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Before Its Time


Subdeacon Joe

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John Northrop would not agree to the Air Force wanting Northrop to merge with Convair.

Also at the time, Northrop's XB-35 was completing with the Convair B-36.

The air force preferred the B-36 Design.

Politics got involved and Northrop was on the wrong side.

The flying wing contracts were canceled and the planes destroyed.

 

As far as I know only the Northrop N-9M still exists.

It is restored after years of moving around to keep it hidden and now lives at the Chino, CA Air Museum

 

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1 hour ago, Cliff Hanger #3720LR said:

 

As far as I know only the Northrop N-9M still exists.

It is restored after years of moving around to keep it hidden and now lives at the Chino, CA Air Museum

 

 

Alas... she was lost just about two years ago.  :(

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Northrop_N-9M_crash

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:rolleyes:  Pretty Close Cliff Hanger 

 

The problem was the then Secretary, Stewart Simington (sic) who was financially involved with Convair.  His demand was that Nortrup should merge.  Northrup told him to go pound sand.  The military immediately went out and bought a obsolete airplane for an obscene amount of money.  Simington also ordered ALL existing examples of the B49 be destroyed.  What a Putz.

 

Stay Safe Out There 

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Apart from the political story, part of the problem with the flying wing at that time was inherent instability.  It wasn't until advancements in computer technology made stability without human input possible that the flying wing has become practicable in the B-2 and B-21.  The same is actually true in "standard" configuration fighters.  F-16's, F-22's and F-35's are inherently unstable (which is what makes them so agile).  "Fly-by-wire" makes them controllable by the pilots. 

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