paulp (01/07/83)
The recent notes concerning the flying wing in RotLA reminded me of an
article that appeared in the September-October issue of General Aviation
News published by the DOT/FAA.
John Northrop re-joined Douglas Aircraft in 1932 and designed, among others,
the DC-1, DC-2, and the very successful DC-3. At the end of WW 2 he had
formed his own company and designed his 'dream plane', the Flying Wing.
At that time the Air Force was seeking a replacement for its long range
bomber, the B-29. The choice was narrowed down to Convair's B-36 or the
Flying Wing.
The aircraft was one huge swept back wing, resembling a boomerang, with
no fuselage, and with the cockpit, crew, engines, and bomb bay inside the
airfoil. The four engine prop model, the XB-35, was test flown in 1946.
It had 172 foot wingspan, a length of 53 feet, and stood 20 feet high.
Each engine had two counter-rotating pusher props developing 12K horse-
power. Load capacity was 73K pounds -- over 80% of its empty weight.
A B-727-200 weighs 98K pounds with a useful load of 40K pounds.
In 1947 the jet version of the XB-35, the YB-49, was built. Similar in
dimensions to the XB-35, its airspeed was on the order of 500 knots.
The YB-49 could deliver 37K pounds 1250 miles away in 2.5 hours. Normal
10K pound loads could be delivered up to 4K miles with ample fuel
reserves.
The Air Force was highly enthusiastic about the plane and contracted for
35 Flying Wings immediately with the possibility of 200 later. However
in October of 1949 the Secretary of the Air Force abruptly cancelled the
contract with no explanation. It was only in December of 1980, three
months before he died, that he stated the reason behind the cancellation.
The AF wanted Northrop to merge his small company with the larger Convair
Corporation. His refusal and continuing silence was to insure the
survival of his company, which depended on military contracts.
Paul Pomes
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