Northrop XB-35 Flying Wing
The same fear that spurred development of the Convair B-36 Peacemaker—that Great Britain would fall to Nazi Germany and leave the United States alone—also led to the development of the XB-35 Flying Wing. With Consolidated at full capacity building B-24 Liberators, Northrop was approached by the US Army Air Force in 1941 to develop a bomber similar to the B-36, that could attack targets in occupied Europe from the United States. The mercurial head of Northrop Aircraft, Jack Northrop, already had a radical idea in mind: a flying wing.
Northrop had been long interested in flying wings, where tails are eliminated and control is maintained through the wing surfaces—flying wings would have more capacity, be lighter and yet structurally stronger than conventional aircraft, and have more range due to a lack of drag. To prove the concept, Northrop had a quarter-scale version of the XB-35 built, the N-9M. Once proven, the USAAF gave Northrop the go ahead to develop his flying wing bomber. The USAAF wanted the first XB-35 ready for service by 1943. The radical design features of the design pushed back the first flight until June 1946, by which time World War II was over. Nonetheless, the USAAF did see potential for the XB-35 and the XB-36 as a replacement for the B-29 Superfortress, even if the war they were designed to fight had ended a year previously.
The XB-35 certainly seemed to be capable. It carried heavy defensive armament and the wing design left plenty of room for the crew, as well as a large ordnance capacity in six internal bays. It was slightly faster and had more range than the B-36: like the B-36, it used pusher propeller engines, but unlike the Peacemaker, it used counter-rotating twin propellers on each engine, making it more fuel efficient.
Having accepted the two XB-35 prototypes, it now seemed—to Northrop, at least—that the USAAF was doing its best to sabotage the aircraft. The engines had not been broken in by the USAAF, who supplied Northrop with the engines, and as a result they were maintenance nightmares, while the counter-rotating propellers set up dangerous vibrations in the engines themselves. Making matters worse was that Northrop had been forced to use automotive alternators for each engine, as the USAAF refused to provide aircraft-rated ones. Finally, Northrop’s proposal to modify the bomb bays to carry atomic bombs was refused by the USAAF, which at the same time insisted it would not buy the XB-35 unless it was proven it could carry atomic bombs.
Infuriated, Jack Northrop himself grounded the only flying XB-35 prototype until the USAAF agreed to change the engines. Northrop privately wondered if the Secretary of the newly independent US Air Force, Stuart Symington, had other reasons for sabotaging the XB-35—Symington was known to have business interests in Convair. There is no actual evidence of this, though Symington did become president of Convair after his term as Secretary ended; the XB-35 had plenty of problems even without USAF interference. An attempt to switch to more conventional single propellers mitigated the vibration problems, but now the XB-35 was underpowered and its range suffered. Without a solution in sight, the USAF ordered Northrop to convert the XB-35 to jet propulsion as the YB-49. The two XB-35 prototypes were grounded in 1948, and scrapped a year later.
This is the prototype XB-35. It is finished in bare metal and is the initial version, with counter-rotating propellers.
Northrop XB-35 Flying Wing
The same fear that spurred development of the Convair B-36 Peacemaker—that Great Britain would fall to Nazi Germany and leave the United States alone—also led to the development of the XB-35 Flying Wing. With Consolidated at full capacity building B-24 Liberators, Northrop was approached by the US Army Air Force in 1941 to develop a bomber similar to the B-36, that could attack targets in occupied Europe from the United States. The mercurial head of Northrop Aircraft, Jack Northrop, already had a radical idea in mind: a flying wing.
Northrop had been long interested in flying wings, where tails are eliminated and control is maintained through the wing surfaces—flying wings would have more capacity, be lighter and yet structurally stronger than conventional aircraft, and have more range due to a lack of drag. To prove the concept, Northrop had a quarter-scale version of the XB-35 built, the N-9M. Once proven, the USAAF gave Northrop the go ahead to develop his flying wing bomber. The USAAF wanted the first XB-35 ready for service by 1943. The radical design features of the design pushed back the first flight until June 1946, by which time World War II was over. Nonetheless, the USAAF did see potential for the XB-35 and the XB-36 as a replacement for the B-29 Superfortress, even if the war they were designed to fight had ended a year previously.
The XB-35 certainly seemed to be capable. It carried heavy defensive armament and the wing design left plenty of room for the crew, as well as a large ordnance capacity in six internal bays. It was slightly faster and had more range than the B-36: like the B-36, it used pusher propeller engines, but unlike the Peacemaker, it used counter-rotating twin propellers on each engine, making it more fuel efficient.
Having accepted the two XB-35 prototypes, it now seemed—to Northrop, at least—that the USAAF was doing its best to sabotage the aircraft. The engines had not been broken in by the USAAF, who supplied Northrop with the engines, and as a result they were maintenance nightmares, while the counter-rotating propellers set up dangerous vibrations in the engines themselves. Making matters worse was that Northrop had been forced to use automotive alternators for each engine, as the USAAF refused to provide aircraft-rated ones. Finally, Northrop’s proposal to modify the bomb bays to carry atomic bombs was refused by the USAAF, which at the same time insisted it would not buy the XB-35 unless it was proven it could carry atomic bombs.
Infuriated, Jack Northrop himself grounded the only flying XB-35 prototype until the USAAF agreed to change the engines. Northrop privately wondered if the Secretary of the newly independent US Air Force, Stuart Symington, had other reasons for sabotaging the XB-35—Symington was known to have business interests in Convair. There is no actual evidence of this, though Symington did become president of Convair after his term as Secretary ended; the XB-35 had plenty of problems even without USAF interference. An attempt to switch to more conventional single propellers mitigated the vibration problems, but now the XB-35 was underpowered and its range suffered. Without a solution in sight, the USAF ordered Northrop to convert the XB-35 to jet propulsion as the YB-49. The two XB-35 prototypes were grounded in 1948, and scrapped a year later.
This is the prototype XB-35. It is finished in bare metal and is the initial version, with counter-rotating propellers.