұрын

+John Walters Stability problems in flight without modern computer controls, although Northrop had sorted some of the problems out in the last models. The entire program was ordered scrapped and destroyed by the Sec. of the Air Force, party to punish Northrop for not following his pressure to merge with Convair. So the Air Force got the elegant but impractical B-36 for a few years.

they didnt have the technology back then to fly by wire like b-2 does now!!

It's saddening for flying wing bomber were canceled because accident caused it by flipping over as pilot unable control it . It's not easy flying wing . After years , newly advanced technology flying wing bomber B-2 Flying thanks to computer technology helping pilots flying better . It's very expensive plane as built 21 planes only , leave 20 planes left after one crashed . In 2020 new B-21 flying wing bomber as Air Force wants 100 bombers . There are no first flying wing bombers in any museums after canceled then few flying wing bombers were destroyed because top secret advanced technology won't fell into wrong hands . My boyfriend type on my iPhone:

@howardlittman269

4 жыл бұрын

The accident report, after it was declassified, gave the cause as pilot error. Capt. Edwards exceeded the limiting mach number in a dive and pulled out too sharply. The G force was over the design load causing a structural failure in the joints where the outer wing panels attached to the center section tearing them off. The center section went straight into the ground. The tumbling reported by observers was the outer wing panels falling to the ground. It did not flip over and had undergone stall tests where the stall characteristics were found to be quite normal. Another fallacy about the B-49 was that you can't put flaps on a flying wing. Just look at movies of it taking off and landing.

Why didn't they at least try a small verticle tail surface?

@shawnmccrary5526

6 жыл бұрын

Larry 21603 because it was parasitic drag and the aircraft didn’t need it. It did have 4 small vertical stabilizers near the engine exhausts. Basically so it would fly straight.

@Larry-ct5mg

6 жыл бұрын

"didn't need it." It was yaw unstable enough to crash in the hands of test pilots.

8:56 never happened

Saya lebih menyukai pesawat northorp daripada pesawat horten

@airailimages

4 жыл бұрын

Ya, reka bentuk Northrop kelihatan bagus. Terima kasih kerana menonton.

@andesuganda6177

4 жыл бұрын

@@airailimages sama sama

He just copied the Horton 229... Some genius.

@airailimages

Жыл бұрын

Hey, thanks for watching. But regarding who came first, Jack Northrop's 1942 N9M flying wing was a one-third scale flying proof of concept variant for the B-35 and B-49 that followed, so the timeline does not suggest Northrop copied Horten.

hey?, that's a Horton!

@wilburfinnigan2142

5 жыл бұрын

Henry Horton never came close to having a LARGE flying wing !!! ALL that ever flew were scaled models and the second version crashed and killed the pilot on the second flight !!! DO the research dumb ass !!! Jack Northrop was years ahead in flying wings !!!

It was Sabatoge that killed mr Edwards and the Flying Wing

Politics killed these birds.

the first two sentences are outrageous lies

@peterson7082

5 жыл бұрын

?