Northrop B-35 Flying Wing
The first of the Northrop flying wing bombers. The B-35 was designed as an
intercontinental bomber, competing with the B-36. It was powered by four large radial
engines, installed within the wing. Development was protracted, mainly because Northrop
was overstretched, and the B-35 was doomed to be obsolescent before it could enter
production. Therefore the USAF cancelled the production of the B-35, and ordered the
prototypes as test vehicles to assist in the development of the jet-engined B-49
derivative, which looked more promising. Only 15 were built, and most never flew. The
engine installation was always unreliable.
| General characteristics XB-35 |
| Primary function |
Bomber |
| Power plant |
Four Pratt&Whitney R-4360-17/21 radial engines |
| Thrust |
4x 2,950 HP |
4x 2,200 kW |
| Wingspan |
172 ft |
52.4 m |
| Length |
53.1 ft |
16.18 m |
| Height |
20 ft |
6.10m |
| Wingarea |
4,500 sq ft |
418 sq m |
| Weight |
empty |
61,145 lb |
27,735 kg |
| max. |
103,484 lb |
46,940 kg |
| Speed |
392 mph |
630 km/h |
| Range |
10,000 miles |
16,100 km |
| Armament |
16x 12.7mm machine gun; 18,700 kg bombs |
| Crew |
Nine |
| Date deployed |
1946 |
| Number built |
15 |
More details of construction on Don Krehbiel´s page
Jirka Wagner
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