Northrop XB-35

Northrop XB-35
Description
Role	Prototype bomber
Crew	Nine - pilot, copilot, bombardier, navigator, engineer, radio operator, three gunners
First Flight	June 25, 1946
Manufacturer	Northrop
Dimensions
Length	53 ft 1 in	16.20 m
Wingspan	172 ft	52.40 m
Height	20 ft 3 in	6.2 m
Wing area	4000 ft²	371.6 m²
Weights
Empty	89,560 lb	40,709 kg
Loaded	180,000 lb	81,818 kg
Maximum takeoff	209,000 lb	95,000 kg
Capacity
Powerplant
Engines	4x Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major
Power	12,000 hp	8,952 kW
Performance
Maximum speed	391 mph	625 km/h
Range	8,150 miles	13,040 km
Service ceiling	39,700 ft	12,103 m
Rate of climb	624 ft/min	190 m/min
Wing loading	45 lb/ft²	220 kg/m²
Power/Mass	0.07 hp/lb	0.11 kW/kg
Avionics
Avionics
Armament
Guns	Prototypes unarmed YB-35: 4x 0.5 in (12.7 mm) machine guns in each of two turrets and tail barbette 2x 0.5 (12.7 mm) machine guns in each of four wing barbettes
Bombs	Up to 51,070 lb (23,213 kg)

The Northrop B-35 was a flying wing heavy bomber aircraft developed for the United States Air Force during and shortly after World War II. Only prototype and pre-production machines were built, although interest remained strong enough to further develop the aircraft as a jet bomber as the YB-49.

The B-35 was the brainchild of Jack Northrop, who made the flying wing the focus of his work during the 1930s and successfully developed and flew research aircraft of this type. In May 1941, his company was contacted by the USAAF and invited to submit a design for a high-altitude long-range bomber along the lines that they were already exploring. By September, a development contract was in place that would eventually include two prototype XB-35s and a 1/3 scale flying mock-up (the Northrop N-9M). By early 1943, the contract had expanded to include three more N-9Ms, and 13 YB-35 pre-production aircraft. At the same time, Northrop was negotiating with the Glenn L. Martin Company to actually undertake the mass production of the B-35, as Northrop's own production facilities were not sufficient for the task.

In the end, this became irrelevant as technical problems plagued the revolutionary design, and the delivery date for the B-35s was pushed further and further back. Even by early 1944 it was anticipated that the war would likely be over before the aircraft was ready, and in May, the Air Force cancelled the production contract. Nevertheless, Air Technical Services Command felt that the programme was still worthwhile from a research point of view, and ordered the completion of the XB-35 and YB-35 aircraft, specifying a range of changes to individual airframes so that their effects could be studied. Two of the YB-35s were earmarked for jet propulsion, later to become known as the YB-49.

The first XB-35 flew for the first time June 25 1946, almost three years behind schedule, and trouble began almost immediately. The counter-rotating propellers of the original design proved especially problematic, and these eventually had to be replaced with simple single propellers, decreasing the aircraft's performance considerably. Between them, the two XB-35s only made some thirty test flights before being permanently grounded.

By the time the first YB-35 flew on May 15 1948, the aircraft was clearly obsolete, and although a few suggestions were made as to how some use could still be made out of the expensive programme (including refitting the YB-35 airframes as reconnaissance or tanker aircraft), the B-35 was soon abandoned. Between August 1949 and May 1950, all XB-35 and YB-35s were scrapped, most of them never having flown.

Despite the obvious technical difficulties that the programme was experiencing, its long delays, and the obsolescence of a 1941 design nearly a decade later, there are long-standing conspiracy theories about the cancellation of the programme. These are outlined under YB-49.

Related content
Related Development	Northrop N1M - Northrop N9M - Northrop YB-49
Similar Aircraft
Designation Series	B-32 - XB-33 - B-34 - B-35 - B-36 - B-37 - XB-38
Related Lists	List of military aircraft of the United States - List of bomber aircraft - List of Aircraft | Aircraft Manufacturers | Aircraft Engines | Aircraft Engine Manufacturers Airlines | Air Forces | Aircraft Weapons | Missiles | Years in Aviation