NORTHROP AIRCRAFT YB-49 FLYING WING PROMOTIONAL FILM 8245
Video from the channel PeriscopeFilm about Northrop, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 20:32. Language: English. Video type: Archive footage.
What it shows
Promotional film by Northrop Aircraft about its flying wing, identified in the title as the YB-49. It is presented as a response to the demand for greater speed, range and efficiency. Using animation and simple comparisons it explains two ideas. The first: removing the fuselage, tail and nacelles reduces drag, like a wheel compared with a sled. The second: spreading the weight along the span lightens the structure, like a bridge on piles compared with one with large spans. According to the film, the flying wing carries a given load 25% farther or faster than a conventional aircraft with the same power. It also highlights how easy it is to maintain: it fits in small hangars, enters sideways on dollies, and almost everything is reachable with short ladders. A comic scene shows a sceptic who mocks the tailless aircraft and compares him to those who ridiculed the steamship, the railway and the airplane.
The second half covers the controls. The wingtip rudders are split flaps that, when opened, slow one end and turn the aircraft. Operated together, they act as an airbrake. The elevons serve as both elevator and ailerons. The film then shows taxiing, communications with the tower for the aircraft identified as Air Force 2367, takeoff and in-flight manoeuvres.
When and where it was filmed
The film gives no date or location. The aircraft is an eight-jet-engine flying wing weighing about 100 tons gross, with a pressurised cabin, and it already appears in flight.
Background
The film is part of the promotion of Northrop's flying wing, the result of 24 years of research according to the narrator. It highlights its manoeuvrability, with controls driven by two hydraulic systems and a backup electrical one. Also its ability to fly above 40,000 feet with little crew fatigue, and its military value: its small frontal area would make it hard to hit and hard to detect by radar. The tone is openly promotional, and the performance figures are those given by the manufacturer.