In the late 1970's and early 1980's a rumor began to circulate through the aerospace industry. A rumor of a plane being built that could not be seen on radar, enter enemy airspace, deliver it's pay load and return undected.
This was the F-117 and B-2 Stealth aircraft being developed by the Lockheed Corporation and Northrup. These planes were so secret the public was unaware of their existence for over ten years. Being on a "Black Budget" in some cases even members congress were not aware of these program's.
Both planes have what is called a "lifting Body". This means the entire plane acts as a wing giving the aircraft more lifting capacity. Also a shorter amount of runway is needed due to the Short Take off and Landing ability of the planes.
But unknown to the general public a plane almost identical existed over forty years earlier. It was the YB-49 Flying Wing, developed by Jack Northrup and the Horten Brothers of Germany.
The Flying wing was one of the most innovation planes ever built. Unfortunately it went into service in 1947 after World War Two had ended and the DOD saw little use for it. The YB-49 was based on the design of the Chord Mono Plane built during World War One by Hugo Junkers, which was made of fabric.
The Flying Wing configuration was actually developed by the Horten Brothers of Germany during World War Two. The Horten Brothers noticed that a plane built out of the wing design had a very low radar signature.
When Germany fell and the allies moved in, a full scale prototype was discovered in a hanger in a remote part of the country. The allies were stunned by the level of technology, and quickly brought it back to the United States for back engineering.
Jack Northrup and the Horten Brothers were both working with the wing design and discovered also that the plane was extremely stable and was an ideal bombing platform.
The plane did have problems with the pitch and yaw though. There was very limited compartment space for the crew and munitions and the plane could at times be difficult to maneuver.
In 1950 the
plane was on a routine test run at Muroc Air Base when the plane "Red Lined". This means the plane exceeded it's airspeed and the skin peeled off.
The Wing crashed about eight miles from Mojave. This was near today's Edwards Air force base. The base is now named after the Co - Pilot, on board that day Glen Edwards. Edwards had been one of the pilots on Chuck Yager's flight in which he broke the sound barrier.
This was kept secret for several years.
At this Point the YB-49 Program was canceled due to lack of funding and the several accident's.
In the early 1980's production began on the B-2 Stealth Bomber which was almost an exact replica of the YB-49 . Jack Northrup finally saw his plane go into service before he passed away.
By
Kenneth Lafler
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