Wouldn't this be a very difficult plane to fly without the use of computers? The B2's computers do all of the flying. The control stick is for telling the computer where you want to go and the computer will make the necessary adjustments.
Actually, you may have gotten this impression from a number of people on YouTube trying to throw cold water on the capabilities of Northrop's wings in an effort to cast a favorable view of the Horten's wings or the unfounded claims of old USAF test pilots with personal agendas. These planes were exceptionally maneuverable with manual control and the YB49 only needed Honeywell's "Little Herbert" stability augmenter to cancel minor "dutch roll" in bombing runs.
@wandawong No, I made that conclusion on my own. I always loved airplanes and was intrigued by odd designs. I always thought that design would be unstable and the use of computers would make it flyable. Just like some of the new fighter that are designed to be unstable like the F-16 where it is the computer is what keeps the plane in the air. All the pilot does is tell it where he wants to go via the stick, and the computer would make all the necessary adjustments.
No, it was not difficult to fly. The man who flew these the most was Max Stanley and he always said that the YB49, especially, was "...a pleasure to fly." Even the YB49 with its102 foot wingspan could actually turn within the minimum turning radius of the best USAF fighters of the day.
@wandawong I was thinking that without a tail, flying something this shape would be a handful since the nose would want to pitch up and down. I am actually kind of surprised we haven't seen any commercial passenger aircraft use the flying wing design since it is so efficient, and I always thought none have ever made because of the inherent stability in the design. Of course, that could also be due to the feds and FAA too I guess.
Thank you for sharing this footage. I didn't know that there was still a flyable "9" in existance. A long time friend who died about 10 years ago worked for Northrop and in the flying wing program. He would be so proud to see this prototype fly again.
I very much enjoyed viewing this very rare plane. I marvel at the work and dedication. Thank you for showing it and thanks to the builder(s) who did such a marvelous job.
Was this aircraft once owned by the U.S. airforce?
Is this the aircraft that will fly to half moon bay 20 miles south of San Fran on may 1st? And if it is, how long will that flight take? Refueling needed? Is the aircraft air conditioned? Does the pilot wear a parachute?
@barmtrail: This is the only 1/3-scale Northrop flying-wing demonstrators surviving today. It first flew in 1942 and served as a technology demonstrator and also as a trainer for future flying-wing test pilots. It took 13 years to restore this aircraft to flying condition and it very recently (within the past year) received a complete, two-engine overhaul (a story in itself due to the extreme rarity of the Menasco eight-cylinder engines-only three in existence!).
@barmtrail This does indeed look like the Flying Wing I saw at Dream Machines 2011 in Half Moon Bay yesterday, May 1st. Yellow on top, grey on the bottom, same engine noise. Probably the most impressive flying machine I have ever seen in all my (previous) years of flying and aviation enthusiasm (except the Shuttle launch I saw in 1985.) He circled around many, many times all day, and at about 3:45PM came across runway heading one last time, wagged his wings goodbye, and departed to the North.
@ZenZaBill I really wanted to get up their for the show this year but could not make it. How is the half moon bay airshow? Did they make this aircraft to help familiarize pilots who were going to fly the actual larger aircaft?
At first sight I thought, Oh wow a stealth bomber, but then I heard it.
We get lots of planes overhead, so I thought that there was another twin somewhere. When I realized the sound was coming from the flying wing, I knew that I was seeing something truly extraordinary. I couldn't get my camera out quick enough to snap a photo.
@jetviewer: Yes, that was the 'Wing that you saw. It was flown from Chino to the Palm Springs Air Museum for one of their events and came back that same afternoon. That aircraft has a very unusual sound, doesn't it?
Beautiful design. The Ho-229 prototype crashed however, but not before flying 960KPH. Northrops actual planes, the American Flying wings, flew many more hours succesfully, carried bigger payloads, flew longer and were much more radar stealthy than the Horton designs. To be fair, the American B-2 body has about 60% Horton and 40% Northrop in it. But the avionics drerived from research and actual use can be attributed about 50% Northrop, 15% Horton and 35% other.
Personally I don't think this plane should fly, it is too rare.... Love it but would like to preserve it. Keep it in flying condition, taxi it show it but don't fly it.
A facinating bit of history there. But given that this is the very last of these planes and the fact that the engines are virtually irreplaceable AND that it is difficult to fly I wonder if history is best served by keeping it in the air. In a museum it will always be there for future generations to see.
@tpsossff Keeping the plane airworthy will guarentee its well cared for. Seeing this elegant shape in the skies is a tribute to Mr. Northrop to keep his memory alive.
too bad NONE of the big brothers flying wings survived !it would have been magnificient to see both types XB-35 and YB-49 flying nowadays together...with the B-2 !i am still puzzled why all the Northrop aircraft were chopped up just for the sake of some unpaid parcing fees to the USAF !was this the real reason ?nobody seems to know or able to tell the real answer.
Somehow I was expecting the bomber that I saw in the first "War of the Worlds" movie. Dream on. Somehow, in a way, though, this is even better. A much smaller version to delight the airshow crowd. Great video of a plane that I never knew existed.
@EnterpriseXI : This video was taken shortly before "the wing" had an engine fire that grounded it for about 4 years. There were other engine problems also with the very rare 8-cylinder Franklin engines. I'm happy to say that, as of 2 weeks ago, she is back in the air and she flew in the annual Planes of Fame airshow May 15 + 16, 2010. Both engines were completely rebuilt. Not an easy task considering that there are only 3 left in the world of the 27 originally made.
@EnterpriseXI it was those old ass motors they're using backfiring... i truly love flying, but if my bird ever back fired like that during a slow taxi... i'd be turned around and pulling into the mechanics bay! you can't fly when your DEAD! another thing i don't get is why all small plane pilots don't use chutes on their birds. sure, it was a $6,000 investment for me, but well worth the cost i think.
A very important fact is being overlooked here due to politics. I am always in awe as to what can come from the minds of man and be displayed here in action. There was some quantum leaps made by both sides that we benefit from today.
Yes, and you can also push on both pedals at once and cause both of the the "aileron/spoilers" on the wings to open up on take off, thereby severely slowing the take-off acceleration rate. Virtually every pilot that has ever flown this aircraft has committed this error, ha! This is a very different type of control system to fly and it is difficult to fly well.
pretty cool, a lot of guys have model flying wings at the Rose Bowl, they fly fast or slow to a crawl and very manuoverable and stable at all speeds, Because of where the engines are mounted, they are loud!
There is no way I would fly a plane like that not for any amount of money. It is dangerously unstable and a death trap for sure. The designers of this plane should have been able to know that stability would be a major issue with something like this. It will stay in the air under ideal conditions with an expert pilot but that is about it.
No, as of November 2009 this aircraft is not yet flying after experiencing an engine fire in 2006. The engines in this aircraft are very rare 300-horsepower Franklin 0-540-7, 8-cylinder engines. Both engines are in need of rebuilding. Of the 27 of these engines originally built only 3 are known to still exist and two of them are on this aircraft. New cylinder heads are needed for the rebuilds. HOWEVER, new cylinder heads are currently being manufactured from scratch.
the original concept came from austria and the hortens had their first prototypes flying in the early 30's. the final one from 1942 is stored and rusting near washington DC and would put northropp's "copy" to shame. there was a documentary showing the horten prototypes flying on TV. my jaw literally dropped open seeing it.
some people just have a hard time admitting that the germans and austrians developed and even made this concept stable. it is a known fact that northropp needed in the 80's 6 fridge-sized computers due to stability issues to have their bomber flying well. even RC models fly better than the northropp planes. furtheron the prototype and the construction papers were stolen and available to northropp and "they did not understand it" was one of the hortens last statement in the 90's about it.
Jack Northrop was also testing "flying wings" in the 30's. And he also built what the Germans only dreamed of, the YB-35 and the YB-49. And the Northrop company built the only current in service flying wing, the B-2 bomber. Everything the Germans tried pales in comparison.
WTF is wrong with you? I'm not defending the germans I'm just trying to discuss something...looks like you can't have a conversation like an adult....
dogsbd, the fact is, that northrop worked on Horten prototypes to design the B-2, wich iwas clearly inspired by it.
the YB 35 and YB-49 were never used because they were poorly designed, while the Ho 229 could out-speed and out-turn the best jet fighter of its time the Me 262, and even came close to Göring's 1000-1000-1000 doctrine.
I hate the way you guys can't just admit that german technology was waaay ahead of US.
Nearly everything they create even nowadays is based on nazi technologies.
By "worked on" I assume you mean studied. But, do you know this for a fact? It wouldn't be unusual however, all companies study previous works in their field. The Hortens didn't work in a vacuum either, I'll bet they studied what they could find of Jack Northrops flying wing designs. The Northrop YB bombers were excellent aircraft, politics killed them not design issues. And the US P80 was a better fighter than the Me262, so much for Nazi superiority.
First flight: Me 262 A-1a 18 July 1942 / P80A 8 January 1944.
In 2 years many thing had changed. If you want to compare the P80 with a german plane, you'd better compare it with the prototypes and projects of the end of the war, like the Me 262 HG II and HG III, the Lippisch P.13a, Horten Ho XIII and so on..
@neoromantism Chill out some people are simply misinformend and others have their reason to dislike nazi's you dont need to shoot off your mouth and convince them enough people are out their that know all about nazi tech. so you need to hang with them. BTW the foo fighter is flying watch for it soon.
@neoromantism Drivel. Having advanced, interesting designs and prototypes is a long, long way from having production-ready, weaponized systems. The U.S. put the bias of its resources into building fieldable weapons in mass quantities that were superior to the enemies'. It succeeded. The U.S. is also responsible for developing and fielding the most exotic technology of the war by far--the atomic bomb.
@AryanScot - wasn't stealth, and the HoIXv3 prototype crashed after only two hours in the air, and it wasn't followed up on by any other nation ever again, so a footnote at best.
@dogsbd@iowa61 If you watch this video " Northrop Aircraft 1" you will see the 1st Northrop twin engine Flying NM1 that flew in 1940 years ahead of stupid Krauts. Northrop had been developing the flying wing with engines from 1933.
so did the Ho229... being a test pilot was an extremely hazardous job in the 1920's thru 40's, US military pilots received hazard pay for volunteering.
Love the story on this plane. It was baught as scrap, and hauled out in parts. It was then stored till they were cleaning out. Imagine opening up a crate and finding a Flying wing! An aircraft thought totaly lost in time
Yeah. Guess it's a freakin' miracle we beat Germany and Japan's pathetic asses like a drum... what will all the stolen ideas and second rate equipment we had. You know. Like the ESSEX class carrier, IOWA class battleship, TOT artillery, M1 Garand, P-51 Mustang, and that last little ol' thing... what was that? Oh yeah. The Atom bomb... Get a life. Read a book.
Always thought it odd, though, that, while American planes and ships were, indeed, among the best, the tanks - or rather the tank - was frankly junk, at least right until the very end of the war.
I expect patriots will castigate me for this, but let's be honest: the Sherman was junk, wasn't it.
The Sherman had many favorable attributes. Fast, reliable, good range, easy to repair, adaptable. It was simply outclassed in size and power by the German Panther and Tiger tanks. Early US tank doctrine was flawed and exposed the Sherman to its greatest disadavantage. The M-26 Pershing with it's 90mm gun and big, tough design was more than a match for either the Tiger or Panther. Arriving too late in the war, it was however a decisive factor in seizing the Ludendorf Bridge at Remagen...
@iowa61 you didn't really beat germany's ass... the soviet union did. with over two times as much personell and about thre times more casualties then all the other allies combined. Without the communists you would have had your asses handed to you. the third reich was generally more advanced technologically (guess what, by 1945 they had nuclear capability too, they just lacked the infrastructure to build a bomb, because russia was kicking their ass) and a beter run military industrial complex.
@Thescarydutchman What a bunch of revisionist crap. Certainly the Soviets contributed to Germany's demise (with much assistance from Lend Lease aid) primarily through overwhelming numbers at the tactical level. They waged very little in the way of a strategic war against Germany and didn't even participate in the Pacific Theater. I won't even dignify the assertion the Nazis were more technologically advanced than the West with a reply. That is utter nonsense on the face of it.
@iowa61 at the start of the war and throughout the nazi's have managed to field the most advanced military hardware, from the panzers to the messerschmids, everything they deployed was way ahead of the competition. Even at the end of the war when their military industrial complex lay in ruins they managed to deploy the first operational jet fighter. the only thing that has halted, and could have halted, the nazi march rise to power was the behemoth known as the soviet union.
Not wishing to get into a long running debate, I think it's safe to say that the German aeronautical industry fielded more technologically advanced aircraft right up until the end of the war. Like their tanks though, there were not enough of them, crews for them or fuel to operate them. Thankfully, the German leadership made many huge tactical blunders, two of which were not developing long range heavy bombers & wasting time developing the Me262 as a fighter bomber instead of a pure fighter.
@pete2778 - no, it isn't safe to say, unless you are talking about subs or rockets.
The Western Allies chose not to put jets on the front burner, the Nazi's chose to put everything on the front burner. The Western Allies were winning, handily, without forcing thru untested new technology, and to be fair they never needed it.
@iowa61 america was the only cuntry that beat the enemies of the day ........ and by the way it was called a WORLD war for a reason....... it took an attack on a holiday destination to get the your cuntry to get off it's arse
@iowa61 Actually the reason you won was because you had far greater natural resources and an Ally in the form of the USSR who had even greater resources than you.
You didn't create the Me262. Those flying discs yanks have been seeing since 1947 came from Germany too.
I'm not sure if the Atom bomb is one to be proud of.
Even if germany was able to get all her advanced designs into the air flying, they would only have slowed down the American and Russian war machines slightly. If germany resisted or refused to surrender, a few atomics on Berlin, Munich, Koln and a few other cities would have finished the show. Porud? Was germany proud of attacking Poland? Was Germany proud of its Blitz and total war? The object is to win a war.
@stonethemason Was Poland proud of slaughtering thousands of ethnic Germans in Silesia and Western Prussia? Was Poland proud of sabotaging Danzig (which was 99% German)? Was Poland proud of mobilizing it's forces? Was Poland proud of rejecting Germany's VERY generous peace settlements? Were the Democratic Allies proud of killing 1 MILLION civilians in their terror bombings across Europe? (Which, by the way, they started. Hitler embargoes the use of civilian terror bombing)
@iowa61 If you watch this video " Northrop Aircraft 1" you will see the 1st Northrop twin engine Flying NM1 that flew in 1940 years of the Krauts. Northrop had been developing the flying with engines from 1933. There were twin-engine powered prototypes that flew in the 1930. Don't believe lying Nazi loving Krauts who say did it first Robert Nrothropp was years ahead of the Krauts + USA Airforce had a jet proto-type that flew N 1945. When it comes to aviation USA in Number One!!! + Germans Suck!
@LottoWinner999 Well, of course they don't suck. But the ongoing fascination with Nazi Germany and associated compulsion to exaggerate the regime's scientific and military achievements is just plain psycho...
Unfortunately for Germany, Hitler didn't know what to do with it and they spent too much time developing different rocket planes and fanciful (innovative however they may have been) concepts instead of actual war fighting weapons. Good gravy, too much nationalist weening-wagging. Just watch the videos
They had something better in the F1, but they decided to go with the F89, but it was under-powered. Along came the F80/P80, which was the best jet in the air until the Meteor II and the 2nd generation Russian jets showed up...
As well, the ME262 was useful for about a week before the P51 pilots realised that they could easily turn inside it and shoot it down...
Huh? Better at what? The Me 262 was a great achievement; it did nothing to alter the course of the war and more advanced designs were in the skies in a year.
They did that already during the war. As weapons, war winning weapons, most american airplanes were better than the Me 262. Me 262 is a good instructional example of how you lose a war technologically. And so is the Tiger tank and rocket program. You make something you can't afford, that drains resources, and won't have noticable impact on the war.
Finally the german jet engines were junk and the P-80 flew operationally in Italy in WW2, and overall it has to rate as a much better combat jet.
1 Operational testing. (You don't send aircraft to Italy during wartime to test them.)
2 No. The british engine was more flyable, thermodynamically efficient and longer lasting. Initial problems with P80's engine could be solved, since it was a more sensible design. Whereas the problems with axial engines weren't solved until much later by P&W (twin spool) and GE (variable stator).
3. With 1 to 10 hour engine life? Industrial fantasy. Me262 wasn't quite good enough. Great plane, but,..
Yeah one thing is TRUE americans steal technology. look at the poor guy who invented the intermittent wiper. look who put them on the moon. and look who hates the truth dick head Lotto that's who you have sooo much technology you can't even make anything. no radios, TV, wahers, dryers, refrigirators, computers, telephones, shirts, pants, shoes, sneakers, steel, now even chocolates. Herseys are made in Mexico. Stupis Lotto what do you make here?
which was the true first flying wing the ho-9 or the one showed here, id love to know and please no bull il verify the info sent to me so be truthfull!! jesus is watching!
6. 1941: Northrop completes N1M fighter mock-up and four N9M Bomber mockups to be used in training and testing.
7. 1944: Hortens complete HoIXv1 glider, then the HoIXv2 prototype.
8. 1944: Northrop completes the XB35 Heavy Bomber.
9. 1945: The larger HoIXv3 pre-production prototype intended to lead to the 20 Ho 229 A-0 day fighters ordered into production. Work was also started on 4 other variants.
10. 1945: V1 glider and partially completed V3 prototype captured by advancing US troops.
11. 1947 Northrop completes YB49 Bomber, US goes with the B36 for political reasons, and the fact that Northrop wasn't, personally, well-liked since he wasn't a "Corporate Man"...
Post-war: Hortens split up and despite attempts, no further aircraft are completed.
Northrop continues to build dozens more successful aircraft before his death.
Why did he take off downwind? and if one engine quit then wouldn't that mean certain death? unless he was able to get the other engine shut off quick enough.
If the left engine needs parts disassemble the right engine and reverse engineer it. The plane does not need an assembled engine right now since it is going nowhere until the new parts are made. Better than twiddling your thumbs waiting for maybe non-existent blueprints to show up.
What a load of moronic garbage some people do spout. (I'm referring to the foul mouthed moron calling themselves Sombomobobmo or whatever). Please, if you want to pour out your foul mouthed drivel, please do it on something more appropriate and leave us who just want to watch the planes in peace? I do thank you very much indeed.
Jack Northrop startet his dreams and first plans of a tailless airplane when he was just a kid. This idea evolved through a series of experimental model airplane designs. Much later as a full size airplane designer, he started to realize his dreams of a flying wing, wich culiminated in the YB-49 design. Jacks design was not influenced by the Horten Brothers design, and vice versa. In history it is not uncommon, that the same ideas evolve in different places, without direct influence.
idoit the northrop wing & horten wing where designed independantly of each other no one stole anything , northrop had nothing to do with the hortons and vise versa ,
Ok first of all, I don't read stuff on Hitler because the idea of an evil homosexual dictator, you gotta admit thats a little weird. Then, since when did I mention anything about a football game? Also, I don't take the idea of someone calling me the enemy lightly. Still, even though it didn't get in the air, thank god for it, that thing still looks cool. Your still a pussy, lol....
Up yours. And who the hell is Mein Kampf? Some book worm who thinks he knows every thing? Oh, and just to get ahead in this argument, I never said I did. I just said I study war. This means that I study tactics and weapons. Not to mention battles. So, if you think YOUR so smart, then what is the name of the tactic where you allow the enemy to advance down the middle, leave a line to hold an end position, advance up the sides, and flank or trap them. Now lets see who knows what. Pussy!
The Germans did NOT invent the tailess, flying wing. The Americans didn't either. It was actually invented by the French.
The credit for designing and -flying- the first tailless aircraft in Europe goes to the distinguished Danish inventor, Jacob Christian Ellehammer. The Germans had many great minds. But.. Saying the Americans "stole" the flying wing idea from the Germans is far-fetched. Many contributed to the concept.
first of all, im not the neo fascist naxi that you think I am, the germans would have won the fucking war if it werent for little supplies, one of these designs being the Ho 229. the nazi had mmany concepts before this. LEarn some history, and if someone tells the truth, they aint a nazi.
well, well fagot. I'm not german nor a neo nazi. Actually read and learn about the me-262 before you make a random comment. The me-262 was the fastest fighter and in a dive it is said to have possibly broken the sound barrier but not documented.
Actually the Germans made the flying wing and America stole it along with most other things they claim to be their own? Computers, jet engine, rockets ect... to name but a few? :-)
this is actually quite true, a german designed the computer first, the first jet airplane was german, and the first flying wing was designed by a a german during WWII.
Watch the video called "So you dont like America or Americans" for a more complete list of what America has given to the world. That does not diminish the accomplishments of other nations, but we have done more. We have gone farther, faster and deeper that all of the other nations combined. But I think penicillin may be the greatest discovery so far. The discovery of penicillin is attributed to the Scottish scientist Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928. Every nation contributes to the world.
I'm sorry, there is only ONE of these planes left and the owner thinks it is a good idea to fly it? Isn't that taking a big chance that has no payoff?
You guys are retarded. Fighting over whos country is best with aviation, good airplane designs have come from everywhere, if it flys good I could give a f*ck less where it came from.
Never claimed that there was no US supersonic flight or that US was not first on Moon or Mars. Feel free to actually read my comments (if you know how) and then respond.
...and the United States still has not produced a supersonic passenger jet, and had a useful, working jet fighter only after WWII when the ME262 was captured by the allies.
that's a weird shape for a coffin, but to each his own I guess
aseglkj 1 month ago
Wouldn't this be a very difficult plane to fly without the use of computers? The B2's computers do all of the flying. The control stick is for telling the computer where you want to go and the computer will make the necessary adjustments.
The old prototype had none of that.
maddogmcrae 4 months ago
@maddogmcrae
Actually, you may have gotten this impression from a number of people on YouTube trying to throw cold water on the capabilities of Northrop's wings in an effort to cast a favorable view of the Horten's wings or the unfounded claims of old USAF test pilots with personal agendas. These planes were exceptionally maneuverable with manual control and the YB49 only needed Honeywell's "Little Herbert" stability augmenter to cancel minor "dutch roll" in bombing runs.
wandawong 3 months ago
@wandawong No, I made that conclusion on my own. I always loved airplanes and was intrigued by odd designs. I always thought that design would be unstable and the use of computers would make it flyable. Just like some of the new fighter that are designed to be unstable like the F-16 where it is the computer is what keeps the plane in the air. All the pilot does is tell it where he wants to go via the stick, and the computer would make all the necessary adjustments.
maddogmcrae 3 months ago
I imagine this aircraft must be a really wobbly goblin to fly.
workingstiff76 5 months ago
@workingstiff76
No, it was not difficult to fly. The man who flew these the most was Max Stanley and he always said that the YB49, especially, was "...a pleasure to fly." Even the YB49 with its102 foot wingspan could actually turn within the minimum turning radius of the best USAF fighters of the day.
wandawong 3 months ago
@wandawong I was thinking that without a tail, flying something this shape would be a handful since the nose would want to pitch up and down. I am actually kind of surprised we haven't seen any commercial passenger aircraft use the flying wing design since it is so efficient, and I always thought none have ever made because of the inherent stability in the design. Of course, that could also be due to the feds and FAA too I guess.
workingstiff76 3 months ago
Incredible... Northrup was certainly ahead of his time. Great video.
RoninTXBR549 5 months ago
Thank you for sharing this footage. I didn't know that there was still a flyable "9" in existance. A long time friend who died about 10 years ago worked for Northrop and in the flying wing program. He would be so proud to see this prototype fly again.
RonBand01 5 months ago
This is so cool
benbuford 6 months ago
I very much enjoyed viewing this very rare plane. I marvel at the work and dedication. Thank you for showing it and thanks to the builder(s) who did such a marvelous job.
MrToshTogo 8 months ago
Was this aircraft once owned by the U.S. airforce?
Is this the aircraft that will fly to half moon bay 20 miles south of San Fran on may 1st? And if it is, how long will that flight take? Refueling needed? Is the aircraft air conditioned? Does the pilot wear a parachute?
barmtrail 10 months ago
@barmtrail: This is the only 1/3-scale Northrop flying-wing demonstrators surviving today. It first flew in 1942 and served as a technology demonstrator and also as a trainer for future flying-wing test pilots. It took 13 years to restore this aircraft to flying condition and it very recently (within the past year) received a complete, two-engine overhaul (a story in itself due to the extreme rarity of the Menasco eight-cylinder engines-only three in existence!).
octane130 10 months ago 3
@octane130
So no other motors in the world would fit?
TheRattleSnake3145 3 weeks ago
@barmtrail This does indeed look like the Flying Wing I saw at Dream Machines 2011 in Half Moon Bay yesterday, May 1st. Yellow on top, grey on the bottom, same engine noise. Probably the most impressive flying machine I have ever seen in all my (previous) years of flying and aviation enthusiasm (except the Shuttle launch I saw in 1985.) He circled around many, many times all day, and at about 3:45PM came across runway heading one last time, wagged his wings goodbye, and departed to the North.
ZenZaBill 9 months ago
@ZenZaBill I really wanted to get up their for the show this year but could not make it. How is the half moon bay airshow? Did they make this aircraft to help familiarize pilots who were going to fly the actual larger aircaft?
barmtrail 9 months ago
I WANT ONE!
wilkas222 10 months ago
Yes the sound is what threw me off.
At first sight I thought, Oh wow a stealth bomber, but then I heard it.
We get lots of planes overhead, so I thought that there was another twin somewhere. When I realized the sound was coming from the flying wing, I knew that I was seeing something truly extraordinary. I couldn't get my camera out quick enough to snap a photo.
jetviewer 11 months ago
Beautiful,
I think I saw this fly over my house today.
At first I thought it was a B2, but then I heard it, and realized it was too small.
I Live in Corona.
There is an Airshow in Riverside today.
I'm sure that a lot of hard work and dedication went into restoring that beautiful plane.
Nice work!
jetviewer 11 months ago
@jetviewer: Yes, that was the 'Wing that you saw. It was flown from Chino to the Palm Springs Air Museum for one of their events and came back that same afternoon. That aircraft has a very unusual sound, doesn't it?
octane130 11 months ago
@jetviewer
Holy crap that has to be something to remember
AceofWWII 6 months ago
Personal bomber.
SSGTKILL 1 year ago
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There is Trying to be naughty brides "benaughtyman.info"
bertynayomi 1 year ago
A UFO!!!
moogug 1 year ago
bit funny, why takeoff on wind direction?
TheMrmujid 1 year ago
What a great historical aircraft to watch fly.
LanceWinslow5 1 year ago
Imagine flying that without the aid of computers.!!!!!
andgate2000 1 year ago
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Beautiful design. The Ho-229 prototype crashed however, but not before flying 960KPH. Northrops actual planes, the American Flying wings, flew many more hours succesfully, carried bigger payloads, flew longer and were much more radar stealthy than the Horton designs. To be fair, the American B-2 body has about 60% Horton and 40% Northrop in it. But the avionics drerived from research and actual use can be attributed about 50% Northrop, 15% Horton and 35% other.
stonethemason 1 year ago
Slap a couple of PT-6's on there, and it might be a good aircraft!
ninjarider1 1 year ago
Personally I don't think this plane should fly, it is too rare.... Love it but would like to preserve it. Keep it in flying condition, taxi it show it but don't fly it.
gmcjetpilot 1 year ago
nice german design
paulabo123 1 year ago
@paulabo123 - well ahead of the germans, the prototype for this bird flew in 1929
OPE08 1 year ago
stealth ?
MrJoefung007007 1 year ago
thanks for posting!
calvink2005 1 year ago
BEAUTIFUL!!
killercrabman 1 year ago
A facinating bit of history there. But given that this is the very last of these planes and the fact that the engines are virtually irreplaceable AND that it is difficult to fly I wonder if history is best served by keeping it in the air. In a museum it will always be there for future generations to see.
tpsossff 1 year ago
@tpsossff Keeping the plane airworthy will guarentee its well cared for. Seeing this elegant shape in the skies is a tribute to Mr. Northrop to keep his memory alive.
trespire 1 year ago
And NO fly-by-wire computers on board, right? Nothin' but raw pilot skill. That's the way to do it!
ilovekittykat 1 year ago
I saw one in an airshow a couple weeks ago :D
bionicpotato 1 year ago
Downwind take off ? !
bencantona 1 year ago
too bad NONE of the big brothers flying wings survived !it would have been magnificient to see both types XB-35 and YB-49 flying nowadays together...with the B-2 !i am still puzzled why all the Northrop aircraft were chopped up just for the sake of some unpaid parcing fees to the USAF !was this the real reason ?nobody seems to know or able to tell the real answer.
BOYCOT4YT 1 year ago
Very nice job on the video, thanks for posting. 8^)
artpam 1 year ago
Somehow I was expecting the bomber that I saw in the first "War of the Worlds" movie. Dream on. Somehow, in a way, though, this is even better. A much smaller version to delight the airshow crowd. Great video of a plane that I never knew existed.
errolfan 1 year ago
OUTSTANDING!
238839 1 year ago
Man, you have to have major cojones to fly this thing. But it's beautiful in the air.
soaringvulture 1 year ago
beautiful airplane. love that sound.
felarfurlong 1 year ago
how did it fly..no fly by wire in that time
buneaalexpetru 1 year ago
what was that pop sound form the engine at 0:09 and 0:19? and is she flying again?
EnterpriseXI 1 year ago
@EnterpriseXI : This video was taken shortly before "the wing" had an engine fire that grounded it for about 4 years. There were other engine problems also with the very rare 8-cylinder Franklin engines. I'm happy to say that, as of 2 weeks ago, she is back in the air and she flew in the annual Planes of Fame airshow May 15 + 16, 2010. Both engines were completely rebuilt. Not an easy task considering that there are only 3 left in the world of the 27 originally made.
octane130 1 year ago
@EnterpriseXI it was those old ass motors they're using backfiring... i truly love flying, but if my bird ever back fired like that during a slow taxi... i'd be turned around and pulling into the mechanics bay! you can't fly when your DEAD! another thing i don't get is why all small plane pilots don't use chutes on their birds. sure, it was a $6,000 investment for me, but well worth the cost i think.
governmentcheese411 1 year ago
@EnterpriseXI sounds like the starboard engine backfired twice.
DumboRats8998 1 year ago
A very important fact is being overlooked here due to politics. I am always in awe as to what can come from the minds of man and be displayed here in action. There was some quantum leaps made by both sides that we benefit from today.
1954shadow 1 year ago
She's not being restored anymore.
They flew it today at the Chino Airshow!!!!
Wheels
wheelsupcavu 1 year ago
i would love then to restore the go229 to flying condition
cronauer1985 1 year ago
nice copy of the german HORTEN Nurflügler.. smile..
airbutz 1 year ago
no fly by vire back then
buneaalexpetru 1 year ago
so I guess when you step on the rudder pedals the aelerons "open" like air brakes?
ar15expert 1 year ago
Yes, and you can also push on both pedals at once and cause both of the the "aileron/spoilers" on the wings to open up on take off, thereby severely slowing the take-off acceleration rate. Virtually every pilot that has ever flown this aircraft has committed this error, ha! This is a very different type of control system to fly and it is difficult to fly well.
octane130 1 year ago
They pulled this out of the museum and flew it!!
Amazing! Wish I had been there!
digitalfiction2 2 years ago
pretty cool, a lot of guys have model flying wings at the Rose Bowl, they fly fast or slow to a crawl and very manuoverable and stable at all speeds, Because of where the engines are mounted, they are loud!
mechmove 2 years ago
well I woulld ask what the tail number was bt I dont gues I can in this case
backintack 2 years ago
OPE08 - Wow. Being a test pilot was a hazardous job in the very early stages of flight? No kidding?
Take it easy dude. There are plenty of decaffinated coffee's on the market that are just as good as the regular stuff.
corebare 2 years ago
it's almost a horten's flying wing...)
player1diao 2 years ago
Very cool!
TV843 2 years ago
There is no way I would fly a plane like that not for any amount of money. It is dangerously unstable and a death trap for sure. The designers of this plane should have been able to know that stability would be a major issue with something like this. It will stay in the air under ideal conditions with an expert pilot but that is about it.
MrBEB123 2 years ago
lol... and yet, here it is! STUNT flying at an air show...
and it was designed as a mockup for a proposed bomber, it wasn't intended for an "amateur" pilot...whatever that is...
OPE08 2 years ago
you got that backwards... Northrop started working on wings in 1927 when the Hortens were in grade school...
OPE08 2 years ago
Great video and fabulous aircraft. Does it still fly?
MCCXK120 2 years ago 2
No, as of November 2009 this aircraft is not yet flying after experiencing an engine fire in 2006. The engines in this aircraft are very rare 300-horsepower Franklin 0-540-7, 8-cylinder engines. Both engines are in need of rebuilding. Of the 27 of these engines originally built only 3 are known to still exist and two of them are on this aircraft. New cylinder heads are needed for the rebuilds. HOWEVER, new cylinder heads are currently being manufactured from scratch.
octane130 2 years ago 3
the original concept came from austria and the hortens had their first prototypes flying in the early 30's. the final one from 1942 is stored and rusting near washington DC and would put northropp's "copy" to shame. there was a documentary showing the horten prototypes flying on TV. my jaw literally dropped open seeing it.
illusional1 2 years ago
some people just have a hard time admitting that the germans and austrians developed and even made this concept stable. it is a known fact that northropp needed in the 80's 6 fridge-sized computers due to stability issues to have their bomber flying well. even RC models fly better than the northropp planes. furtheron the prototype and the construction papers were stolen and available to northropp and "they did not understand it" was one of the hortens last statement in the 90's about it.
illusional1 2 years ago
Damn cool.
transdrole 2 years ago
Now we know where the inspiration of the stealth came from. Wow, impressive.
kbuwerks 2 years ago
The germans had the Horten 229 Flying Wing Before this one.
ariels36 2 years ago
Wrong. The Northrop N9M first flew in December 1942, 2 years before the HO-229's first flight in December 1944.
dogsbd 2 years ago 10
Well, the germans where developing the flying wings since early 1930's, on gliders...
ariels36 2 years ago
Can't just admit you were wrong?
Jack Northrop was also testing "flying wings" in the 30's. And he also built what the Germans only dreamed of, the YB-35 and the YB-49. And the Northrop company built the only current in service flying wing, the B-2 bomber. Everything the Germans tried pales in comparison.
dogsbd 2 years ago
WTF is wrong with you? I'm not defending the germans I'm just trying to discuss something...looks like you can't have a conversation like an adult....
ariels36 2 years ago
dogsbd, the fact is, that northrop worked on Horten prototypes to design the B-2, wich iwas clearly inspired by it.
the YB 35 and YB-49 were never used because they were poorly designed, while the Ho 229 could out-speed and out-turn the best jet fighter of its time the Me 262, and even came close to Göring's 1000-1000-1000 doctrine.
I hate the way you guys can't just admit that german technology was waaay ahead of US.
Nearly everything they create even nowadays is based on nazi technologies.
neoromantism 2 years ago
"northrop worked on Horten prototypes"
By "worked on" I assume you mean studied. But, do you know this for a fact? It wouldn't be unusual however, all companies study previous works in their field. The Hortens didn't work in a vacuum either, I'll bet they studied what they could find of Jack Northrops flying wing designs. The Northrop YB bombers were excellent aircraft, politics killed them not design issues. And the US P80 was a better fighter than the Me262, so much for Nazi superiority.
dogsbd 2 years ago
the US P80 was a better fighter than the Me262" better at what than which version of the 262 ?
Besides, on which facts do you base that statement ?
Plus the nazis had lots of other prototypes which they were working on and most of them were quite impressive in a technical point of wiew.
And no, the YB bombers were no excellent bombers, they had no precision in bombing do to stability issues.
neoromantism 2 years ago
Top speed: Me 262 A-1a - 550mph / P80A- 600mph
Initial climb: Me 262 A-1a -3937 fpm / P80A- 4580 fpm
Sustained Climb: Me 262 A-1a - 6.8 mins to 19,685 ft / P80A- 5.5 minutes to 20,000 ft
Service ceiling: Me 262 A-1a - 37,565 ft / P80A- 45,000 ft
P80 also had a higher roll rate and could turn inside the Me262.
And Northrop had a yaw dampener that solved the YB49's "stability issues".
dogsbd 2 years ago 2
First flight: Me 262 A-1a 18 July 1942 / P80A 8 January 1944.
In 2 years many thing had changed. If you want to compare the P80 with a german plane, you'd better compare it with the prototypes and projects of the end of the war, like the Me 262 HG II and HG III, the Lippisch P.13a, Horten Ho XIII and so on..
neoromantism 2 years ago
I'd be more than happy to make those comparisons! Since those hypothetical aircraft you list never flew the P-80 was most definitely better.
dogsbd 2 years ago
@neoromantism Chill out some people are simply misinformend and others have their reason to dislike nazi's you dont need to shoot off your mouth and convince them enough people are out their that know all about nazi tech. so you need to hang with them. BTW the foo fighter is flying watch for it soon.
yumyumsashimi 1 year ago
@neoromantism Drivel. Having advanced, interesting designs and prototypes is a long, long way from having production-ready, weaponized systems. The U.S. put the bias of its resources into building fieldable weapons in mass quantities that were superior to the enemies'. It succeeded. The U.S. is also responsible for developing and fielding the most exotic technology of the war by far--the atomic bomb.
iowa61 1 year ago
@dogsbd
Yes but wasn't the N9M propellor driven, whereas the Ho229 was the first jet-propelled stealth aircraft?
AryanScot 1 year ago
@AryanScot
Yes...and the only prototype crashed.
stonethemason 1 year ago
@AryanScot - wasn't stealth, and the HoIXv3 prototype crashed after only two hours in the air, and it wasn't followed up on by any other nation ever again, so a footnote at best.
OPE08 1 year ago
@dogsbd @iowa61 If you watch this video " Northrop Aircraft 1" you will see the 1st Northrop twin engine Flying NM1 that flew in 1940 years ahead of stupid Krauts. Northrop had been developing the flying wing with engines from 1933.
LottoWinner999 1 year ago
and it crashed on test flight....
RcUniverseGuy 2 years ago
so did the Ho229... being a test pilot was an extremely hazardous job in the 1920's thru 40's, US military pilots received hazard pay for volunteering.
OPE08 2 years ago
So did Northrup! this flew in'35 read a book!
kdraper2007 2 years ago
Love the story on this plane. It was baught as scrap, and hauled out in parts. It was then stored till they were cleaning out. Imagine opening up a crate and finding a Flying wing! An aircraft thought totaly lost in time
Zippercdrr 2 years ago
you all need to get a life how many years after ww2 did it take the US to make anything better then the ME 262
damusername01 3 years ago
Yeah. Guess it's a freakin' miracle we beat Germany and Japan's pathetic asses like a drum... what will all the stolen ideas and second rate equipment we had. You know. Like the ESSEX class carrier, IOWA class battleship, TOT artillery, M1 Garand, P-51 Mustang, and that last little ol' thing... what was that? Oh yeah. The Atom bomb... Get a life. Read a book.
iowa61 2 years ago 12
Always thought it odd, though, that, while American planes and ships were, indeed, among the best, the tanks - or rather the tank - was frankly junk, at least right until the very end of the war.
I expect patriots will castigate me for this, but let's be honest: the Sherman was junk, wasn't it.
AndreiTupolev 2 years ago
The Sherman had many favorable attributes. Fast, reliable, good range, easy to repair, adaptable. It was simply outclassed in size and power by the German Panther and Tiger tanks. Early US tank doctrine was flawed and exposed the Sherman to its greatest disadavantage. The M-26 Pershing with it's 90mm gun and big, tough design was more than a match for either the Tiger or Panther. Arriving too late in the war, it was however a decisive factor in seizing the Ludendorf Bridge at Remagen...
iowa61 2 years ago
no, the Sherman was a sturdy, reliable tank. The big problem was that German tankers had re-designed their tactics after facing the T34...
OPE08 2 years ago
Don't forget the proximety fuze for artillery shells.
kdraper2007 2 years ago
Ah. You're right on that one!
iowa61 2 years ago
@iowa61 you didn't really beat germany's ass... the soviet union did. with over two times as much personell and about thre times more casualties then all the other allies combined. Without the communists you would have had your asses handed to you. the third reich was generally more advanced technologically (guess what, by 1945 they had nuclear capability too, they just lacked the infrastructure to build a bomb, because russia was kicking their ass) and a beter run military industrial complex.
Thescarydutchman 1 year ago
@Thescarydutchman What a bunch of revisionist crap. Certainly the Soviets contributed to Germany's demise (with much assistance from Lend Lease aid) primarily through overwhelming numbers at the tactical level. They waged very little in the way of a strategic war against Germany and didn't even participate in the Pacific Theater. I won't even dignify the assertion the Nazis were more technologically advanced than the West with a reply. That is utter nonsense on the face of it.
iowa61 1 year ago
@iowa61 at the start of the war and throughout the nazi's have managed to field the most advanced military hardware, from the panzers to the messerschmids, everything they deployed was way ahead of the competition. Even at the end of the war when their military industrial complex lay in ruins they managed to deploy the first operational jet fighter. the only thing that has halted, and could have halted, the nazi march rise to power was the behemoth known as the soviet union.
Thescarydutchman 1 year ago
Not wishing to get into a long running debate, I think it's safe to say that the German aeronautical industry fielded more technologically advanced aircraft right up until the end of the war. Like their tanks though, there were not enough of them, crews for them or fuel to operate them. Thankfully, the German leadership made many huge tactical blunders, two of which were not developing long range heavy bombers & wasting time developing the Me262 as a fighter bomber instead of a pure fighter.
pete2778 1 year ago
@pete2778 - no, it isn't safe to say, unless you are talking about subs or rockets.
The Western Allies chose not to put jets on the front burner, the Nazi's chose to put everything on the front burner. The Western Allies were winning, handily, without forcing thru untested new technology, and to be fair they never needed it.
OPE08 1 year ago
@Thescarydutchman - The soviet Union beat the Whermacht, the Western Alliance did everything else, including the Pacific Theatre.
The claim that the "3rd reich was generally more technically advanced" is not backed up by reality...
OPE08 1 year ago
@iowa61 america was the only cuntry that beat the enemies of the day ........ and by the way it was called a WORLD war for a reason....... it took an attack on a holiday destination to get the your cuntry to get off it's arse
grunt182820 1 year ago
@iowa61 Actually the reason you won was because you had far greater natural resources and an Ally in the form of the USSR who had even greater resources than you.
You didn't create the Me262. Those flying discs yanks have been seeing since 1947 came from Germany too.
I'm not sure if the Atom bomb is one to be proud of.
AryanScot 1 year ago
@AryanScot Yeah. The flying saucers are from Germany. Flying around inside your head...
iowa61 1 year ago
@AryanScot
Even if germany was able to get all her advanced designs into the air flying, they would only have slowed down the American and Russian war machines slightly. If germany resisted or refused to surrender, a few atomics on Berlin, Munich, Koln and a few other cities would have finished the show. Porud? Was germany proud of attacking Poland? Was Germany proud of its Blitz and total war? The object is to win a war.
stonethemason 1 year ago
@stonethemason Was Poland proud of slaughtering thousands of ethnic Germans in Silesia and Western Prussia? Was Poland proud of sabotaging Danzig (which was 99% German)? Was Poland proud of mobilizing it's forces? Was Poland proud of rejecting Germany's VERY generous peace settlements? Were the Democratic Allies proud of killing 1 MILLION civilians in their terror bombings across Europe? (Which, by the way, they started. Hitler embargoes the use of civilian terror bombing)
AryanScot 1 year ago
@iowa61 If you watch this video " Northrop Aircraft 1" you will see the 1st Northrop twin engine Flying NM1 that flew in 1940 years of the Krauts. Northrop had been developing the flying with engines from 1933. There were twin-engine powered prototypes that flew in the 1930. Don't believe lying Nazi loving Krauts who say did it first Robert Nrothropp was years ahead of the Krauts + USA Airforce had a jet proto-type that flew N 1945. When it comes to aviation USA in Number One!!! + Germans Suck!
LottoWinner999 1 year ago
@LottoWinner999 Well, of course they don't suck. But the ongoing fascination with Nazi Germany and associated compulsion to exaggerate the regime's scientific and military achievements is just plain psycho...
iowa61 1 year ago
Unfortunately for Germany, Hitler didn't know what to do with it and they spent too much time developing different rocket planes and fanciful (innovative however they may have been) concepts instead of actual war fighting weapons. Good gravy, too much nationalist weening-wagging. Just watch the videos
kikuchiyoh 2 years ago
Agreed !
Auggie56 2 years ago
They had something better in the F1, but they decided to go with the F89, but it was under-powered. Along came the F80/P80, which was the best jet in the air until the Meteor II and the 2nd generation Russian jets showed up...
As well, the ME262 was useful for about a week before the P51 pilots realised that they could easily turn inside it and shoot it down...
OPE08 2 years ago
1945 the P-80 first flew. in practice P-51's had little trouble taking out ME 262's
kdraper2007 2 years ago
Huh? Better at what? The Me 262 was a great achievement; it did nothing to alter the course of the war and more advanced designs were in the skies in a year.
iowa61 2 years ago
They did that already during the war. As weapons, war winning weapons, most american airplanes were better than the Me 262. Me 262 is a good instructional example of how you lose a war technologically. And so is the Tiger tank and rocket program. You make something you can't afford, that drains resources, and won't have noticable impact on the war.
Finally the german jet engines were junk and the P-80 flew operationally in Italy in WW2, and overall it has to rate as a much better combat jet.
Vermiliontea 2 years ago
1 the P 80 never flow operationally in ltaly as only 2 were ever sent there for testing
2 as far as the 262s engines as being junk technologically there were far better then the british engines in the P 80
3 yes they had no outcame on the war. if it had not been for hitler they would have STOPED day light bombing
damusername01 2 years ago
1 Operational testing. (You don't send aircraft to Italy during wartime to test them.)
2 No. The british engine was more flyable, thermodynamically efficient and longer lasting. Initial problems with P80's engine could be solved, since it was a more sensible design. Whereas the problems with axial engines weren't solved until much later by P&W (twin spool) and GE (variable stator).
3. With 1 to 10 hour engine life? Industrial fantasy. Me262 wasn't quite good enough. Great plane, but,..
Vermiliontea 2 years ago
Horten Ho-2 Flying Wing Test Flight 1935
volodyyy 3 years ago
Yeah one thing is TRUE americans steal technology. look at the poor guy who invented the intermittent wiper. look who put them on the moon. and look who hates the truth dick head Lotto that's who you have sooo much technology you can't even make anything. no radios, TV, wahers, dryers, refrigirators, computers, telephones, shirts, pants, shoes, sneakers, steel, now even chocolates. Herseys are made in Mexico. Stupis Lotto what do you make here?
volodyyy 3 years ago
"The only thing German were good at was Unconditional Surerender!"
.....and being the brains behind both the American and Russian space programs.
"Their Germans were better than our Germans" was only slightly in jest..
Pook365 3 years ago
which was the true first flying wing the ho-9 or the one showed here, id love to know and please no bull il verify the info sent to me so be truthfull!! jesus is watching!
phonix032 3 years ago
Allright:
1.Northrop starts Avion Corp in 27 specifically to produce a flying wing aircraft.
2. "1929 Testbed" aircraft is produced and flown. Avion bought out and project cancelled after completion of windtunnel tests.
3. 1933 Horten brothers test un-powered glider.
4. 1936 Horten Brothers test glider re-designed to include borrowed engine.
5. 1938/39 Northrop started Northrop Corporation intending to re-start his wing program and submit it to the US army.
more...
OPE08 2 years ago
6. 1941: Northrop completes N1M fighter mock-up and four N9M Bomber mockups to be used in training and testing.
7. 1944: Hortens complete HoIXv1 glider, then the HoIXv2 prototype.
8. 1944: Northrop completes the XB35 Heavy Bomber.
9. 1945: The larger HoIXv3 pre-production prototype intended to lead to the 20 Ho 229 A-0 day fighters ordered into production. Work was also started on 4 other variants.
more...
OPE08 2 years ago
10. 1945: V1 glider and partially completed V3 prototype captured by advancing US troops.
11. 1947 Northrop completes YB49 Bomber, US goes with the B36 for political reasons, and the fact that Northrop wasn't, personally, well-liked since he wasn't a "Corporate Man"...
Post-war: Hortens split up and despite attempts, no further aircraft are completed.
Northrop continues to build dozens more successful aircraft before his death.
OPE08 2 years ago
Why did he take off downwind? and if one engine quit then wouldn't that mean certain death? unless he was able to get the other engine shut off quick enough.
sking0369 3 years ago
Indeed! Rare sound!! Nice vid--
zkenzo 3 years ago
If the left engine needs parts disassemble the right engine and reverse engineer it. The plane does not need an assembled engine right now since it is going nowhere until the new parts are made. Better than twiddling your thumbs waiting for maybe non-existent blueprints to show up.
madisonelectronic 3 years ago
or simply ask Russians to reverse engineer, they're good at that. They'd try to get their hands on American, German and even alien technology.
ponchoyo 3 years ago
Repair even
shipwreckedmonkey 3 years ago
Sombomombo is indeed a tard. This on the other hand is an awesome aircraft, I hope they manage to repar it
shipwreckedmonkey 3 years ago
What a load of moronic garbage some people do spout. (I'm referring to the foul mouthed moron calling themselves Sombomobobmo or whatever). Please, if you want to pour out your foul mouthed drivel, please do it on something more appropriate and leave us who just want to watch the planes in peace? I do thank you very much indeed.
AndreiTupolev 3 years ago
Jack Northrop startet his dreams and first plans of a tailless airplane when he was just a kid. This idea evolved through a series of experimental model airplane designs. Much later as a full size airplane designer, he started to realize his dreams of a flying wing, wich culiminated in the YB-49 design. Jacks design was not influenced by the Horten Brothers design, and vice versa. In history it is not uncommon, that the same ideas evolve in different places, without direct influence.
CaptLettuce 3 years ago
idoit the northrop wing & horten wing where designed independantly of each other no one stole anything , northrop had nothing to do with the hortons and vise versa ,
knightspy 3 years ago
The Americans stole a lot of stuff, but they are still a stable and good country especially for education!
nuclear944 3 years ago
They sure did, take the 262 for example!
BikerRussell 3 years ago
great little innovative plane. What's with all the Hitler crap below though....this is a video about the N9MB people!!!
juzzi07 3 years ago
Ok first of all, I don't read stuff on Hitler because the idea of an evil homosexual dictator, you gotta admit thats a little weird. Then, since when did I mention anything about a football game? Also, I don't take the idea of someone calling me the enemy lightly. Still, even though it didn't get in the air, thank god for it, that thing still looks cool. Your still a pussy, lol....
Sombomombo 3 years ago
Up yours. And who the hell is Mein Kampf? Some book worm who thinks he knows every thing? Oh, and just to get ahead in this argument, I never said I did. I just said I study war. This means that I study tactics and weapons. Not to mention battles. So, if you think YOUR so smart, then what is the name of the tactic where you allow the enemy to advance down the middle, leave a line to hold an end position, advance up the sides, and flank or trap them. Now lets see who knows what. Pussy!
Sombomombo 3 years ago
I believe that's called a Pincer, Hitler loved that technique.....
Pezdetz666 3 years ago
Yeah both sides of the war used it often. But if that comment was supposed to insult me then you can shove it you pyro! Other wise, whatever.
Sombomombo 3 years ago
Omg what a beutiful airplane!! I rememberd reading about this craft in a concept aircraft book. ITS ALIVE!
miniheli 3 years ago
It's sure as hell a damn good thing this didn't make it in the air during the war. PHEW!
Sombomombo 3 years ago
The Germans did NOT invent the tailess, flying wing. The Americans didn't either. It was actually invented by the French.
The credit for designing and -flying- the first tailless aircraft in Europe goes to the distinguished Danish inventor, Jacob Christian Ellehammer. The Germans had many great minds. But.. Saying the Americans "stole" the flying wing idea from the Germans is far-fetched. Many contributed to the concept.
taofledermaus 3 years ago 2
Are you going to claim the Germans invented the airplane too?
taofledermaus 3 years ago 2
first of all, im not the neo fascist naxi that you think I am, the germans would have won the fucking war if it werent for little supplies, one of these designs being the Ho 229. the nazi had mmany concepts before this. LEarn some history, and if someone tells the truth, they aint a nazi.
sergeant137 3 years ago
well, well fagot. I'm not german nor a neo nazi. Actually read and learn about the me-262 before you make a random comment. The me-262 was the fastest fighter and in a dive it is said to have possibly broken the sound barrier but not documented.
ponchoyo 3 years ago
Hahahahahaha, looks like an old banger pulled out of the early 1800.
PeacesEagle 3 years ago
If your so superior then why did a young 140 year old country kick your nazi ass? twice.
rocketsharc 3 years ago
Actually the Germans made the flying wing and America stole it along with most other things they claim to be their own? Computers, jet engine, rockets ect... to name but a few? :-)
darranpight 3 years ago
But the Beanie Baby !
pup2097 3 years ago
and the cabbage patch? lol
darranpight 3 years ago
the US planed the flying wing right after WWI..... so, they didnt steal it?
DangerofDeath2 3 years ago
this is actually quite true, a german designed the computer first, the first jet airplane was german, and the first flying wing was designed by a a german during WWII.
sergeant137 3 years ago
Watch the video called "So you dont like America or Americans" for a more complete list of what America has given to the world. That does not diminish the accomplishments of other nations, but we have done more. We have gone farther, faster and deeper that all of the other nations combined. But I think penicillin may be the greatest discovery so far. The discovery of penicillin is attributed to the Scottish scientist Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928. Every nation contributes to the world.
TJDOZIER1 3 years ago
Yes, didn't America give us the Beanie Baby ?
pup2097 3 years ago
God I hope not! Right up there with the pet rock.
TJDOZIER1 3 years ago
Fucking awesome!
Phacias 3 years ago
I'm sorry, there is only ONE of these planes left and the owner thinks it is a good idea to fly it? Isn't that taking a big chance that has no payoff?
brassbend 3 years ago
The payoff is seeing and hearing a piece of history in the skies. To me, it's worth it.
mjanovec 3 years ago
You guys are retarded. Fighting over whos country is best with aviation, good airplane designs have come from everywhere, if it flys good I could give a f*ck less where it came from.
ulgyamerican 3 years ago
Never claimed that there was no US supersonic flight or that US was not first on Moon or Mars. Feel free to actually read my comments (if you know how) and then respond.
lacorue 3 years ago
...and the United States still has not produced a supersonic passenger jet, and had a useful, working jet fighter only after WWII when the ME262 was captured by the allies.
lacorue 3 years ago
Never made that claim and I'm certainly not a Nazi worshiper. I'm not quite sure how your delusional mind comes up with those fantasies.
lacorue 3 years ago
it was probable that the me-262 broke the soundbarrier many times before the americans.
ponchoyo 3 years ago