Northrop XP-79
The Northrop XP-79 Flying Ram was one of the US Air Force's most ambitious flying wing projects during World War II . It was supposed to fly with rocket propulsion at first , but was then converted to jet propulsion . The pilot lay on his stomach in order to enable him to withstand higher accelerations when turning.
history
In 1942, John K. Northrop developed the XP-79 project, a high-speed flying wing rocket aircraft. In January 1943 he signed a contract with the USAAF to build three prototypes. To test the radical construction, pure gliders were built first. One of these gliders was the Northrop MX-324 . She was towed to altitude on July 5, 1944 by a Lockheed P-38 and the rocket engines ignited. It was the first rocket plane in the USA.
It was planned to use an XCALR-2000A-1 rocket engine with 9 kN thrust from Aerojet . But the fuel made from monoethylaniline and fuming nitric acid was extremely aggressive and poisonous. That is why the aircraft was made entirely from a magnesium alloy. The support surface skin consisted of 3 mm thick plates, the wing leading edges were up to 19 mm thick and should withstand ramming. The plates were joined using the tungsten inert gas welding technique developed in the USA .
However, the rocket engines were unconvincing and therefore two were Westinghouse-19B - Turbojet -Triebwerke installed. This new type was named XP-79B . The first two rocket-propelled prototypes were abandoned.
The machine was nicknamed the Flying Ram , which was related to its wing tips. The planned combat tactics were very unusual; the machine should fly towards enemy aircraft at high speed and damage them with the wing tips or the fuselage, while the XP-79 should survive this attack tactic due to its extreme stability.
After a few delays due to burst tires during ground tests on the Muroc salt lake , the first flight followed on September 12, 1945 with a normal ground take-off. After 15 minutes of flight, the machine went into an uncontrollable spin and the pilot Harry Crosby got out with a kind of ejector seat. However, the parachute did not open correctly and Crosby had a fatal accident.
The machine burned completely after the crash due to the high magnesium content. Shortly thereafter, the program was abandoned.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data XP-79B Flying Ram |
|---|---|
| crew | 1 |
| length | 4.27 m |
| span | 8.54 m |
| height | 2.13 m |
| Wing area | 25.8 m² |
| Empty mass | 2650 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 3932 kg |
| Engines | 2 × Westinghouse 19B turbo jet; 5.1 kN each |
| Top speed | 880 km / h |
| Service ceiling | 12,200 m |
| Range | 1598 km |
| Armament | 4 × 12.7 mm machine guns (planned) |
literature
- Fighter AZ, Nortrop XP-79B , AIR International, October 1989, p. 192.
