YB-49 Flying Wing
The YB-49 is a prototype strategic bomber manufactured by Northrop Corporation for the United States Air Force. It was developed from the YB-35. The YB-49 was designed by Jack Northrop.
On March 14, 1950, flight testing of the remaining YB-49 prototype ended and the program was cancelled completely. YB-49’s maiden flight was on October 21, 1947 and has immediately proved to be more promising than its piston-engined counterpart. YB-49 didn’t enter production. Coincidentally YB-49 suffered a high speed taxiing accident and was totally destroyed by fire. The YB-49 and its modern counterpart, the B-2, whichwere both build by Northrop, have the same and exact wingspan. YB-49 set an unofficial endurance record of staying continually above 40,000 ft for six hours and a transcontinental speed record, having flown from Muroc Air Base in California to Andrews Air Force Base in 4 hours 20 minutes. On June 5, 1948, the second YB-49 was lost, killing its pilot, Major Daniel Forbes, Captain Glen Edwards and three other crew members.
YB-49 suffered structural failure, with the outer wing sections detached from the center section. The remaining uncompleted YB-35 completed as B-35Bs were ordered by the Air Force and were similarly identical to the YRB-49A. YB-49 had a number of severe design limitations. It retained the B-35’s very thick airfoil section designed for cruising at 240 mph but it gave the aircraft a low Mach limit. The bomb cells were also incapable of holding the first generations of American atomic weapons such as the Mk III, IV and VI. The YB-49 has a crew of 7. It has a maximum speed of 495 mph and maximum range of 9,978 mi. The armament include 4 .50 in machine guns and 32,000 lb bombs. YB-49 incorporates 8 Allison/General Electric J35-A-5 turbojets.
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