What if kinda funny is that I worked for the Government at more than one Air Base. Nevertheless, I never heard of most Black Projects the Government was up to because of compartmentalization. Yes, occasionally you would look up and see a "New" design of a plane, with a chase plane close by. It was fun, but it is nice to know more now...
The plane was not designed for speed, it was designed to develop stealth technology. If you would like to learn more, go buy the book, "Hell of a Ride" by Cynda and Velvet Thomas, @amazon.com It tells about the Tacit Blue, (unclassified). Curved surfaces & composite materials were used if you look closely at the B2 you can see how "the whale" fits inside it! Ugly yes -- a fly by wire system and unstable as they come. A bathtub maybe, but my Father flew it! A great man & a great pilot!
This is probably one of the only clips featuring John Cashen ... he was one of the stealth designers for Northrop, and was respected by Lockheed, their main competitor.
I have also read that he was overbearing to work with, but who knows if thats true or not.
Does anyone out there know if the flush intake like on the tacit blue have an impact on an aircraft's speed? I do know the tacit blue only had a 270 or so mph range but would the inlet be one of the aircrafts limits?
@necrofairy Of course, but it's not the most important factor that affects the aircraft's limits. Indeedm the air intake unfluences the aerodynamic of the plane. But I think the nose of tacit blue and its small gas tanks are greater factors.
So yes, the inlet has an impact. That's why some aircrafts have moving inlets.
The chine was to deflect energy back and away instead of reflecting it forward. It also adds aerodynamic stability and speed, see SR-71 & XB-70 design, wings far back for diff reason. Shock cone created by the chine is a large curved surface & delays shock interference with the wing tips. The SR-71 doesn't have aero issues until Mach 4+. HaveBlue is the precursor to the F-117. I think it is a scale mock-up.
Search "UFO photo over Sheraz Iran, October 8, 1978," during the hostage crisis.
My guess is the purpose of the chine is two-fold, it gives a seam to join the upper and lower half of the fuselage during production, but that the seam was turned into an aerodynamic plus similar to the chine on the SR-71. It's a composite design isn't it? If it is, they needed an area to join the edge bands of the upper and lower lay-ups. It looks elegant to me. It's a brilliant design.
Well, any design is a compromise in all areas. The main goal in this case was stealth. Stealth being the main goal, I suppose the chine had to first, aid in stealthiness....like 1sad1 said above. But it also makes a convenient place to join two composite halfs togethers....and act as an air flow splitter chine like on the SR-71. Otherwise it would be like trying to fly a shoe-box around.
sadly, Bob Marley would not be alive to see the Wailers proudest moment.
MyFoodsRtouching 1 month ago
:-O............
MrLoveonlyforyou 6 months ago
personally I like this plane the main reason being the yf-23 derived from this plane
napsta08 10 months ago
@napsta08 its sad that the yf-23 was not selected
srsairbags 8 months ago
@napsta08 the yf-23 was in 1991
USAmilitarypower 5 months ago
What if kinda funny is that I worked for the Government at more than one Air Base. Nevertheless, I never heard of most Black Projects the Government was up to because of compartmentalization. Yes, occasionally you would look up and see a "New" design of a plane, with a chase plane close by. It was fun, but it is nice to know more now...
StellarBlue1 1 year ago
The plane was not designed for speed, it was designed to develop stealth technology. If you would like to learn more, go buy the book, "Hell of a Ride" by Cynda and Velvet Thomas, @amazon.com It tells about the Tacit Blue, (unclassified). Curved surfaces & composite materials were used if you look closely at the B2 you can see how "the whale" fits inside it! Ugly yes -- a fly by wire system and unstable as they come. A bathtub maybe, but my Father flew it! A great man & a great pilot!
jlg021660 1 year ago 9
This is probably one of the only clips featuring John Cashen ... he was one of the stealth designers for Northrop, and was respected by Lockheed, their main competitor.
I have also read that he was overbearing to work with, but who knows if thats true or not.
nightowl8936 2 years ago
Does anyone out there know if the flush intake like on the tacit blue have an impact on an aircraft's speed? I do know the tacit blue only had a 270 or so mph range but would the inlet be one of the aircrafts limits?
necrofairy 2 years ago
@necrofairy Of course, but it's not the most important factor that affects the aircraft's limits. Indeedm the air intake unfluences the aerodynamic of the plane. But I think the nose of tacit blue and its small gas tanks are greater factors.
So yes, the inlet has an impact. That's why some aircrafts have moving inlets.
Thompoux 1 year ago
I hope someone can explain why there is that protruding "chine" that separates the top and bottom halves of the Tacit Blue plane.
Does anyone know how this design compared to the Lockheed Have Blue design?
Please reply to my comment so I know to come back and read em.
nightowl8936 2 years ago
The chine was to deflect energy back and away instead of reflecting it forward. It also adds aerodynamic stability and speed, see SR-71 & XB-70 design, wings far back for diff reason. Shock cone created by the chine is a large curved surface & delays shock interference with the wing tips. The SR-71 doesn't have aero issues until Mach 4+. HaveBlue is the precursor to the F-117. I think it is a scale mock-up.
Search "UFO photo over Sheraz Iran, October 8, 1978," during the hostage crisis.
1sad1 2 years ago
My guess is the purpose of the chine is two-fold, it gives a seam to join the upper and lower half of the fuselage during production, but that the seam was turned into an aerodynamic plus similar to the chine on the SR-71. It's a composite design isn't it? If it is, they needed an area to join the edge bands of the upper and lower lay-ups. It looks elegant to me. It's a brilliant design.
JetMechMA 2 years ago
"it gives a seam to join the upper and lower half of the fuselage during production"
I'm not sure I agree with the idea of this being a manufacturing convenience.
There has to be aerodynamic or stealth reasons for it.
The YF-23 is smoother and less angular than the YF-22, and is similar to B-2 in overall philosophy, but B-2 does not have chine.
I guess still more digging to do to find out the exact reason and roles for the chine.
nightowl8936 2 years ago
nightowl8936
Well, any design is a compromise in all areas. The main goal in this case was stealth. Stealth being the main goal, I suppose the chine had to first, aid in stealthiness....like 1sad1 said above. But it also makes a convenient place to join two composite halfs togethers....and act as an air flow splitter chine like on the SR-71. Otherwise it would be like trying to fly a shoe-box around.
JetMechMA 2 years ago
I think the B-2 is one great big giant chine.
JetMechMA 2 years ago
Irv Waaland was my first boss at Grumman back in 1960. The man HAS NOT AGED!
- rsa
skymaster52 2 years ago
Cool video. I know those guys.
motherhenjen 3 years ago