Flying Wings - John K. Northrop's Final Interview - 1979

flying-wing was unlike any aircraft that had yet been developed it had no fuselage no long central bodies such as were to be found on all other aircraft it had no tail no Orthodox vertical fin or rudder no horizontal stabilizers or elevators as were found on ordinary airplanes it was purely and simply a long slippery looking wing it carried its cargo and its crew inside that wing it employed different techniques of control more about that in a moment one could stand upright in the wing this reporter did so when he worked on the story more than 30 years ago the pilot copilot engineer and Bombardier were all housed inside the wing and it flew oh my how it flew I recall the day I first flew along sighted high above knock dry lake in California's Mojave Desert the test pilot in the wing had instructed us to meet him at a certain point over the desert you he said must be at 12,000 feet and will be at ten thousand two thousand feet below you this is necessary he added if you are to see us the wing after all looks like nothing more than a knife edge as you see it coming towards you in the sky that is if you see it about thirty years ago this reporter walked along this runway much as I am right now this is the Hawthorne Airport near Los Angeles a relatively small Municipal Airport I had come here at that time to report on a radically different airplane that promised to be the most exciting advance in military aviation since the development of the b-17 Flying Fortress and the b-29 in World War two this is the home of the Northrop corporations aircraft division they built airplanes here they still do and the aircraft I had come to see was the massive flying wing it was called the B 49 by the US Air Force it was the product of the genius of John K Northrop and his crew of engineers who had brought it to a point of development where it had been selected by the United States Air Force as the next-generation bomber the replacement for the b-29 that had carried the air board against Japan the flying wing dated back many years the first developmental work was done by John K Northrop Theodore von Karman and William Sears John Northrop and his fellow engineers and dedicated workers believed in their dream of a flying wing they designed and built progressively better and larger versions until they brought it to a point where it was submitted to the United States Air Force as a possible replacement for the b-29 it flew in competition with these aircraft the be thirty Six's and it won the fly off orders were given to manufacture the first aircraft a number of various versions were built and flown what happened when you had your fly off here competition general McNerney who is the chief of the Air Force walked into my office a morning late June of 1948 and said you have won a competition here is an order for a 35 additional aircraft and I took a big breath and said oh that's wonderful and he said that's only a drop in the bucket we probably will need between 200 and 300 of these airplanes the Air Force had previously put the be 35 through a series of acceptance tests actually it went through twice because we had a accident a fatal accident during the first final checkup and the airplane was required to complete the whole routine again after that time and the order for the additional airframes came as a final approval you might say other design running the competition there was great excitement at the Northrop Factory the dream had come true the flying wing was on its way what happened next has come to be regarded by those who were interested as one of the great mysteries of American aviation for suddenly the contracts for the flying wing were canceled the aircraft themselves every last one of them were ordered destroyed the order came from the US government and they were destroyed each and every one of them there is no example of the b49 flying wing in the Air Force Museum at wright-patterson Air Force Base North is no institution now what happened to the flying wing why was the government contract to build it suddenly canceled was it a good aircraft or was it a faulty design why did the government order all the aircraft destroyed in search for an answer to those and other questions we have talked many of the men involved in the design and testing I'm flying wing we have learned five men who flight tested the wing during the developmental phase two of them are dead they died in the crash of a flying wing in 1949 the remaining three are retired Air Force general Robert L Cardenas retired Air Force colonel Russ slay and retired Northrup test pilot max Stanley next Stanley you flew the flying wing what do you think of it well I I flew the flying wing both the B 35 and the B 49 from the first flight of each airplane on through its entire program and I felt that the airplanes could be described as normal airplanes and from the standpoint of of its flying qualities the field by the pilot what it required to fly the airplane no special skills were needed and I thought that it was just a very fine flying machine there has been statements made that the aircraft was not as stable as it might be that it would not have made a bombing platform because it seemed to y'all that is going to move from side to side in the air it was that accurate well to a certain extent yes the airplane was somewhat deficient in directional stability however the Minneapolis Honeywell people developed what we call little Herbert a stability augmentation system that essentially corrected this problem and I think that when you talk about the airplane being a suitable bombing platform you should we should keep in mind that it was subjected to a very intense a series of tests to determine its suitability as a bombing platform it was flown by both the Northrop pilots and by the military pilots and the conclusion of these tests was that it was a suitable bombing platform it was acceptable it flew as I understand that nonstop from nirach now Edwards Air Force Base to Washington at one time did you make that fight yeah so I was I was what they call an observer pilot the actually the flight was made under the auspices of the Air Force and the pilot in command was an Air Force pilot retired Air Force general Robert L Cardenas recalls his test flights it was rather heavy on the nosewheel once you got airborne again it was sensitive and pitch but not overly sensitive you know not a problem this sensitive you had be aware of it not over control you don't get all comfortable with it comfortable first flight you know you make you learn about it no it's no real problem then once you were born it was actually a pleasurable airplane 2-5 performed remarkably I think when you consider that it this was over 30 years ago and it flew from the Muroc to Washington I think was four hours and 20 minutes which is even pretty good time for today's airplane what altitude was it it was flown from as I recall initially at 30,000 feet and we gradually increased altitude to around 40,000 feet and that also it compares with what is raining flown today does it not absolutely well there's a professional test pilot you had no no reservations about that about the flying wing and you you felt it was a a dependable well-designed aircraft did you yes very definitely the airplane while speaking of the b49 now was essentially problem-free do you believe that continued research and development on the wing would have been worthwhile the Arden D program would have had been oriented towards the development of what now exists digital flight controlled by wire which was not capable of being developed at that time in other words mr. Northrup had a beautiful concept that was probably 20 years ahead of its time and I got to make clear that I have never said it was unstable it was marginally stable I say it's stable not unstable marginally stable about the vertical axes or yaw and about the lateral axis or pitch a lot of retired Air Force colonel roughly it had certain shortcomings and advantages as well as far as it being a bombing platform the bombs were not stable when they Bombay and we never did get a very good accuracy with you from a stability standpoint still needed further development did you did you feel at that time that they were on the road to solving those problems of stability all I think anything could be solved given enough effort time and money in this particular case certainly it could have been solved 40 years ago Hugo are pink now manager of the test & Evaluation Aircraft Group for Northrop worked on the flying wing we asked him how he felt about the aircraft the airplane needed a stability augment and one was being developed and was quite successful before the program was cancelled so the the problem that the airplane had had been solved and with a course with the equipment that we have today it would be duck soup I think we we'd have a much more efficient air transport aircraft today if we had to continued to win development DG McNeal today is manager uli advanced production aircraft group programs in Northrop he has strong memories of the wing 40 years ago believed in it we believed in it didn't have any questions in your own mind no quite sure what flying ability no places on the basis of what we've heard the flying wing seems to have been a structurally sound potentially highly useful aircraft for the US Air Force probably capable of fulfilling its role as the next-generation bomber so what happened to it 85 year-old John Knudsen Northrop the man responsible for its design an engineer who has perhaps had his hand in the design of more American aircraft than anyone else tells the story for the first time that's very pretty story and perhaps difficult to believe but it certainly it is seared into my memory and I'm quite sure I can give you the absolute facts as they occurred the same day that general McNerney who was a chief the military chief of the Air Force's came to my office without a dish mortar 435 airplanes which he said was a drop in the bucket as far as they although one order was concerned mr. Melara and I were requested to live it mr. Symington at that meeting he liked this rather lengthy on the difficulties of a secretary for air in keeping things in hand and told us that he did not want to sponsor any new aircraft companies entering the business and having to be supplied with business over the years and that he wanted us without question to merge with consolidated voltage which was in operating of going on plants in fort worth building the b-36 as a competitor for the be 35 or to be 49 after a lengthy diatribe on mr. sanyasins part I said mr. secretary what are the alternatives to this demand you were making of our merger is consolidated volte he said alternatives you'll be goddamn sorry if you don't general McNerney said Oh mr. secretary you don't mean the way that that the way it sounds and mr. Steinman had said you're damn right I do well this was a rather staggering termination of the meeting seeking confirmation of John Northrop's recollections we talked to Richard Millar who in 1949 was chairman of the board at Northrop mr. Millar what happened at that meeting with Secretary of the Air Force mr. Symington one mr. North has already told us about we were in effect directed to negotiate for work out our merger with Nora Nora panned Conger Jack Northrop asked the question what if we don't merge and mr. Simon was quick to reply that we'd be damn sorry if we didn't we were told they'd get together with mr. odden to work out a basis of merger I might say parenthetically that when mr. Simon Dean said that effectively we must do it be sorry if we didn't gentleman Kearney spoke up and he said as I recall because I mean you don't mean that do you and mr. Simon said in effect yes sir damn right I do and mr. Millar and I had nothing in the world to do except to visit fight Adam who is a monetary head at that time for consolidated all tea and talked to mr. Roger Lovato a merger unfortunately neither mr. Varner I remember the terms that mr. Adam offered us we felt them grossly unfair to nature because of the fact that we had all of us they had none nothing substantial doesn't that came out of that and that would encourage the belief of we were within miles of any kind of an agreement as to the relative values of the two stocks we seemed to be so far apart that was no point in having any further conversations was there any activity of the convair plant at that time if he said that the Fort Worth plant I think frankly none virtually empty you did not accept mr. Adams offer I take it no he did not accept mr. Adams offer and we didn't feel that we could in fairness do so so what happened I got a telephone call a few days later for mr. Symington he said I am cancelling all your flying wing aircraft and I said all mr. secretary why and he said I've had an adverse report and hung up and that was the last time I ever talked to him and the last time we could ever reaching by pole and rainy the way did he give the contract to someone else he continued the construction of the b-36 by consolidating all key import lorry so in fact the contract was taken away from you and given to consolidated because you had refused to merge with consolidated as you were ordered to do but the government is that accurate that is absolutely accurate we were saying to ourselves we wonder what what happened now in other words we're going to find out if mr. time Union was bluffing well you wasn't the contract was cancelled quickly and as part of the cancellation instructions were issued do destroy the seven airplanes in various stages of construction on the apron of the plant and the airplane were destroyed in front of the employees and everybody that had their heart and soul with me no reason was given for the extraordinary order and no explanation was forthcoming as to why at least they didn't say that one or two for continued experimental flights study the harder was very firm destroy them and destroy them immediately a very bitter experience to say the least the villain and the death and destruction of the b49 flying wing according to John Northrop and Richard Millar would be the then Secretary of the Air Force Stuart Symington editorial fairness demands that mr. Symington tell his side of the story at this time we invited him to do so speaking to us only through his secretary the former Air Force civilian chief declared that he never did that sort of thing and declined to appear in this report mr. Northrup in reading your testimony before the House Committee on Armed Services during their 1949 b-36 hearings I find you were asked in effect if you had any knowledge or knew of any Northrop officer who had been told that Northrop's business would suffer if it failed to merge with consolidated you answered I have no such knowledge and you were asking mr. Odom or mr. Symington ever made such a statement to you and you answered no sir and you agreed with the attorney at that time that such a statement would not be truthful what is your reaction to that now my reaction is that under pressure of the life or death of Northrop corporation I committed one of the finest jobs of perjury that I've ever heard you did not tell the truth I did not tell the truth and the reason for doing that was the reason for doing that that was fear of the secretary the air secretary mr. Symington fear of his complete obliteration of Northrop air crafting incorporated which was struggling with what little was left of the business of aircraft manufacture after he had canceled the flying wing venture in toto how does it happen mr. Northrup that for 31 years this story has not been told the reason the story has not been told for that length of time is the same as the initial reason for my perjury and it was the fear of the company or the company management that any intimation of this circumstance would result in a complete cancellation and an obliteration of the company mr. Millar while you were chairman of the board and after the cancellation to be 49 contracted you do have any fear of reprisal that might be suffered by Northrop at the hands of the Air Force if in any way the secretary of the Air Force might be offended might be questioned the only honest answer I can give to that is yes and it was a pretty widespread feeling that Northrop's faithful might hang in balance was I was concerned that I had the feeling and I think it must have probably grown out of the fact that the meeting with mr. Syme Union was so shall I say brutal barefaced now obviously if you will a power play that you almost had to assume that he would be prepared to take further steps if we didn't go with good poison go long what kind of a contribution would the flying wing have made to aviation if it's normal development had been permitted it was a great load carrier as I recall I believe I gave you a copy of NASA letters on a subject which indicates that NASA confirms our present azimuth as to what the airplane will do and consider it a coming design they said in it essentially what the NASA letter says about an aircraft built more than 30 years ago is we have in effect rediscovered the flying wing obviously we recognize the pioneering Northrop work in that area as an essential source of information and in the course of our investigations we re-examine considerable NACA b35 b49 wind tunnel data our analyses confirmed your much earlier conviction as to the load carrying and efficiency advantages of this design approach and a studies performed for us by the major manufacturers of large airplanes have further corroborated these findings thirty two years after the flying wings were destroyed the Air Force is talking about the same kind of aircraft the same philosophy of design for the year 2001 the question might properly be asked how much has military aviation in America been set back by the destruction of the flying wings one has the feeling that only the surface has been scratched in the story of the v49 flying wing the disturbing fact remains that a revolutionary aircraft design was apparently short-circuited in the development program of American Aviation a design that in the words of NASA has only recently been rediscovered and might well represent the next form of large cargo aircraft there are overtones of politics and big business power players that appear to have affected the revolutionary aircraft that was the product of the genius of John Knudsen Northmen the b49 the flying wing now little more than a memory this is Clete Roberts reporting this Monday evening we'll look at the troubles in Ireland through the eyes of the Irish Americans who support the IRA on Frontline Monday night at 10:00

Channel: Classic Airliners & Vintage Pop Culture

Views: 198,064

Rating: 4.8688102 out of 5

Keywords: Northrop YB-49, Jack Northrop, Flying, Plane, Jet, Aviation (Industry), Air, Jet Engine (Invention), Airplane, Aircraft, Interview, Planes, Force, Pilot, Fighter, Jets, Footage

Id: Ui_o257DZE0

Length: 28min 6sec (1686 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 03 2013

Reddit Comments

[u/ReasonReader]

It would make a great movie. Sleazy politician/bureaucrat against dedicated inventors and pilots.