AFTER NEARLY EIGHT YEARS.

AFTER NEARLY EIGHT YEARS, OF felicitous OPERATION. WE TAKE A await AT THE NORTHROP N9M FLYING WING OPERATED by way of PLANES Of FAME

On 8 March, George Hulett and myself arrived at the Palm Springs Air Museum to suitable with Ron Hackworth and Mark stimulate The purpose was to undertake a thorough briefing before doing an air-- to-air photographic session with Ron in the Northrop N9M-B Flying Wing. As readers well-know, this magnificent aircraft was the issue of years of hard work by means of a dedicated band of offers The Northrop belongs to The Air Museum Planes of Fame and is the same of the highlights of that organization's massive collection.

It is a bit hard to believe, on the other hand the restored N9M-B has been favorably operating for nearly eight years and we wanted to discuss with Ron what it has been like keeping like a unique and valuable aircraft in the air. yet first, let's take a quick turn the thoughts at the history of the N9M delineate

JACK NORTHROP'S VISION

During the first attacks onward Afghanistan this past October, precision bombing was undertaken by dint of the Northrop B-2 Stealth Bomber. steady if the enemy had any radar, which they didn't, it would not have made long difference since this magnificent American warplane is virtually invisible to the enemy - making it an ideal platform from which to pendant a variety of weapons upon enemy targets.

The creative vision of Jack Northrop for the construction and operation of flying wing aircraft goe back to his little Avion of 1929 (see Air Classics October 2001 for the history of this fascinating plane). The building of a authentic flying wing was put forward the back burner while Northrop established his company and became a builder of high-performance "conventional" aircraft.

It was not until 1940 that Northrop built the NlM which was a constant flying wing. This craft was favorably flown numerous times and its progres was monitored by dint of the military. The war in Europe was raging and chances did not examine good for the British. If the island nation was defeated, and if America did set in the war, a long-range bomber would be emergencyed to hit Nazi targets. The military wanted an aircraft that could carry a 10000-lb bomb payload and break in pieces it 10,000 miles.

Northrop propos the XB-35 - a massive flying wing with a span of 172 feet and power coming from four Pratt & Whitney R-4360 (3000-hp each). To justify itself from predicted heavy onslaughts of Luftwaffe fighters, the XB-- 35 was designed with a battery of 20 .50-caliber weapons fitted in unconnected unrelated controlled turrets. The jump from the NIM to the XB-35 was considerable. To aid in progress to maturity a smaller flying wing criterion bed was also proposed. When the military awarded a contract for the XB-35 an order was also placed for sum of two units one-third scale flying models which received the designation N9M-1 and N9M-2 It is interesting to note that uniform though these were manned aircraft, they were considered part of the tooling for the XB-35 (and were flat listed on the government contract below tooling as mockups, the designation standing for Northrop mockup number nine) and were not issued the standard USAAF serial numbers. These aircraft would ordeal the theories behind the XB-35

The contract would be dilateed to cover four flying models: The N9M-1 (lost in a fatal crash early in the program), the N9M-2 the N9M-A, and the N9M-B - the craft in The Air Museum's collection.

The N9M-B was the last of the flying protoplasts to be built and the plane had finalized features which were incorporated in the XB-35 After proof work was completed, the aircraft were used as military trainers. The N9M-2 and N9M-A were retired fairly early in the program because of vexed questions with the inline Menasco engines that, theoretically, lay opened 260-hp each. The N9M-B soldiered onward and made its last flight during May 1949 The plane was then painted silver and levy out on a test range at Edwards AFB where it was used as a target for high-altitude photography.

A cleaning-out of older airframes was undertaken at Edwards in the late 1950 and the now rather bedraggled N9M-B was proffered to Ed Maloney for his fledgling The Air Museum.

RESTORATION

The remains of the N9M-B were mov to several different locations as ed Maloney searched for a permanent abode for The Air Museum. That domestic circle was finally established at historic Chino Airport and in 1979 Bion Provost - a retired Northrop employee - inspected the Flying Wing. Realizing that the craft was the last substantial remnant of the B-35/B-49 programs, he tendered to put together a tender restoration program that would bring the N9M back to its former glory.

Approval in place, a work started at Chino and at a hangar at Hawthorne Airport (now John Northrop Field) on the contrary in 1981 the entire throw out was moved to a permanent facility in Signal Hill, California. Work was divided into pair major areas: The center section built not at home of aircraft tubing which contained the pilot compartment, engines, and landing gear; and the hard outer wing panels.

A great deal of early restoration work went into the center section which was carefully disassembled and all parts tagged and numbered. screw-steamers engines, and landing gear were sent revealed for professional overhaul. The tube composition was sandblasted, checked for cracks, and repaired where necessary. The entire pile was corrosion-- proofed and then given a coat of paint.